Barlby

infobox UK place
country= England
official_name= Barlby
region= Yorkshire and the Humber
os_grid_reference= SE631342
latitude= 53.784
longitude= -1.068
post_town= SELBY
postcode_area= YO
postcode_district= YO8
dial_code= 01757
shire_county= North Yorkshire
shire_district= Selby
constituency_westminster= Selby

Barlby is a linear village in North Yorkshire, England. It lies to the north-east of the market town of Selby, and is bordered to the west by the River Ouse and to the east by the A19 Barlby bypass. Across the bypass is Barlby's smaller sister village, Osgodby.Seen from the air, Barlby is long and thin, roughly three miles in length, and runs along the old route of the A19. Although it is classified as a single village, it consists of two distinct areas, Barlby Hilltop, at the north end of the village, and Barlby Bridge which lies slightly to the south west. The building of new estates in recent years has meant, however, that the division between them has blurred somewhat.

Barlby Hilltop, contains Hilltop Primary School, the Post Office, a library, the Craig Bonner memorial centre, the late nineteenth century church, and Barlby High School, which also serves students from the surrounding villages of Osgodby, Riccall, Kelfield, Escrick, Cliffe, North Duffield, South Duffield, Hemingbrough and Bubwith. Despite its name, it is not really on much of a hill, but is slightly higher than Barlby Bridge.

A brief stretch of road separates 'Hilltop' from 'Bridge', which takes its name from the old toll bridge at the southernmost end of the village. This is the boundary with Selby, and in fact Barlby Bridge is practically a suburb of the town - it is much closer to Selby than it is to the Hilltop end of the village. Barlby Bridge also has a primary school, as well as two of the village's major employers, BOCM Pauls, which produces animal feed, and Greencore Foods.

Traditionally, Barlby's population was split between the coal mining and farming communities, but with the closure of many mines and the changes in the agricultural sector, the professions of 'Barlbarians' are now far more diverse.

Notable events and people

Situated as it is in the Vale of York, the village is vulnerable to flooding, and was particularly badly hit in November 2000, when about half of it was submerged. However, the Environment Agency has commenced work to substantially upgrade the flood defences in the area.

Footballer Russell Howarth, who attended the high school in the mid-90s, was a youth international for the England football team.

External links

*The Ordnance Survey grid reference for Barlby Hilltop is gbmappingsmall|SE631342
*The Ordnance Survey grid reference for Barlby Bridge is gbmappingsmall|SE627329
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1036851.stm] BBC news story for the November 2000 flooding of Barlby.