Rodley: what to know before moving day
Rodley grew on engineering. Thomas Smith's steam crane works opened here in 1820, Joseph Booth and Brothers set up next door in 1847, and cranes from the two firms became known as the Leeds or Rodley type. Most of the stone mills and works that lined the canal have since been demolished and replaced with modern apartments and houses, and part of the village is a conservation area. Street names such as Narrowboat Wharf, Keel Moorings and Airedale Wharf point to the newer canal-side homes; the former Bethel Chapel is also flats now.
Town Street is where the Crown and Anchor and Rodley Social Club are, with the Rodley Barge beside the canal, The Owl on Rodley Lane and The Railway near Calverley Bridge. North of Town Street, across the Aire, is Rodley Nature Reserve, made in 1999 on an old sewage works. For an apartment by the water, ask the managing agent where a van may load, and tell us the floor and whether there is a lift.
How the van gets to Rodley
The Leeds outer ring road, the A6120, runs along the edge of Rodley. From Bradford one way is to Farsley on the B6157 and then down Bagley Lane; another is the A657, which runs through as Rodley Lane and Town Street. Calverley Lane, part of the B6156, and Calverley Bridge lead across towards Calverley and Horsforth Vale.
The drive from Bradford is roughly 15 to 25 minutes. That is an estimate from route data, not a timed run, and traffic changes it.
Also covered around Rodley
Intake.
Services for Rodley
Each service below links to its Pudsey page, which covers how the job works in and around Pudsey.
Rodley: questions before you book
Was Rodley part of Pudsey or Calverley?
In the 19th century Rodley was in the parish of Calverley, and part of its north-western end was inside the Municipal Borough of Pudsey until 1974. A sign next to The Owl on Rodley Lane still marked that in 2020. Today it is all Leeds.
Where is Rodley Cricket Club?
At Canal Bank Sports Ground, on the opposite bank of the Aire from the nature reserve. They play in the Airedale and Wharfedale Senior Cricket League.
Where the local details on this page come from
Checked on 28 September 2026 against:
- Postcode lookup (postcodes.io, ONS data): LS13 1HY is in Calverley & Farsley ward, Leeds, unparished
- Rodley (Wikipedia): commuter suburb inside the outer ring road, Calverley and Farsley ward, parish of Calverley, Pudsey borough sign by The Owl, Thomas Smith 1820 and Joseph Booth 1847 crane works, Bethel Chapel flats, canal beside Town Street, mills replaced by apartments and houses, conservation area, the pubs and social club, Rodley Nature Reserve 1999, Canal Bank Sports Ground and Rodley Cricket Club
- OpenStreetMap map view (checked 2026-09-28): Ring Road Farsley (A6120), Rodley Lane and Town Street (A657), Calverley Lane (B6156), Calverley Bridge, Bagley Lane, Narrowboat Wharf, Keel Moorings, Airedale Wharf, the Leeds and Liverpool Canal and River Aire
- Nominatim (OpenStreetMap): Intake is a neighbourhood within Rodley; Rodley Nature Reserve location