History
It owes its size to expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries during which the local land-owning Gascoigne family ran several coalmines in the area. The surrounding settlements of Micklefield, Kippax, Swillington, Methley and Allerton Bywater are all villages that prospered and grew as a result of the coal industry. Nowadays manufacturing and motor-vehicle repair account for more than a third of the workforce in the area
More recent expansion can also be traced to a combination of overall economic success in Leeds, and the fact that Garforth is well served by transport links. The A1 and M1 are minutes away, and both have recently been linked by an extension of the M1 which passes to the West and North of the town, with two nearby access points at Junctions 46 and 47. The M1 extension has led to rapid development of commercial, light industrial and residential sites clustered around Junctions 46 and 47. There are two railway stations, Garforth and East Garforth, both on the mainline route between Leeds, York, and North Eastern England to Scotland, and between Leeds, Selby and Hull and the Yorkshire coastal resorts. Effectively, people can commute to or visit a wide variety of destinations quite easily and still live in a self-contained township surrounded by open countryside, woodlands and rural villages.
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