Farsley

Farsley is a town in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough, West Yorkshire, England 6 miles (9 km ) to the west of Leeds city centre, and 4 miles (6 km) east of Bradford. It was formerly in the municipal borough of Pudsey.

It is mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book as "Fersellei" also as "Ferselleia". During the industrial revolution Farsley was a centre for wool processing as there were a number of mills in the area.

Farsley is just off the main road between Leeds and Bradford and just off the A6110 Leeds outer ring road. New Pudsey railway station is between Farsley and Pudsey providing train services towards Leeds, Bradford, Manchester Victoria and Blackpool. This station was the subject of a Monty Python sketch about a Pink Blancmange.

The Rev. Samuel Marsden (born in Farsley in Yorkshire 25 June 1764, died Windsor, New South Wales 12 May 1838) was associated with the reformist William Wilberforce in England, was ordained in 1793, married Elisabeth Fristan, and then sailed to New South Wales, Australia. He arrived in Sydney on 10 March 1794, shortly after the birth of their first child, Anne. By 1795 he was settled in Parramatta, where he became Chaplain, wealthy landowner, farmer and magistrate. He was known as the "Flogging Parson", because even by the standards of his day, he inflicted severe punishments. This has been attributed to a dislike of Roman Catholics and Irish.Joseph Holt, an Irish priest and activist, left an account of a flogging ordered by Marsden. Sheephead Park is a memorial garden dedicated to Marsden and is situated on Farsley Town Street.

There are now only 4 of the previous 11 pubs left in the village though a recent addition is a "wine bar" aptly called 'The Village' Bar & Bistro which is located on Town Street. The Fleece at the bottom of the village was the second pub purchased by Joshua Tetley's & Son the Leeds Brewer, and the first outside of the brewer's grounds.

port

Farsley is home to the non-League football team Farsley Celtic who play at Throstle Nest. They won successive promotions in 2006 and 2007. In May 2006 they won promotion from the UniBond League to the Conference North. In May 2007 they beat Hinckley United in the play off final to reach the Blue Square Premiership aka The Conference.

Farsley Cricket Club, whose ground is situated in Red Lane, play in the Bradford League Division 1. Raymond Illingworth, former England cricket captain, is their most notable former player.

External links

* [http://www.farsleytoday.co.uk/ YEP Farsley Today Community Website]

* [http://www.locallife.co.uk/leeds/streetindex.asp?town=Farsley Street index]