Man with a Van Idle

Idle: what to know before moving day

The centre is a small village green ringed by shops, banks, pubs and places to eat, and Idle and The Green together make up a conservation area. High Street runs down to it from Highfield Road, past the medical centre, the dental practice and the Idle Working Men's Club, opened in 1928. Several of the oldest homes are listed: 29 to 33 The Green are 18th-century sandstone cottages that later became shops, and there are listed rows on Albion Road, Howgate and Union Yard. With a cottage like these, send a photo of the front door and the stairs so the big pieces can be planned before the day.

Idle grew quickly on textiles and quarrying, from about 3,400 people in 1801 to more than 12,000 by 1871, and Old Green Mill, Union Mills and New Mill were among its mills. Twentieth-century industry reshaped the east side. Jowett Cars built cars on Bradford Road until 1954, International Harvester made tractors on the same site until the early 1980s, and it is now the Enterprise 5 retail complex, with a Morrisons. Home Bargains and Aldi share the old Dunnes Stores site off Idlecroft.

There is no parish or town council here. Idle is part of the unparished area of Bradford, so council tax and bin collections go through Bradford Council. The library is on Albion Road and the post office on Bradford Road.

How the van gets to Idle

Bradford Road runs into Idle from Five Lane Ends, where Enterprise 5 stands, and meets Thorp Garth and Albion Road near the library. From the Shipley side the A657 Leeds Road runs along the north of the village, and Town Lane comes up from Thackley Corner past Holy Trinity Church. Idlecroft Road follows the line of the old railway south towards Eccleshill. The Green is signed at 20 mph, and the exact house number helps the van stop in the right place first time.

The drive from Bradford is roughly 10 to 25 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.

Also covered around Idle

Fourlands, Simpson Green, Idle Moor.

Services for Idle

Each service below links to its Baildon page, which covers how the job works in and around Baildon.

House Removals Flat & Apartment Removals Student Removals Furniture & Large Item Transport Sofa & Bed Delivery Appliance Delivery Same-Day Courier Business Deliveries Marketplace & eBay Collection Packing Service Long Distance & Nationwide

Idle: questions before you book

Is Idle a separate town from Bradford?

No. Idle was a township in the old parish of Calverley, became a civil parish of its own in 1866 and briefly an urban district in 1894, then joined Bradford when it became a city in 1899. Today it is a suburb in the Idle & Thackley ward with no parish council.

Which part of Idle does my address count as?

Idle has three fairly distinct parts: the Thorpe Edge estate to the south-east, the older streets around Highfield Road and Town Lane to the west, and the Leeds Road side to the east. Idle Moor, on the Wrose border, is the hilly western edge. The postcode settles it.