Girlington: what to know before moving day
The name is old, first recorded in 1412. In 1961 Morrisons opened its first supermarket inside the converted Victoria cinema on Thornton Road; the cinema building has gone, and a modern supermarket stands nearby. The Elite cinema at the corner of Fairbank Road and Toller Lane, opened in 1913, is now a mosque behind its original stone front.
Girlington Road and Kensington Street form the middle of the district, with Birch Street, Willow Street, Hoxton Street and Thorn Street between them. Girlington Primary School and the community centre are on Girlington Road, and the post office is on Kensington Street. West Park, on West Park Road, has a bowling green, play area and skatepark, and St Chad's Church on St Chad's Road dates from 1912.
Listed buildings include Rand's Almshouses of 1876 and the Whetley Mills buildings. The retail park around Ingleby Road, with Morrisons, Lidl and The Range, is the landmark most drivers already know.
How the van gets to Girlington
The main roads are the A6177 Ingleby Road and Whetley Lane, part of the Bradford ring road, the B6144 Toller Lane and the B6145 Thornton Road. Girlington Road leaves Thornton Road and runs up to Duckworth Lane, and Whetley Lane meets both Thornton Road and Ingleby Road, so the van can reach most streets without crossing the centre.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 5 to 20 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Also covered around Girlington
Brown Royd.
Services for Girlington
Each service below links to its Bradford page, which covers the job in detail.
Girlington: questions before you book
Was the first Morrisons really in Girlington?
Yes. Morrisons opened its first supermarket here in 1961, in the converted Victoria cinema on Thornton Road. The old building was later demolished and a newer store stands nearby, off Young Street.
Why is Girlington in a different ward from Four Lane Ends?
Ward lines do not follow local names. Postcode BD8 9NW in Girlington returns Toller ward, while Four Lane Ends, just down Thornton Road, returns the City ward. Both are Bradford Council, so bins and council tax work the same way.
Nearby areas
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): BD8 9NW is in Toller ward, Bradford, unparished area
- Girlington (Wikipedia): name recorded in 1412, the Elite cinema (1913) at Fairbank Road and Toller Lane now a mosque, Morrisons' first supermarket (1961) in the Victoria cinema on Thornton Road, West Park, community centre on Girlington Road, St Chad's (1912), Rand's Almshouses (1876), Whetley Mills, the Ingleby Road shopping park, post office on Kensington Street, Girlington Primary School, main roads A6177, B6144, B6145
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): Girlington Road to Thornton Road and Duckworth Lane, Kensington Street, Birch Street, Willow Street, Hoxton Street, Thorn Street, Whetley Lane joining Thornton Road and Ingleby Road, West Park, Morrisons on Young Street
- postcodes.io reverse lookup at the OS Open Names point for Brown Royd (listed under 'Also covered'): nearest postcode BD8 9AD, City ward, Bradford