Harden, West Yorkshire

Harden is a village in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, West Yorkshire, England, two miles west of Bingley.

Facilities

Harden is home to two churches, one Methodist, and Harden Primary School. There is also a Post Office and an independent butcher's. There is a village park, a large square piece of land that hosts the annual gala during the Summer. Harden is also the proud home to the St Ives Estate, a large stretch of land with woodland and a well-equipped children's playpark, as well as paths up to moorland. St Ives also contains an 18-hole golf course and elite golf club. There is a beautician and a hairdresser along Long Lane as well, opposite Harden Primary School's carpark.

Events

Harden Gala
There is an annual gala in Harden park in the Summer, which has races, jokes and a parade processing down Long Lane past the school and the church. The parade generally consists of the Harden Players' (a local drama club) float and Harden Primary School's float, each with a theme, and then the gala queen's float with her two attendants, all dressed up in evening wear with bouquets of flowers. A marching band lead the procession and Harden Pre-School bring up the back in costume.
Harden Players
Harden Players is a local drama club that puts on productions roughly once every two months, with children and adults, ages ranging from 4 to about 54. In recent years they have put on enjoyable pantomimes as well as Macbeth.
St Ives Medieval Fayre
Every Summer St Ives puts on a medieval fayre, with jugglers and jousting and other entertainments. Medieval tents are set up on the top field and demonstrations are done to show how simple tasks like the washing up and making a tent peg would be completed.

Roman Heritage

Excavations on Leech Lane, off Hill End Lane towards Cullingworth, have suggested Roman settlement in the area from c.150AD. Archaeologists have, in the past, unearthed pottery, coins, and even elephant ivory on this site, suggesting an Anglo-Roman villa may have stood here.