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Wetherby

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For the film, see Wetherby (film).
Wetherby
PopulationExpression error: "10,562 (immediate town area), 22000 (Wetherby Ward)" must be numeric
OS grid referenceSE404481
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townWETHERBY
Postcode districtLS22
Dialling code01937
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire

Wetherby is an historic market town in the county of West Yorkshire, England and is part of the City of Leeds metropolitan district. It stands on the River Wharfe, and has been for centuries a crossing place and staging post on the Great North Road, being mid-way between London[11] and Edinburgh[12]. Wetherby Bridge, which spans the River Wharfe, is a Scheduled Ancient Monument and a Grade II listed structure[1]. As a result of its situation on the main road, a large number of coaching inns were established in Wetherby, and many are still used today by travellers.

The Domesday Book mentions Wedrebi which means wether- or ram-farm. Another meaning is settlement on the bend of a river. Local folklore has it that when heavy snow storms hit the county, Wetherby does not get as much because the Weather Goes By.

History

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the Knights Templar and later the Knights Hospitallers were granted land and properties in Yorkshire. The local Preceptory founded in 1217 was at Ribston Park. In 1240 the Knights Templar were granted by Royal Charter of Henry III the right to hold a market in Wetherby[2] (known then as Werreby). The Charter stated the market should be held on a Thursday and a yearly fair was permitted lasting three days over the day of St James the Apostle.

From 1318 to 1319 the North of England suffered many raids from the Scots. After the Battle of Bannockburn Wetherby was burned and many people taken and killed. According to the blue plaque[13] at the entrance to the lane, Scott Lane could be named after the Scottish raiders in 1318, or perhaps after the 18th century drovers who used Wetherby as a watering place.

Wetherby had a small part to play in the Civil War in 1644. Before marching to Tadcaster and then to Marston Moor, the Parliamentarians spent two days in Wetherby while joining forces with the Scots.

Bridge over the River Wharfe with town beyond

In the heyday of the coaching era, Wetherby had up to forty inns and alehouses[citation needed]. The first recorded mail coach arrived in Wetherby in 1786[1].

In 1824, the sixth Duke of Devonshire sold the town of Wetherby (except one house) to finance work at Chatsworth[2].

Wetherby gave its name to Wetherby Place in London and thence to Wetherby School in London, which used to be located in Wetherby Place[citation needed].

For many years the town was home to Wharfedale Brewery which became Oxley's mineral water factory during the inter-war years[2]. The factory was demolished in the 1950s and was redeveloped as the West Yorkshire bus depot and bus station, and has since been further redeveloped to include shops, offices, and a restaurant in addition to the bus station. The nearby watermill, which was situated by the weir, is now the site of luxury riverside flats.

For many years, the town's bypass started from at a roundabout near a Forte Posthouse hotel, which was prone to lengthy queues at busy periods. The roundabout still remains, but the A1 was diverted in July 1988 at a cost of £11.5m. On December 18, 2004, the northern section of the bypass was substantially diverted to a new section of the A1(M), bypassing Kirk Deighton, after construction work had begun in August 2003. The upgrade of the section between Bramham and Wetherby started in July 2007 and is scheduled to be completed in 2009[3].

Facts

People

World War I

  • Many Wetherby men served with either the 5th or 9th West Yorkshire Regiments, who had great losses at Flanders. A war memorial designed by E. F. Roslyn was dedicated on April 22, 1922[5].
  • In 1918 the locals of Wetherby, contributed greatly to support the crew of the Racecourse class minesweeper HMS Wetherby despite hardship and shortages caused by the war[5].

World War II

  • During World War II, nearby Tockwith airfield was renamed 'Marston Moor Airfield' to avoid confusion with Topcliffe Airfield. Part of the airfield is now used as a driver training centre and the old control tower is used as the offices. Parts of the runways can still be seen[5].
  • Heart-throb of the American silver screen, Clark Gable was stationed during the war at Marston Moor Airfield. USAAF Captain Gable was a member of the ground staff[5].
  • Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was also stationed at Marston Moor for a short while before leaving to become Commander of the famous 617 Dam Buster squadron[5].
  • Wetherby had the only landship north of London, built on Hallfield Lane in 1942 (it later become the local secondary school), named in turn; HMS Cabot, Demetrius, Rodney and Ceres. The base was closed in 1958 and transferred to Chatham[5].

Present day

The Forensic Science Service has a laboratory in Wetherby on Sandbeck Way. This is part of the town's large Sandbeck Industrial Estate, also home to Goldenfry Foods and the town's working mens club.

Wetherby racecourse is situated on the B1224 York Road. Opposite the racecourse is Wetherby Young Offender Institution.

Wetherby has a pedestrianised shopping centre The Horsefair Centre, which includes a Morrisons supermarket, Boots the Chemist, Superdrug, Clinton Cards, Specsavers and many other shops. The centre was built in the 1970s after the council decided in the 1960s to opt for a purpose built shopping precinct as opposed to developing the exisiting town centre into a pedestrian precinct. It underwent further significant development between 2002 and 2005.

Since its closure in the 1990s, the town's cattle market has been redeveloped as flats and a Marks and Spencer store. This is an indication of the changing aspect of Wetherby, no longer a rural town but a growing town situated within the Leeds commuter belt.

The town is home to several sporting clubs: Wetherby Athletic AFC, Wetherby Bulldogs RLFC and Wetherby RUFC, all playing at a higher amateur level.

Public Transport

Bus

The bus station is at the lower end of the Market Place, it was redeveloped in 1995. Since the parial pedestrianisation of the lower end of the Market Place in 2007 the cappacity of the bus station has been reduced. The Hallfields Estate, Ainsty Estate and Sandbeck Industrial Estate also have bus services. [8]

Rail

Local passenger services between Leeds-Wetherby-Harrogate, and Wetherby and Church Fenton were withdrawn on January 6th 1964, involving closure of Wetherby railway station, amongst others[9].

Religion

There are five churches in Wetherby[10]

  • Bank Street Methodist Church[14]
  • Barleyfields Anglican Community
  • St James Parish Church[15]
    • The Church on the Corner is a part of St. James Church which meets in the old Cemetery Chapel on Hallfield Lane
  • St Josephs Roman Catholic Church - The present church building was opened in 1986 and won the Leeds award for Architecture in 1987[11]
  • Wetherby Community Church of the Salvation Army[16]

The population of Wetherby reflect the modern UK trend, church attendences are low and the majority of the population are apathetically secular. One in ten attend church weekly across the United Kingdom and one quarter on an at least yearly basis.

The Wetherby Secular Forum[17] is a Wetherby based campaign group of Atheists from the North East Leeds Area.

Media

  • The town's local Paper is the Wetherby News[18].
  • Tempo FM[19] is the local radio station.
  • Wetherby Film Theatre[20] is an independent, traditional single screen cinema situated on Caxton Street.

The regional BBC televised news is Look North (Yorkshire), regional radio stations include Aire FM (Leeds), The Pulse of West Yorkshire (Bradford), BBC Radio Leeds, Minster FM (York), Viking FM (Kingston Upon Hull)

Racecourse

Wetherby has a medium sized racecourse situated on the B1224 York Road. It is the only racecourse in Yorkshire to solely run jump racing. In 1999 the new millennium stand opened, providing the racecourse with executive facilities (something which it had lacked, making it difficult for the racecourse to compete with other courses in the area (e.g. York, Pontefract, Ripon and Thirsk). The racecourse has three stands, one constructed in the 1930s with football style terracing, a two tear seated stand constructed in the 1970s and the aforementioned Millennium Stand. There has been some debate in recent times whether to introduce a flat course. The race course was originally located on the King George playing fields (commonly referred to locally as the Ings or Score Bank) on Linton Road.

Public Houses

In its hey-day Wetherby had seventeen pubs in its town centre. There are now only eleven pubs and bars in the town centre. A local pub crawl "The Wetherby Eleven" involves consecutively drinking in each one of these establishments. The town's oldest surviving pub The Brunswick closed in 2003 and reopened as Harris' Bar, the Three Legs public house closed in 2007 and became "Thr3e" (Wetherby's first non smoking pub).

Pubs in Wetherby

High Street

  • The George and the Dragon
  • The Red Lion
  • The Crown
  • Harris' Bar (formerly The Brunswick)
  • The Angel

North Street

  • The Swan and Talbot
  • The Royal Oak

The Market Place

  • Thr3e (formerly The Three Legs)
  • The Black Bull

Westgate

  • The New Inn

Scott Lane

  • Retro (formerly No 7)

Lost Pubs

  • The Blue Boar (also known as the White Hart in its time) was situated between the High Street and the Shambles, its former existence is evident by White Hart Yard (situated off the Shambles)
  • The Fox Inn (situated on Bank Street adjacent to the Methodist Chapel)
  • The Bowling Green Inn (situated on North Street, where the Garden of Rest is now situated. This was demolished in order to widen the road).
  • The Duke of Devonshire (situated on Westgate (where the Halifax Estate Agency is now situated).

References

  1. ^ a b West Yorkshire Archaeology Advisory Service. Wetherby Conservation Area, [1] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  2. ^ a b c Wetherby & District Historical Society (1995). Wetherby. The Archive Photographs Series. Stroud: The Chalfont Publishing Company.
  3. ^ Government News Network. Highways Agency (Yorkshire and Humber) - Wetherby resident marks official start of work on £61 million A1 Bramham to Wetherby upgrade scheme , 3 July 2007 [2] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  4. ^ IMDb. Biography for 'Ginger' Lacey[3] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h Wetherby Online. About Wetherby - Fascinating Facts[4] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  6. ^ Harrogate Advertiser. Shipman's widow stays silent during her visit to mortuary, 16 January 2004 [5] retrieved on 1 August 2007.
  7. ^ Wetherby News. Jessica set to join 'Corrie' cast, 02 March 2007 [6] retrieved on 31 July 2007.
  8. ^ West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Authority. Wetherby Bus Station [7] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  9. ^ David Hey's Collection. The Beeching Years [8] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  10. ^ Wetherby Churches Together [9] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
  11. ^ St. Joseph's Parish Wetherby [10] retrieved on 4 August 2007.
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