Castleford is a town in the county of West Yorkshire, England, near to Pontefract, with a population of approximately 40,000. To the north are the River Calder, the River Aire and the Aire and Calder Navigation. To the west and south is the M62 motorway.

History

Castleford is built upon the site of a Roman army settlement that was named Lagentium or Legioleum. The modern name of the town is derived from the fort, Castle (referring to the fort) and Ford (referring to the River Aire which runs through Castleford.)

Castleford started as a quiet village, but between 1811 and 1891, its population increased from 890 to 14,143, due to the Industrial Revolution. Many people worked in coal mines and in the glass-making, chemical and textile industries. Castleford Pottery is still famous amongst avid collectors.

The sculptor Henry Moore was born in Castleford, the son of a miner; some of his work can be seen at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park at Bretton.

The town today

The town has suffered great social and economic deprivation over the last few years, with the closure of the collieries having had a great impact on the population. The Selby coal field, now entirely closed, employed many people from the Castleford area, and the Prince of Wales colliery in Pontefract took many workers from the surrounding area.

In a bid to alleviate this deprivation, Castleford has seen numerous developments in the last couple of years, all aimed at making Castleford and the surrounding area a better place. The Freeport Outlet village and the XSCAPE leisure complex (Europe's largest indoor real snow slope) have added jobs and brought commerce to the town. All of these developments have been fought for by the local MP, Yvette Cooper.

Castleford is now part of a unique program of revitalization known as The Castleford Project. The Project is supported by a host of public agencies and organisations, including Channel 4 and seeks to deliver a series of developments that will improve the "quality of life, environment and investment potential of the town." This includes the movement of the outdoor market, a new pedestrian/cycle bridge across the River Aire (there is only one crossing) and better open spaces and play facilities in local neighborhoods. The project will be the subject of a major series of TV shows on Channel 4 in 2005.

Castleford's favourite sport is Rugby League. The local team, Castleford Tigers, was relegated from Super League in 2004.

Castleford is also the name of a fictionalised version of the English university city of Cambridge in the children's books of Philippa Pearce, most notably "Tom's Midnight Garden" and "Minnow on the Say". The most obvious difference between this "Castleford" and the real Cambridge was that "Castleford" did not have a university.

External links

• The Castleford Project - http://www.channel4.com/castleford
• Castleford Tigers - http://www.castigers.com/
• XScape leisure complex - http://www.xscape.co.uk/castleford/
• Freeport outlet village - http://www.freeportplc.com/castleford/