IN PRAISE OF KEIGHLEY

July 2026. Keighley.

Well, a quiet night in Keighley Travelodge on Wednesday, quieter than the previous England World Cup Semi-Final, anyway.

And then in the morning, as England celebrated qualifying for the Bronze medal match with their old enemy, Mrs RM sent me out to get photos of the Real Keighley.

Actually, she sent me out to get her a porridge from McDonalds first, but after that it was culture all the way.

ChatGPT had given me the highlights of a town that Bill Bryson, living in a posh village close by, clearly detested 30 years ago. Bill, as so often, was far too harsh.

Your AI suggestions are; steam train to Haworth, night at one of Britain’s oldest cinema,

and a walk up the hill to Cliffe Castle, where the view is pretty good.

The park is a fragrant stunner, shame I can’t bring you a scratch’n’sniff version,

And the (free) museum is one of the best in the UK; part country house,

part art gallery,

part stained glass collection,

and part social history. If you’ve ever wanted to know how Keighley folk used to deal with cross wives,

you’ll want to see the wife taming cradle.

I have no comment, no comment whatsoever.

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Published by retiredmartin

Retired NHS, doing long walks around UK and the world to record the great bits. Focused on Good Beer Guide pubs and live music.

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