Place:Aireborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, England

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NameAireborough
TypeUrban district
Coordinates53.87°N 1.681°W
Located inWest Riding of Yorkshire, England     (1937 - 1974)
Also located inWest Yorkshire, England     (1974 - )
Yorkshire, England    
See alsoGuiseley, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandurban district which formed Aireborough in 1937
Rawdon, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandurban district which formed Aireborough in 1937
Yeadon, West Riding of Yorkshire, Englandurban district which formed Aireborough in 1937
Leeds (metropolitan borough), West Yorkshire, Englandmetropolitan borough of which it has been a part since 1974
the following text is based on an article in Wikipedia

Aireborough was an urban district in the West Riding of Yorkshire from 1937 to 1974. It was situated north of Leeds. The district was named after the River Aire and now forms part of the City of Leeds metropolitan borough.

In 1937 the following urban districts merged to form Aireborough:

plus the civil parishes of

which had been previously in the Wharfedale Rural District.)

The name Aireborough was first applied to a fictional and wealthy manufacturing town, in short stories written for newspapers of the late nineteenth century by Charles Darcy Friel, who lived and worked in Leeds, and died there in 1910. The name derives from the River Aire, which intersects the West Yorkshire Urban Area.

In 1936, the urban councils of Guiseley, Yeadon and Rawdon, along with smaller settlements belonging to Wharfedale Rural District, decided to form a new autonomous Urban District Council. While the area was similar to the former civil parish of Guiseley, the name Aireborough was instead adopted – to reflect the equality of all townships included in the district and "wipe out old jealousies, and concentrate more readily on the problems ahead, working together as a team". On 1 April 1937, the Urban District came into being. Aireborough Urban District was subsumed by Leeds metropolitan borough under the 1974 local government reorganisation.

The main townships of Guiseley, Rawdon and Yeadon grew into industrial textile and manufacturing townships from their medieval farming/weaving origins. The smaller areas of Nether Yeadon, Carlton, and Hawksworth still retain their pre-industrial character.

Aireborough, in common with the South Pennines Heritage Area, was an important area for social developments such as: non-conformist religion (e.g. Quakers, Baptists and Methodists); co-operative movements and; 19th century philanthropists who donated public buildings and facilities, such as Jonathan Peate.

Many of the mills made fabric or supported the textile industry for national companies such as Jaeger and Marks & Spencer. However, since 2000 most of the bigger industry has left, and Leeds Bradford International Airport, in Yeadon, is now one of the biggest employers. There are though still some successful quality textile firms such as Abraham Moon who have survived and thrived, and a range of smaller and medium size businesses who base themselves in the area to take advantage of the setting and the local skilled labour force.

The Districts of Leeds Metropolitan Borough established 1974

  1. Morley Municipal Borough
  2. Pudsey Municipal Borough
  3. Aireborough Urban District
  4. Horsforth Urban District
  5. Otley Urban District
  6. Garforth Urban District
  7. Rothwell Urban District
  8. Tadcaster Rural District (parts)
  9. Wetherby Rural District (part)
  10. Wharfedale Rural District (part)
Image:Leeds1974.png

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This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Aireborough. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with WeRelate, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.