Girlington is an area in

Bradford Bradford is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in West Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the Local Government Act 1972, 1974 reform, the city status in the United Kingdo ...

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. Girlington is located to the west of Bradford city centre. The majority population of Girlington are of South Asian origin, in particular Pakistani, Afghan and Bangladeshi.

History

The stone-built Elite Cinema was constructed for the Elite Picture House Company at the junction of Fairbank Road and Toller Lane with a barrel vaulted ceiling and seating capacity for 700 – opening in 1913. The cinema closed in 1924 to enlarge the hall to 1,304 seats, reopening the next year. An electronic organ was installed in 1925 and sound in 1928. The cinema had a large stage for live performances but these ended during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The cinema was sold to C & H Cinemas after the war and in the early 1950s the organ removed, the cinema refurbished and briefly supported live stage shows. Star Cinemas took over and installed a wide screen in 1954 but closed the cinema in 1968 – reopening as a

bingo Bingo or B-I-N-G-O may refer to: Arts and entertainment Gaming * Bingo, a game using a printed card of numbers ** Bingo (British version), a game using a printed card of 15 numbers on three lines; most commonly played in the UK and Ireland ** B ...

club. In 1986 the property was sold to become the Jamiyat Tabligh-Ul-Islam mosque but was partially destroyed by fire in 1987 and partially demolished. In the 1990s the auditorium was rebuilt but the building retained the original stone facade and entrance. Opened in 1914 the stone-built Victoria Picture Palace was constructed on Thornton Road and was operated by Hibbert Pictures Ltd. The cinema was refurbished in 1927 and reopened as the New Victoria. In 1929 a British Talking Pictures sound system was installed, and by 1934 a Western Electric Sound system had been installed. In 1955 there was a serious fire after which the cinema was refurbished, and a

CinemaScope CinemaScope is an anamorphic format, anamorphic lens series used, from 1953 to 1967, and less often later, for shooting widescreen films that, crucially, could be screened in theatres using existing equipment, albeit with a lens adapter. Its cr ...

wide screen installed while the seating capacity was further reduced. The cinema closed in 1961 and after a short period as a

hall the cinema was bought by Wm. Morrisons Ltd for conversion to a supermarket. In 1961 Morrisons opened its first supermarket (Morrisons Victoria Supermarket) in the converted Victoria Cinema in Girlington. The cinema building was subsequently demolished and a nearby modern supermarket building replaces it. Over the years a number of

public houses A pub (short for public house) is in several countries a drinking establishment licensed to serve alcoholic drinks for consumption on the premises. The term first appeared in England in the late 17th century, to differentiate private ho ...

and former hotels in Girlington have closed – The Craven Heifer (named for the eponymous

Craven Heifer Craven Heifer (1807–1812) was a cow which lived in the early 19th century, and remains the largest cow ever shown in England. Craven Heifer had a weight of 4,370 lbs, a length of 11.3 ft, a height of 5.3 ft, and a thickest girth of 10.1 ft. ...

), The Girlington, The Shoulder of Mutton on Thornton Road, The George and The Royal on Kensington Street and The Travellers Rest (formerly known as the Tut 'n' Shive) on Duckworth Lane – only one pub now remains open.

Landmarks

In the west of Girlington on West Park Road is West Park a small community park. There are areas for

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

five-a-side football Five-a-side football is a version of minifootball, in which each team fields five players (four Outfield#In association football, outfield players and a goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper). Other differences from association football ...

, and

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

, a

bowling green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

, a fenced-in

play area A playground, playpark, or play area is a place designed to provide an environment for children that facilitates play, typically outdoors. While a playground is usually designed for children, some are designed for other age groups, or people w ...

and a

skatepark A skatepark, or skate park, is a purpose-built recreational environment made for skateboarding, BMX, Freestyle scootering, scootering, and aggressive inline skating. A skatepark may contain half-pipes, handrails, funboxes, vert ramps, stairw ...

. Girlington has a

community centre A community centre, community center, or community hall is a public location where members of a community gather for group activities, social support, public information, and other purposes. They may be open for the whole community or for a sp ...

on Girlington Road and churches include Saint Chad's on St Chad's Road, and Saint Philip's on Thorn Street. Mosques include Jamiyat Tabligh ul Islam on Hoxton Street and Masjid E Umar on Durham road. There are a number of

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

s in Girlington - Rand's Almshouses (1876), a single storey range of

almshouse An almshouse (also known as a bede-house, poorhouse, or hospital) is charitable housing provided to people in a particular community, especially during the Middle Ages. They were often built for the poor of a locality, for those who had held ce ...

s with 2-storey wings, mill buildings within Whetley Mills, the Parish Church of Saint Chad (1912) on St Chad's Road, 80 and 82 Duckworth Lane.

Economy

Around Ingleby Road is a shopping park consisting of shops and supermarkets such as

Morrisons Wm Morrison Supermarkets Limited, trading as Morrisons, is the List of supermarket chains in the United Kingdom, fifth largest supermarket chain in the United Kingdom. As of 2021, the company had 497 supermarkets across England, Wales and Sco ...

Lidl Lidl ( ) is a trademark, used by two Germany, German international discount supermarket, discount retailer chain store, chains that operates over 12,600 stores. The ''LD Stiftung'' operates the stores in Germany and the ''Lidl Stiftung & Co. K ...

, The Range,

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

KFC KFC Corporation, doing business as KFC (an abbreviation of Kentucky Fried Chicken), is an American fast food restaurant chain specializing in fried chicken and chicken sandwiches. Headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, it is the world's se ...

, and

Domino's Pizza Domino's Pizza, Inc., commonly referred to as Domino's, is an American multinational pizza restaurant chain founded in 1960 and led by CEO Russell Weiner. The corporation is Delaware General Corporation Law, Delaware-domiciled and headquartered ...

. The area has a post office in Kensington Street.

Education

Schools in the area include Girlington Primary School on Girlington Road, St Philip's Primary on Whitby Terrace and St William's Catholic Primary School on Young Street.

Transport

The main roads through the area are the A6177 Ingleby Road - Whetley Lane part of the Bradford ring road, B6144 Toller Lane, and B6145 Thornton Road.

Sport

Cricket is played at Girlington Cricket Club.;

References

External links

{{navboxes , list1= {{Geographic location , Northwest = Daisy Hill , North = Heaton , Northeast = Manningham , West = Allerton , Centre = Girlington , East = Manningham , Southwest = , South = Lidget Green , Southeast = Longlands,
Lister Hills {{City of Bradford Areas of Bradford