Birkenshaw: what to know before moving day
The name comes from Old English for 'birch wood'. Birkenshaw was a chapelry in the parish of Birstall, became an urban district in 1894 and joined Spenborough in 1937, and its station, Birkenshaw and Tong, closed to passengers in 1953. The centre today is round Bradford Road and Town Street, where the Co-op, The George, a butcher, a pharmacy and Birkenshaw Health Centre are within a short walk of each other.
Residential streets close to the centre include Croft Street, Croft Bank, James Street, Station Lane, Old Lane, Mill Lane, Threelands and Ellison Grove, with Birkenshaw Park and its bowling green nearby. The village has two schools, Birkenshaw Primary School and BBG Academy, plus St Paul's Church and the Birkenshaw and East Bierley Methodist Church. The fire service headquarters is at Oakroyd Hall, which in the Second World War housed the bunker controlling anti-aircraft guns for the West Riding.
How the van gets to Birkenshaw
From Bradford the A651 is the direct road: it leaves the A650 at Tong and runs south through Birkenshaw, crossing the A58, and on to Gomersal and Heckmondwike. The A58 gives the east to west line, to Drighlington and Leeds one way and towards Halifax the other. The M62 is near too, and junction 26 at Chain Bar connects with the A58.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 15 to 25 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Birkenshaw
Each service below links to its Birstall page, which covers how the job works in and around Birstall.
Birkenshaw: questions before you book
Is Birkenshaw in Kirklees or Bradford?
Kirklees. The BD11 postcode belongs to Bradford's postcode area, but postcodes.io places BD11 2AQ in the Birstall and Birkenshaw ward of Kirklees. Drighlington, next along the A58, shares BD11 yet is in Leeds, so the postcode alone does not tell you the council.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD11 2AQ is in the Birstall & Birkenshaw ward of Kirklees, unparished, Spen Valley constituency
- Birkenshaw (Wikipedia): crossroads of the A58 and A651, ward population, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service headquarters, 'birch wood', chapelry of Birstall, urban district 1894, Spenborough 1937, Birkenshaw and Tong station closed to passengers 1953, two schools
- Gomersal (Wikipedia): anti-aircraft control bunker in the grounds of Oakroyd Hall, now the fire service headquarters
- Drighlington (Wikipedia): BD11 postcode, in the City of Leeds, on the A58
- A650 road (Wikipedia): the A651 leaves the A650 at Tong
- M62 motorway (Wikipedia): junction 26, Chain Bar, interchanges with the M606, the A58 and the A638
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): Bradford Road A651, Town Street, Croft Street, Croft Bank, James Street, Station Lane, Old Lane, Mill Lane, Threelands, Ellison Grove, Co-op, The George, butcher, pharmacy, Birkenshaw Health Centre, Birkenshaw Park and bowling green, St Paul's Church, Methodist church, primary school, fire service headquarters