page_title: Batley
section_title: Sport and culture
hierarchical_section_title: Batley / Sport and culture
caption_attribution_description: English: view from outside the ground
context_page_description: Batley is a historic market and mill town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, in West Yorkshire, England. The town forms a contiguous area of Kirklees with Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Birstall and Batley Carr, and is known for its diverse population in ethnicity and religion. Batley lies south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield.
context_section_description: The town is home to the professional rugby league club Batley RLFC and junior football club Batley Juniors F.C. (formerly Carlinghow Boys F.C.) Carlinghow is also located in Batley.
  Wilton Park (Batley Park) is a large park between the town centre and Birstall. In its grounds are the Milner K. Ford Observatory (built in 1966 and home to the Batley & Spenborough Astronomical Society) and Bagshaw Museum. The museum is located in a house built by the "shoddy baron", George Sheard, and features local history, natural history, curios from around the world, and an Ancient Egyptian exhibition. The museum (originally the Wilton Park Museum) is named after its first curator Walter Bagshaw, a Batley councillor and extensive traveller.
  The Yorkshire Motor Museum had a small but varied collection of cars dating back to 1885, and reflecting local car makers as well as more famous marques. The museum closed in 2010.
  Batley Art Gallery, in the Batley Library building, features contemporary art, craft and photography.
  Between 1966 and 1977 the Batley Variety Club was frequented by many notable acts including Louis Armstrong, Johnny Mathis, Eartha Kitt, the Bee Gees, Roy Orbison, the Hollies and Cliff Richard among others. For a brief period it was named the Crumpet, after which it was closed for four years surviving numerous applications to have the building demolished. The club was then known as the Frontier nightclub from the late 1970s onwards. The Frontier was sold to businessmen in April 2005 and continued to operate as a nightclub whilst hosting variety shows and sporting events such as boxing, snooker and darts. The Frontier closed its doors for the final time in 2016 and following a £2 million refurbishment was successfully transformed into JD gym. 
  
  In cricket, Batley has several local teams, and is also part of the cricket association for the Heavy Woollen District. The original definition of the latter area was to within a six-mile radius of Batley Town Hall. The Heavy Woollen Cup can now be entered by any team within 18 miles of Batley, but there is an upper limit of 64 teams.
  A dramatic society was founded in October 1913 at Shelton's café at 53 Commercial Street to present dramatic works to raise funds for Batley and District Hospital. On 8 January 1914 at a meeting in the Temperance Hall, it was decided that it would be known as the “Batley Amateur Thespian Society” and it became affiliated with the National Operatic and Dramatic Association.
caption: Batley Bulldogs' Mount Pleasant in 2016
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