Castleford is one of the five towns in the Wakefield borough, in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of 37,525 according to the 2001 Census. To the north are the River Calder, the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation. To the west and south is the M62. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Image File history File links Red_pog. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... The British national grid reference system is a system of geographic grid references commonly used in Great Britain, different from using latitude or longitude. ... The districts of England are a level of subnational division of England used for the purposes of local government. ... This article discusses the metropolitan district and named the City of Wakefield. ... Metropolitan and non-metropolitan counties are one of the four levels of English administrative division used for the purposes of local government. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... The region, also known as Government Office Region, is currently the highest tier of local government subnational entity of England in the United Kingdom. ... Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the regions of England. ... Constituent countries is a phrase used, often by official institutions, in contexts in which a number of countries make up a larger entity or grouping; thus the OECD has used the phrase in reference to the former Yugoslavia[1] and European institutions such as the Council of Europe frequently use... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate 50... This is an alphabetical list of the sovereign states of the world, including both de jure and de facto independent states. ... A post town is a required part of all UK postal addresses. ... UK postal codes are known as postcodes. ... The WF postcode area, also known as the Wakefield postcode area[2], is a group of postal districts around Batley, Castleford, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Knottingley, Liversedge, Mirfield, Normanton, Ossett, Pontefract and Wakefield in England. ... The UK telephone numbering plan, also known as the National Numbering Plan, is regulated by the Office of Communications (Ofcom), which replaced the Office of Telecommunications (Oftel) in 2003. ... West Yorkshire Police is the police force covering West Yorkshire in the United Kingdom. ... A Fire Appliance belonging to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service The fire service in the United Kingdom has undergone dramatic changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational... The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... The United Kingdom House of Commons is made up of Members of Parliament (MPs). ... Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ... This is a list of Members of the European Parliament for the United Kingdom in the 2004 to 2009 session, ordered by name. ... Yorkshire and the Humber is a constituency of the European Parliament. ... List of cities in the United Kingdom List of towns in England Lists of places within counties List of places in Bedfordshire List of places in Berkshire List of places in Buckinghamshire List of places in Cambridgeshire List of places in Cheshire List of places in Cleveland List of places... This is a list of cities, towns and villages in the historic English county of Yorkshire. ... Castlefords coat of arms This image depicts a seal, an emblem, a coat of arms or a crest. ... This article discusses the metropolitan district and named the City of Wakefield. ... A county is generally a sub-unit of regional self-government within a sovereign jurisdiction. ... West Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. ... Motto (French) God and my right Anthem God Save the Queen England() – on the European continent() – in the United Kingdom() Capital (and largest city) London (de facto) Official languages English (de facto) Unified  -  by Athelstan 967 AD  Area  -  Total 130,395 km²  50,346 sq mi  Population  -  2007 estimate 50... Pontefract Castle in the early 17th Century Pontefract is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the M62 motorway, and Castleford. ... The River Calder is a river flowing through the predominantly urban areas of West Yorkshire, England, and gives its name to the borough of Calderdale. ... Gordale Beck flows out of Gordale Scar to join the Aire. ... The Aire and Calder Navigation is a river and canal system of the River Aire and the River Calder in the county of West Yorkshire, England. ... The M62 motorway connects the cities of Liverpool and Hull, in England. ...

History

Castleford is built upon the site of a Roman army settlement that was named Lagentium or Legioleum. Funeral urns dating from the time of the Romans have been found there. The modern name of the town is derived from the fort, Castle (referring to the fort) and Ford (referring to the River Aire which runs through Castleford.) The Roman army is the set of land-based military forces employed by the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and later Roman Empire as part of the Roman military. ... Lagentium or Legiolum was the Roman name for the strategic fort which was built around the year 74 by the Roman Empire. ... Maya funerary urn For the computing term, see Uniform Resource Name. ...

Queens Park in Castleford as viewed from Google earth, shows two circles on the top playing field area, which could potentially be the remnants of round houses used by early Anglo Saxons. Standing over 250 feet above sea level, it is thought that the area which is Queens Park today would have offered a defensive view of the settlement. Google Earth is a virtual globe program that was originally called Earth Viewer and was created by Keyhole, Inc. ... The famous parade helmet found at Sutton Hoo, probably belonging to King Raedwald of East Anglia circa 625. ...

Oliver Cromwell (1599 - 1658), had a local encampment in nearby Ferrybridge. It is said locally that his cannons faced towards Pontefract Castle from the nearby Redhill Plateau in Castleford. Today this plateau includes the areas of Holywell Wood, the estate of Airedale and Queens Park. Oliver Cromwell (April 25, 1599–September 3, 1658) was an English military and political leader best known for making England a republic and leading the Commonwealth of England. ... Pontefract Castle in its heyday Pontefract Castle in West Yorkshire near to the town of Pontefract, was constructed in approximately 1070 by a knight, Ilbert de Lacy (who is also responsible for the construction of Kirkstall Abbey), on land which had been granted to him by William the Conqueror as...

From 1630 until his deprivation during the Interregnum, the Rector of Ackworth was the Reverend Thomas Bradley, DD (Oxon), who attended King Charles the Martyr at his execution. The English Interregnum was the period of parliamentary and military rule in the land occupied by modern-day England and Wales after the English Civil War. ... The word rector (ruler, from the Latin regere) has a number of different meanings, but all of them indicate someone who is in charge of something. ... The Reverend Thomas Bradley, DD (Oxon) (1596/7-1673) was a 17th century English divine. ... Doctor of Divinity (D.D., Divinitatis Doctor in Latin) is an academic degree. ... The University of Oxford (usually abbreviated as Oxon. ... Charles I (1631) by Daniel Mytens. ...

The sculptor Henry Moore was born in Castleford, the son of a miner; some of his work can be seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park at West Bretton. The main church is called All Saints. The local MP is Oxford-educated Yvette Cooper for Pontefract and Castleford. A sculpture is a three-dimensional object, which for the purposes of this article is man-made and selected for special recognition as art. ... Reclining Figure (1951) outside the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, is characteristic of Moores sculptures, with an abstract female figure intercut with voids. ... Categories: Stub ... West Bretton is a village in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near Wakefield. ... The festival of All Saints, also sometimes known as All Saints Day, All Hallows or Hallowmas (hallows meaning saints, and mas meaning Mass), is a feast celebrated in the honour of all the saints, known and unknown. ... The University of Oxford, located in the city of Oxford in England, is the oldest university in the English-speaking world. ... Yvette Cooper (born March 20, 1969) British politician. ... Pontefract and Castleford is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. ...

Castleford was established as an urban district, in administrative county of the West Riding of Yorkshire in 1894 under the Local Government Act 1894, with an urban district council. Whitwood and Glasshoughton were added to the district in the 1930s. The urban district was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1955. It was abolished on April 1, 1974, becoming an unparished area in the Metropolitan Borough of Wakefield in West Yorkshire. In the British Isles an urban district was a type of local government district which covered an urbanised area. ... The West Riding as an administrative county prior to its abolition in 1974. ... The Local Government Act 1894 (57 & 58 Vict. ... Glasshougton is a small area close to Castleford and Pontefract. ... A borough is a political division originally used in England. ... April 1 is the 91st day of the year (92nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1974 (MCMLXXIV) was a common year starting on Tuesday. ... In England a civil parish (usually just parish) is the lowest unit of local government, lower than districts or counties. ... This article discusses the metropolitan district and named the City of Wakefield. ...

The town today

Castleford's favourite sport is rugby league. The local team, Castleford Tigers, were relegated from the UK's top division, Super League, after the 2006 season. The Tigers play at The Jungle. Rugby league football (often shortened to rugby league) is a full-contact team sport played with a prolate spheroid-shaped ball by two teams of thirteen on a rectangular grass field. ... Castleford Tigers are one of the most famous rugby league clubs in England. ... In many sports leagues around the world (with North American and Australian professional leagues being the most notable exceptions), relegation (or demotion) means the mandated transfer of the least successful team(s) of a higher division into a lower division at the end of the season. ... Super League (Europe) began in March 1996 and is the only full-time professional rugby league competition operating in the northern hemisphere. ... Super League XI is the official name for the 2006 engage Super League club season in the sport of rugby league in Europe. ... The Jungle, formally know as Wheldon Road, is the home of the Castleford Tigers Rugby League team. ...

The town is home to Burberry, the clothing manufacturer and retailer. The company has two factories in the UK - one is in Castleford making the firm's signature raincoats, including its Pink Leather Trench Coat, modelled by Kate Moss. Nestle has a factory on Wheldon Road, near the Castleford Tigers' ground, making popular sweets like Toffee Crisp and After Eight. A ladies Burberry handbag in the companys trademarked check pattern Burberry is a UK and United States-based outfitter, manufacturing clothing and other apparel. ... Katherine Ann Moss (born January 16, 1974), known as Kate Moss, is an iconic English supermodel and fashion designer. ... Nestlé S.A. or Société des Produits Nestlé S.A. (SWX:NESN), headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland, is the worlds biggest food and beverage company. ... Toffee Crisp chocolate bar, as sold in the UK (September 2006) The Toffee Crisp is a chocolate bar produced by Nestlé consisting of puffed rice embedded in soft toffee and shaped into a cylinder, the whole being covered by milk chocolate. ... After Eights are a confectionery product sold by Nestlé. They are described as mint wafers coated in dark chocolate and are intended, as the name suggests, to be used as after dinner mints. ...

Some areas of Castleford are poor and run down. In part, this is because of the closure of the town and its surrounding area's collieries in the 1980s and 90s. Official male unemployment rates reached 20% in the mid-1980s. According to the Index of Multiple Deprivation 2000, Castleford Ferry Fryston ward falls today within the top 5% of most deprived wards in England. According to the Child Poverty Index, over 45% of 0-16 year olds living in Castleford are living in families claiming means tested benefits. Surface coal mining in Wyoming. ... This article cites very few or no references or sources. ...

Despite a decline in industries such as coal mining and textile manufacturing, significant economic and employment growth has occurred in recent years in service sectors, especially in the retail and distribution sectors. This includes the Junction 32 Outlet village (formerly known as Freeport) and Xscape leisure complex, Europe's largest indoor real snow slope, which has turned the periphery of the town in to a mecca for UK snowboarders. Developments such as these have taken place because of the town's easy motorway accessibility and twenty-minute rail connection to the regional city of Leeds. Distribution companies include HI Group Plc, Tibbett & Britten Ltd and Argos Distributors Ltd. Xscape buildings (named after the company that developed them) are large, strikingly designed and unusually shaped buildings. ... Animation of snowcover changing with the seasons Trees covered with snow Snow covering a leaf. ... This article needs additional references or sources to facilitate its verification. ... A snowboard with boot bindings A snowboard is the main piece of equipment used in snowboarding. ... Leeds is a major city in West Yorkshire, England. ...

Castleford town centre and several residential neighbourhoods are improving as part of a unique program of revitalization known as the Castleford Project. It is delivering over £13m of improvements to the town's public spaces and involves community leaders, residents, local business and a creative team of designers and visual artists from UK and overseas. The Project has acted as a trigger for a larger programme of urban renewal in the town, valued at over £200m. Its work will be the subject of a series of television shows on Channel 4 in 2008, produced by TalkbackTHAMES and presented by Kevin McCloud of the series Grand Designs. The Project is increasingly considered an important example of civic regeneration and has featured in conferences and exhibitions in the UK, Hong Kong, Moscow, Philadelphia and Beijing. One of the Project's key qualities has been the powerful and innovative participation of local community groups in the programme of urban renewal. It has been suggested that Channel Four Television Corporation be merged into this article or section. ... talkbackTHAMES is a British television production company, a division of FremantleMedia (part of the RTL Group). ... Kevin McCloud (born 1959) is a British designer, writer and television presenter. ... Grand Designs is a Channel 4 TV series covering unusual architectural house-building projects, presented by Kevin McCloud and produced by Talkback. ... Position of Moscow in Europe Coordinates: , Country District Subdivision Russia Central Federal District Federal City Government  - Mayor Yuriy Luzhkov Area  - City 1,081 km²  (417. ... Nickname: City of Brotherly Love, Philly, the Quaker City Motto: Philadelphia maneto (Let brotherly love continue) Location in Pennsylvania Coordinates: Country United States State Pennsylvania County Philadelphia Founded October 27, 1682 Incorporated October 25, 1701 Mayor John F. Street (D) Area    - City 369. ... Beijing (Chinese: 北京; pinyin: BÄ›ijÄ«ng; IPA: ;  ), a metropolis in northern China, is the capital of the Peoples Republic of China (PRC). ... 1999 photograph looking northeast on Chicagos now demolished Cabrini-Green housing project, one of many urban renewal efforts. ...

This is just one of many economic developments in the town, including new retail and residential development, an architect-designed library and art museum and a new bus/rail transport interchange planned to be completed by 2010.^[1]

Development is founded upon a strong sense of identity rooted in the town's heritage. For example, Castleford has one of the districts most historic parks - Queens Park on Ferrybridge Road - built to commemorate Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897. A resident Friends of the Park group have managed since 1998 to transform the fortunes of this park. Today, largely through civic activism, the park has a smart Victorian Bandstand, two bowling greens with pavilions, a multi use games area, sensory garden, a wild meadow area, woodland, two play areas and four football fields. [1] Victoria Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, Empress of India Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria) (24 May 1819–22 January 1901) was a Queen of the United Kingdom, reigning from 20 June 1837 until her death. ...

Castleford offers the nearest available shopping for residents of the new Allerton Bywater Millennium Community, now under construction just to the north of the town across the River Aire. This is a development of commercial and community space and over 500 homes, some of which will be built using innovative and modern off-site manufacturing techniques. Allerton is the second development in a Millennium Community program which started with Greenwich Millennium Village at Greenwich Peninsula, London. The Greenwich Millennium Village (GMV) is an innovative modern urban village in London, designed by architects Ralph Erskine (architect) and partners as part of the regeneration of the whole of Greenwich Peninsula, home of the Millennium Dome. ... The Greenwich Peninsula, sometimes known as the Blackwall Peninsula or Bugsby Marshes, in the London Borough of Greenwich, is bounded on its northern perimeter by the River Thames. ...

In addition to the Tigers, Castleford also has several football teams that play in the Castleford & District Sunday FA League.

Castleford (and Pontefract) has its own newspaper, the Pontefract and Castleford Express. Pontefract Castle in the early 17th Century Pontefract is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the M62 motorway, and Castleford. ...

The town is also home to Castleford High School Technology College; a secondary school for children aged 11-16. Castleford High School Technology College, more commonly known as just Castleford High School, is a high school in Castleford, West Yorkshire for children aged 11-16. ...

The town is in Wakefield District [2] and is covered by three wards: Altofts and Whitwood, Castleford Central and Glasshoughton, and Airedale and Ferry Fryston.

Trivia

Castleford is a fictionalised version of the English university city of Cambridge in the children's books of Philippa Pearce, most notably "Tom's Midnight Garden" and "Minnow on the Say". Geography Status City (1951) Region East of England Admin. ... Ann Philippa Pearce OBE (b. ... Toms Midnight Garden is a childrens novel by Philippa Pearce. ...

In the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are? it was revealed that the ancestors of writer and broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson lived in Castleford and ran a factory producing Kilner pottery. The British Broadcasting Corporation, usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GB£4 billion. ... Who Do You Think You Are? was a ten part television series shown on the UKs BBC2, in 2004, in which various celebrities go on a journey, in order to try and trace their family tree. ... Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English broadcaster and writer who specialises in motoring. ...

Sir John Harman, Chairman of the UK Environment Agency was born in the town. There is also the British Victoria Cross recipient John Pennington Harman. ... (see also the List of environmental organizations) The Environment Agency (Welsh: Asiantaeth yr Amgylchedd) of England and Wales was created by the Environment Act 1995, along with the Scottish Environment Protection Agency. ...

There is a town in Idaho, USA called Castleford.

Viz Comic of Newcastle has two contributors from Castleford - Andy Hepworth and Carl Hollingsworth. Interestingly enough, one of Viz comics main artists is Pontefract's Simon Thorp.

Castleford has frequently featured as the fictional town of "Denton" in ITV's A Touch of Frost, starring David Jason, often using local businesses and staff as extras. A Touch of Frost is a detective television series produced by Yorkshire Television for ITV in the United Kingdom. ... Sir David Jason, OBE (born February 2, 1940) is a highly regarded English actor, admired equally for his dramatic work as for his comedy roles. ...

Location Grid

Garforth is a town at the eastern edge of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. ... Normanton is a town in West Yorkshire, England, lying north east of Wakefield and south west of Castleford. ... Knottingley is a town in the metropolitan district of the City of Wakefield in West Yorkshire, England on the River Aire and the A1 road. ... Pontefract Castle in the early 17th Century Pontefract is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near the A1 (or Great North Road), the M62 motorway, and Castleford. ...

Local Sport

• Castleford Tigers
• Castleford and District Badminton League
• Garforth Jets Badminton Club
• Castleford Rugby Union Football Club

References

1. ^ Castleford go-ahead: Wakefield Council approves Metro's Interchange plans. West Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (February 2007).

The West Yorkshire Passenger Traffic Executive (WYPTE) is the executive arm of the West Yorkshire Passenger Traffic Authority (PTA). ...

External links

• Castleford Squadron Air Training Corps (2388 Sqn) Air Cadets
• Castleford web pages - news, tour the town, famous people, etc.
• The BBC website for Castleford and West Yorkshire
• XSCAPE leisure complex
• The Castleford Project
• first The Wakefield District Development Agency
• Castleford Churches
• Castleford - My Home Town
• Henry Moore Foundation
• Allerton Bywater Millennium Community
• Junction 32
• Ridings FM
• Yvette Cooper MP
• [3]