Cononley: what to know before moving day
Main Street is the spine of the village and much of its history is on it. The medieval plots on its north side ran back to Back Lane, now Meadow Lane, and the stone houses built by prosperous farmers in the 17th century are still here: Milton House is dated 1635, and Bradleys Farmhouse, Cross House, 92 Main Street and the New Inn are all listed. Cononley Hall, where the Swire family lived, was divided into three houses in 1911. With homes this old, check stair turns and door widths before booking.
Industry came later. In 1832 a building society of weavers finished 32 loom houses on Cross Hills Road, now called Aire View and nicknamed Frying Pan Row. The mills by the station were rebuilt at the end of the 19th century, and the old High Mill is now apartments called Horace Mills, with the mill chimney still a local landmark. Council housing followed at Crag View from 1925, in locally quarried stone, and at Meadow Croft after the Second World War.
Cononley station sits right beside Main Street and has step-free access to both platforms over the level crossing at its Skipton end. On weekdays it has trains every half hour to Leeds and hourly to Bradford Forster Square.
How the van gets to Cononley
Cononley Lane leaves the A629 Skipton Road at the same junction as Farnhill's Main Street and runs west over Mill Bridge into the village. Skipton Road and Meadow Lane lead north out of Main Street, and Crosshills Road heads south to Cononley Road for Glusburn. The level crossing by the station is on Main Street, so allow for the barriers being down.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 30 to 45 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Cononley
Each service below links to its Skipton page, which covers how the job works in and around Skipton.
Cononley: questions before you book
How is Cononley pronounced?
Locally it is KUUN-lə, though KON-ən-lee is also heard. One local historian collected more than 60 spellings of the name over the centuries, so a sat-nav mismatch on spelling is not unusual.
Could someone take the train while the van brings the furniture?
Yes. Cononley has direct electric trains from Leeds and from Bradford Forster Square, and the station is on Main Street, so it is easy to meet the van at the house.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD20 8LH is in Aire Valley ward, North Yorkshire, parish of Cononley
- Cononley (Wikipedia): pronunciation, 3 miles south of Skipton, 0.9 miles west of the A629, 1,172 people in 2011, Main Street plots to Back (now Meadow) Lane, Milton House 1635, Cononley Hall and the Swire family, divided in 1911, Club Row of 1832 on Cross Hills Road now Aire View ('Frying Pan Row'), Station Mills and High Mill now Horace Mills, mill chimney landmark, Crag View council housing from 1925, Meadow Croft, 60 spellings of the name
- Cononley railway station (Wikipedia): beside Main Street, step-free access over the level crossing at the Skipton end, half-hourly to Leeds and hourly to Bradford Forster Square on weekday daytimes, electric trains
- Listed buildings in Cononley (Wikipedia, from the National Heritage List for England): Milton House, Bradleys Farmhouse, Cross House, 92 Main Street, New Inn, Cononley Hall
- OpenStreetMap: Main Street, Cononley; Cononley Lane from the A629 (at Farnhill's Main Street) over Mill Bridge; Skipton Road, Meadow Lane, Crosshills Road to Cononley Road; Crag View, Meadow Croft, Aire View