Dewsbury is a market town in West Yorkshire, located to the south of Leeds and close to the towns of Batley, Mirfield, Heckmondwike and Liversedge.
It’s a popular commuter town due to being so close to Leeds, Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield. There are great transport links here as Dewsbury is just a few minutes from Junction 40 of the M1, and also has great links to the M62 (Junction 28) providing easy access to both Leeds and Manchester by car.
Dewsbury’s train station has direct trains to Huddersfield (9 minutes), Leeds (14 minutes), York (40 minutes), Newcastle (1h 42 minutes), Manchester (53 minutes) and Manchester Airport (1h 16minutes).
The Dewsbury Blueprint is a 10-year plan with the aim of honouring the heritage of the town whilst building on recent investments. The vision is to increase business, leisure, and shopping facilities within the town centre, and to develop more high-quality housing here too.
Dewsbury gives families access to good schools, from primary right through to sixth form. Field Lane Junior and Infant School and Crowlees Junior and Infant School are two primary schools that have an outstanding Ofsted rating. In terms of secondary schools, Batley Girls High School and Heckmondwike Grammar School both have an excellent record and an Outstanding Ofsted rating.
The award-winning Springfield Sixth Form Centre is a modern, state of the art facility that opened here in 2018 and is proving very popular with students.
For shopping, there’s Next and Matalan available in the town centre, and there’s plenty of coffee shops around like Starbucks and Costa, as well as independents, such as Cloggs Café. The White Rose Shopping Centre is just a short drive from Dewsbury and it houses most high street shops, such as Zara, River Island, Top Shop and Marks and Spencer.
Redbrick Mill is nearby and it’s one of the leading destinations in the north for interiors, with leading names such as Made, BoConcept, Heal’s and Natuzzi. There are some quirky gift shops, independent art galleries and diverse cultured cafes to relax in there too.
Dewsbury has a wide choice of places to go to for some entertainment in the evening. Choose from a number of bars, including the Fox and Hounds, The Cellar Bar, The Woodman Inn, The Union Rooms, and the famous West Riding Refreshment Rooms found at Dewsbury train station.
In terms of food, there’s no shortage of options here either, from an American style burger at Chickanos, to a nice Italian meal at Zucchinis Restaurant or Robertos. There’s an array of traditional Indian restaurants in Dewsbury too, such as Lalas Restaurant, which is very contemporary, or Oasis Restaurant, which also has a popular takeaway service.
Dewbury has good healthcare provision with several GPs, medical centres and pharmacies available in the area. There are local dental care facilities available here too.
Oakwell Hall Country Park is a great place to visit nearby. The grounds are beautiful, with plenty of different walks and paths that are great for cyclists, runners and dog walkers. There are also nature trail activities for kids, a play area, and a café. Yorkshire Sculpture Park is an open-air art gallery that’s also popular with families.
Locally, there are plenty of walking opportunities, cycle routes and nature activities at Dewsbury Country Park and Caulms Wood Park, as well as the Spen Valley Greenway.
Charlottes Ice Cream Parlour is loved by people of all ages. As well as the ice cream and sorbets, there are great attractions to enjoy here, such as a swan lake ride, buggy rides, Charlottes Express train, an adventure playground and crazy golf. You can also meet plenty of animals, like wallabies, emus, alpacas, Jersey cows, donkeys and rare birds.
Dewsbury is home to some famous faces, including Sir Thomas Clifford Allbutt (inventor of the clinical thermometer), Betty Boothroyd (Speaker of the House of Commons), Alistair Brownlee (Olympic winning triathlete), Wallace Hartley (bandmaster on RMS Titanic) and Mick Sullivan (Rugby League World Cup winner) to name but a few.
