Baildon, United Kingdom

Baildon lies to the north east of Bradford, and is linked to Bradford and Shipley by the B6151. To the north of Baildon lies Baildon Moor, a part of Rombalds Moor, with several quarries and underlying strata of coal. There are the remains of old bell pits for mining the coal.

Across Baildon Moor is the village of Menston, the town of Ilkley and Ilkley Moor. Baildon is situated on a hill to the north of the River Aire and the Leeds and Liverpool Canal.

Baildon is 9 miles (14 km) from Leeds city centre and 3 miles (5 km) from Bradford city centre.

Baildon has a modest town centre with most everyday amenities including independent traders, estate agents and family law solicitors.

There is a Co-op supermarket and a small Tesco on the outskirts.

The centre is home to many independent shops including Westgate General Stores, Seasons Home, Finesse Gifts and Baildon Interiors.

There are also several independently owned hair dressers and beauty salons and a variety of restaurants and take-aways.

Charlestown in south east Baildon is the area of Baildon with the highest concentration of industry.

The area is in the valley bottom between Otley Road and the River Aire, and includes the Acorn Park Industrial Estate and the Butterfield Industrial Estate. Notable companies established in Charlestown include Manor Coating Systems and Denso Marston Radiators.

Further north east in Charlestown there are plans for a 'Baildon Business Park' and hotel on a green field site near Buck Lane, at a cost of £25 million but there is opposition to the move.

Another industrial area is the Tong Park Industrial Estate off Otley Road in eastern Baildon.

For nearly a quarter of a century the August bank holiday weekend saw over 500 Harley-Davidson riders arrive in Baildon as part of the annual UK rally of the Harley-Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain fundraising rally.

The HDRCGB ran the rally up to 2001 when it moved to Berkshire.

In 2003, Harley-Davidson's Centenary Year, the HDRCGB hosted the event for the last time in Baildon.

The rally is now organised by the Shipley Harley-Davidson Club.

In 2008 430 riders were given a police escort down Browgate towards Hollins Hill, from where most riders travelled to Harewood House.

Billy Liar (1963) – Locations: Midland Road; Hinchliffe Avenue (Number 37 is the Fisher household)

Monty Python's The Meaning of Life (1983) – Locations: Baildon Moor

Damon & Debbie (1987) – Locations: St Anne's Terrace; Threshfield

Rita, Sue & Bob Too (1987) – Locations: Bramham Drive (Number 5 is Bob's House); Baildon Moor; Baildon Village.

Where The Heart Is (1997) – Locations: Ferniehurst First School, Cliffe Lane West & Baildon Green

Baildon Orchestra is an amateur orchestra which was formed in the mid-1940s and still meets on a weekly basis throughout the year. website baildonorchestra.weebly.com

There were a large number of First and Middle schools in the area, including Ferniehurst First School, Tong Park First School, Belmont Middle School and Ladderbanks Middle School, before the 1998 Bradford Education reform which returned the area to a two-tier school system. Currently, there are four local primary schools: Sandal Primary School to the North on West Lane, Baildon Church of England School to the east off Langley Lane, Hoyle Court Primary school in Charlestown and Baildon Glen Primary School to the south on Thompson Lane.

The nearest secondary school for the area is Titus Salt School on Higher Coach Road, overlooking Roberts Park, Saltaire. There is dispute as to which town the school actually is in, some classing it as Baildon and some as Saltaire.