Blubberhouses: what to know before moving day
The name comes from Old English for the houses by the bubbling stream. There is little more than a church, a hall and scattered houses: St Andrew's Church, designed by E. B. Lamb and Grade II listed, Blubberhouses Hall with its sundial of 1742, and Myer's Lair barn. Westhouse flax mill stood across the A59 from the church until 1877, when its stone went into the dam wall of Fewston Reservoir. The cricket ground sits beside the River Washburn.
The A59 west of the village crosses Blubberhouses Moor, where the 1820s cut has suffered many landslips. A new bypass following the old turnpike line was due to open in June 2026, and OpenStreetMap now shows the A59 Kex Gill Bypass west of the village.
How the van gets to Blubberhouses
The A59 runs through as Hopper Lane, a 60 mph trunk road, with Hall Lane and Cooper Lane leaving it for the houses and Hardisty Hill climbing north towards Thruscross. From Bradford the route data comes by Otley, over Leathley Bridge and up the B6451 to Cobby Syke Road and the A59.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 40 to 55 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Blubberhouses
Each service below links to its Ilkley page, which covers how the job works in and around Ilkley.
Blubberhouses: questions before you book
Why is Blubberhouses LS21 and not a Harrogate postcode?
LS21 is the Otley postcode district, and it reaches up the Washburn Valley as far as Blubberhouses. The village is still in North Yorkshire, in the Washburn & Birstwith ward, with North Yorkshire Council for local services.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): LS21 2NX is in Washburn & Birstwith ward, parish of Blubberhouses
- Blubberhouses (Wikipedia): Washburn Valley, on the A59 between Harrogate and Skipton, north of Fewston Reservoir, population 40 (2015), name, Westhouse mill closed 1877 and its stone used for the reservoir dam, St Andrew's by E. B. Lamb, cricket ground by the Washburn, landslips on the 1820s cut and the bypass due June 2026
- Listed buildings in Blubberhouses (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List): St Andrew's Church, Blubberhouses Hall, sundial 1742, Myer's Lair Barn
- OpenStreetMap: Hopper Lane and Kex Gill Bypass (A59, 60 mph), Hall Lane, Cooper Lane, Hardisty Hill, St Andrew's Church, cricket ground, River Washburn
- OSRM route estimate from Bradford (OpenStreetMap road data, checked 2026-09-28): Otley, Leathley Bridge, B6451, Cobby Syke Road, A59 (Hopper Lane), Cooper Lane
- LS postcode area (Wikipedia, from Royal Mail): LS21 post town Otley (includes Blubberhouses), LS22 Wetherby, LS29 Ilkley (includes Denton)