Bingley

Town in West Yorkshire, England, on the River Aire, 10 km/6 mi northwest of Bradford; population (2001) 13,700. It is a mill town and manufactures woollen goods, worsted, cotton, and paper.

Bingley was granted a manor and a market charter by King John in 1213, and throughout the Middle Ages was an important market town. The Airedale Agricultural Society Show, or Bingley Show, was founded in 1878. It is the biggest one-day agricultural, horticultural, craft, and horse show in Europe, and is held annually on the first Wednesday in August. The Five Rise Locks (1774), on the Leeds-Liverpool canal, raise the water level by 30 m/100 ft over a distance of 396 m/1300 ft. The astronomer and writer Fred Hoyle was born in Bingley, and Airedale terriers were first bred here.