Harden is a civil parish and village within the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England, 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Bingley. It has a population of 1,615.[1]
Contents |
Harden is home to two churches, one Congregational, and Harden Primary School. There is also a Post Office and an independent butcher's. There is a village park, a large square piece of land that hosts the annual gala during the Summer. Harden is also the home to the St. Ive's Estate, a large stretch of land with woodland and a well-equipped children's playpark, as well as paths up to moorland. St Ives also contains an 18-hole golf course and golf club. There is a beautician and a hairdresser along Long Lane as well, opposite Harden Primary School's carpark.
There is an annual gala in Harden park in the Summer, which has races, jokes and a parade processing down Long Lane past the school and the church. The parade generally consists of the Harden Players' (a local drama club) float and Harden Primary School's float, each with a theme, and then the gala queen's float with her two attendants, all dressed up in evening wear with bouquets of flowers. A marching band lead the procession and Harden Pre-School bring up the back in costume.
Harden Players is a local drama club that puts on productions roughly twice a year, with children and adults, ages ranging from 4 to about 54. In recent years they have put on enjoyable pantomimes as well as Macbeth.
Every Summer St Ives puts on a medieval fayre, with jugglers and jousting and other entertainments. Medieval tents are set up on the top field and demonstrations are done to show how simple tasks like the washing up and making a tent peg would be completed.
Excavations on Leech Lane, off Hill End Lane towards Cullingworth, have suggested Roman settlement in the area from c.150AD. Archaeologists have, in the past, unearthed pottery, coins, and even elephant ivory on this site, suggesting an Anglo-Roman villa may have stood here.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Harden,_West_Yorkshire Harden, West Yorkshire] at Wikimedia Commons