Ravensthorpe: what to know before moving day
The name is younger than it sounds: a local clergyman and historian coined it in the 19th century, and the area was called Newtown before that. Houses went up beside the new mills, and after the Second World War large parts were cleared under the slum clearance programme. St Saviour's, a large Gothic revival church of 1901, is Grade II listed.
Huddersfield Road (A644) is the main street, lined with shops and takeaways, and the area has several mosques, including Jamia Masjid Ghausia and Anwar-E-Madina. Ravensthorpe Shopping Park has Home Bargains, Poundland and Heron Foods, the Greenwood Centre has a library, and Dewsbury Country Park and the Lower Spen Wildlife Area are on the edge. On side streets such as Craven Street, Garden Street, Myrtle Road and Foundry Street, ask neighbours to leave room outside for the van.
How the van gets to Ravensthorpe
Ravensthorpe is where the A644 leaves Mirfield for Dewsbury. OSRM stays on it for about 5 km after the M62, arriving roughly 25 to 40 minutes from Bradford. Calder Road leads to the station site and the river, and North Road and Low Mill Lane are the other main roads.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 25 to 40 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Services for Ravensthorpe
Each service below links to its Mirfield page, which covers how the job works in and around Mirfield.
Ravensthorpe: questions before you book
Can I get a train to Ravensthorpe at the moment?
No. Ravensthorpe station, off Calder Road, closed on 13 December 2025 for the TransPennine upgrade, and a replacement about 200 metres to the west is expected in summer 2028. Check the rail replacement arrangements if you plan to meet the van by train.
Why does Ravensthorpe count as Dewsbury rather than Mirfield?
Its civil parish was formed from part of Mirfield parish, but after a spell as an urban district from 1894 to 1910 it was merged into Dewsbury in 1925. postcodes.io puts WF13 3HL in Dewsbury West ward with no parish council.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): WF13 3HL is in Dewsbury West ward, Kirklees, unparished
- Ravensthorpe (Wikipedia): western outskirts of Dewsbury, Dewsbury West ward, name coined in the 19th century, formerly Newtown, mills, post-war slum clearance, St Saviour 1901 Gothic revival Grade II, civil parish 1894-1925, urban district 1894-1910, station off Calder Road
- Ravensthorpe railway station (Wikipedia): closed 13 December 2025, expected to reopen 200 metres to the west in summer 2028
- OpenStreetMap map data: Huddersfield Road (A644), Calder Road, North Road, Low Mill Lane, mosques, Ravensthorpe Shopping Park and shops, Greenwood Centre library, Dewsbury Country Park, Lower Spen Wildlife Area, Craven Street, Garden Street, Myrtle Road, Foundry Street
- OSRM route estimate from Bradford city centre (OpenStreetMap road data, checked 2026-09-28): M606, M62, A644 Huddersfield Road (4.9 km)