Airedale is a suburb in the

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Castleford Castleford is a town within the City of Wakefield district, West Yorkshire, England. It had a population of 45,106 at a 2021 population estimate. Historic counties of England, Historically in the West Riding of Yorkshire, to the north of the t ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a Metropolitan counties of England, metropolitan and Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and east, South Yorkshire and De ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It consists mainly of Local Authority Housing. It borders with

Ferry Fryston Ferry Fryston is a suburb of the town of Castleford, in the City of Wakefield district, of West Yorkshire, England. The appropriate ward is called Airedale and Ferry Fryston. Ferry Fryston was an ancient parish in the wapentake of Osgoldcross ...

. The ward of the City of Wakefield called Airedale and Ferry Fryston had a population of 14,811 at the 2011 Census. The

River Aire The River Aire is a major river in Yorkshire, England, in length. Part of the river below Leeds is canalised, and is known as the Aire and Calder Navigation. The ''Handbook for Leeds and Airedale'' (1890) notes that the distance from Malha ...

runs in close proximity to Airedale and is thought to get its name from there. The area attracted much media attention in November 1984, when a local strikebreaker named Michael Fletcher was savagely beaten by a group of pickets during the

UK miners' strike (1984-1985) UK miners' strike may refer to: *1893 United Kingdom miners' strike *South Wales miners' strike (1910) *1912 United Kingdom national coal strike *UK miners' strike (1921) *UK miners' strike (1953) *1969 United Kingdom miners' strike, a widespread u ...

. A masked gang waving baseball bats invaded his house and beat him for five minutes, whilst his pregnant wife and two children hid upstairs. Two miners from Wakefield were later convicted of causing grievous bodily harm in the incident, whereas four others were acquitted of riot and assault.

References

Geography of the City of Wakefield Castleford {{WestYorkshire-geo-stub