Holme Wood
Flats on Dane Court Road
Holme Wood is located in West Yorkshire
Holme Wood
Holme Wood
Location within West Yorkshire
OS grid referenceSE189313
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townBRADFORD
Postcode districtBD4
Dialling code01274
PoliceWest Yorkshire
FireWest Yorkshire
AmbulanceYorkshire

Holme Wood (sometimes written as Holmewood) is a housing estate in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.

Geography and administration

Holme Wood is situated off Wakefield Road in the south-east of the City of Bradford and borders Tyersal. It is part of Tong ward. The estate is managed by Incommunities and Bradford Council. In 1996, it was one of the largest council-housing estates in West Yorkshire.[1] Most of it consists of low-rise buildings, there are only two tall blocks of flats, namely Ogden House and Kelvin House on Dane Court Road.[2] The estate is rambling; however, there are many pleasant green areas dotted around the estate, among them Valley Natural Play Park along the upper course of Holme Beck and Pit Hill Park at the boundary to the nearby village of Tong in the green belt.

History

View towards Holme Wood from which the name of the settlement originated
Holme Church

A small hamlet named Holme Shaw existed on Ned Lane, west of a forest called Holme Wood.[3] Later it was simply known as Holme[4][5] and was part of the civil parish of Tong.[6] It is now part of Tong ward.[7] The etymology of Holme Shaw was identified by Albert Hugh Smith as Old English holegn ('holly-tree') and sceaga ('copse'); Holme Wood means the same.[8] Residents refer to it as Holmewood (all one word).

The present housing estate between Dudley Hill and Ned Lane was built in the 1950s, officially opening in 1957.[9] The history of the estate in the twentieth century was characterised by the Bradford Telegraph and Argus as beginning as a 'pioneering housing estate', becoming 'a hot-bed of crime' around the 1980s, but undergoing 'a full regeneration programme' in the 1990s.[9]

Taxi boycott

In September 2016, it was reported that several taxi companies had listed the estate as a 'no-go' area, due to anti-social attacks being carried out on drivers throughout 2016. Some incidents left drivers with black eyes, while others were subjected to being harassed for money after their windows were smashed in.[10]

Subsequent to the taxi boycott, concerted efforts by Bradford South policing district, and by youth workers, have claimed some success in reducing anti-social behaviour on the estate. Some work has been funded by Comic Relief and has involved partnerships with Bradford City football club and Bradford Bulls rugby league club.[11]

Population

Pockets of Holme Wood are in the top 5% and 1% of the Governments Index of Deprivation (2015).[12] Voluntary sector groups, churches and schools work tirelessly to address the issues of poverty and deprivation on this 1950s housing estate. The ethnic origin of most of the population of the estate is White British; however, the number of residents belonging to ethnic minority groups has increased over recent years especially the British Pakistani community. Of the residents of Tong Ward, to which Holme Wood belongs, 82.8% were born in the United Kingdom, 0.4% in the Republic of Ireland, 3.1% in other EU countries, and 13.6% outside the EU.[13]

Notable people

Holme Wood is the birthplace of actresses Sophie McShera[14] and Jennifer Metcalfe.[15]

Holme Wood is the setting of much of the 2021 film Ali & Ava.[16]

References

  1. ↑ Denton, John (1996). "Filling the gap: recent branch library development in Bradford". Library Review. 45 (7): 23.
  2. ↑ Spencer, David (8 August 2005). "Flats on Dane Court Road, Holme Wood". Geograph Britain and Ireland. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  3. ↑ "Sheet 88". Ordnance Survey, First Series. 1805–1869.
  4. ↑ "Sheet 96 - Leeds and Bradford". One-inch to the mile, 7th Series, 1952-1961. Ordnance Survey. 1954.
  5. ↑ "SE13 (includes: Baildon; Bingley; Bradford; Leeds; Shipley)". 1:25,000 maps of Great Britain, 1937-1961. Ordnance Survey. 1952.
  6. ↑ "Boundary Map of Tong Ch/CP". A Vision of Britain through Time. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  7. ↑ "BMDC Tong Ward Polling Districts". City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. October 2005. Retrieved 7 July 2017.
  8. ↑ The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire, English Place-Name Society, 30–37, 8 vols (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1961–63), vol. 32, p. 32.
  9. 1 2 Davies, Ali (30 September 2007). "Estate marks a golden year". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
  10. ↑ "Yob attacks on cab drivers lead to estate boycott". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. 22 September 2016. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Mead, Helen (18 January 2017). "Efforts being made to rid Bradford's Holme Wood estate of crime and anti-social behaviour". Bradford Telegraph & Argus. Retrieved 22 October 2019.
  12. ↑ "English indices of deprivation 2015". Department for Communities and Local Government. 30 September 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  13. ↑ "Holme Wood, Bradford". Retrieved 11 December 2016.
  14. ↑ "Future is bright for girls on film". Telegraph & Argus. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  15. ↑ "Make me the McQueen of soaps!". Telegraph & Argus. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 11 February 2011. Retrieved 17 May 2012.
  16. ↑ Clayton, Emma (16 October 2021). "Holme Wood residents in cast of film that's 'love letter to Bradford'". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 4 December 2022.
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