Rodley, West Yorkshire

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Airedale Wharf, Rodley.

Rodley is a village on the outskirts of west Leeds, West Yorkshire, England with a recorded history dating back a thousand years. The earliest use of the name on record appears to be RODELE (without surname) who was listed as a tenant in the Domesday Book of 1086, and REDLEGA (without surname) who was recorded in Yorkshire in 1157. ROTHELAY (without surname) was listed in a document in Gloucestershire in 1227. Rodley borders the equally ancient hamlet of Bagley.

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal passes through Rodley, running parallel with Rodley Town Street. Many of the stone-built industrial buildings and mills that once lined the banks of the canal have been demolished and replaced with modern apartments and houses, as Rodley develops as a commuter village equidistant between Leeds and Bradford. Some of the area is now protected as a Conservation Area.

Rodley was the location where Thomas Smith's Steam Crane Works was established in 1820; a company which, by 1888, became world-famous for the manufacture of cranes and lifting gear.^[1]

More recently, Rodley was also the home of Rowley Workshop: makers of Dusty Bin, Wizbit and Dusty the Dawg (housed in the former Bethel Chapel which is also now flats).

Rodley has four Public Houses and a Working Mens Social Club. These are; The Owl, The Rodley Barge, The Railway just down past Calverley Bridge, and The Crown and Anchor, with The Social Club next door.

Rodley is home to the Rodley Nature Reserve, a wetland reserve built on the former site of a sewage works.

Rodley has a cricket club based at the Canal Bank Sports Ground adjacent to the nature reserve, and which participates in the Dales Council Cricket League.^[2]

Rodley also has a football team which plays out of the Rodley Barge Pub, their current home pitch is on Bramley park but this is set to change in the coming season. The team play in the Yorkshire sunday alliance league division one.

Rodley hosts an Annual Beer and Music Festival. The festival, runs over the August Bank Holiday weekend and plays host to over 100 different cask ales and ciders, and has live bands on throughout the weekend too. The first Rodley Beer and Music Festival was held in 2007. ^[3]