DEWSBURY

- a town in West Yorkshire

Dewsbury (West Yorkshire) - population 54,000 - lies beside the River Calder about half-way between Leeds and Huddersfield. It can be reached by road from the M62 (junction 25 if approaching from the west, junction 28 from the east) and from the M1 (junction 40). The town has a railway station dating from 1848, served by trains on the Huddersfield line from places as far away as Hull and Liverpool. Leeds-Bradford airport is about ten miles away. Local bus services link the town with Huddersfield, Bradford, Leeds, Wakefield and Halifax, and National Express coach services run to London.

Dewsbury is surrounded by hills -

Earlsheaton, Dewsbury Moor,

and Thornhill, where I live.

Thornhill is perched on a plateau

some 100 metres higher than

Dewsbury Town Centre.

Crossing the road from our house

this is the view of Dewsbury from

the edge of the "mountain".

The town’s history can be traced back as far as the 7th century, and parts of Dewsbury Minster are said to date from the 13th century. The Domesday book of 1086 lists the town as “Deusberia”.

Dewsbury Market was established in the 14th century, but after many cases of the plague in 1593 and 1603 it was closed. It was re-established in 1741. The present covered market was built in 1904, and still attracts coach-loads of tourists on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

A branch of the Calder and Hebble Navigation Canal was completed in 1770, linking Dewsbury to the main canal system with links to growing towns such as Manchester and Hull.

During the Industrial Revolution Dewsbury was a major centre for the “shoddy” industry– a process of recycling old woollen items to make heavy blankets and uniforms. (Hence the fact that the area is known as the "Heavy Woollen" area). Many old mill buildings survive, some now housing newer industries, some converted to private dwellings.

There were several coal mines in the area – the last being the Caphouse Colliery, which closed in 1985 and

is now the National Coal Mining Museum, where the public can descend to the coal face.

CLICK THIS ICON

to see a large version of the photograph

Dewsbury is served by the bus company Arriva, at which I am a driver. They have a depot in the town, formerly operated by the Yorkshire Woollen District Transport Company Ltd, founded in 1903.

More information about Dewsbury can be found on Wikipedia by clicking this link:.........................

For a guided tour of Dewsbury (on another page of this website) with over 30 pictures, click here:

To read (on another page of this site) about the Thornhill area of Dewsbury, where I live, click here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dewsbury

DEWSBURY PICS

THORNHILL