Bradford and Keighley were full of fairies and elves, according to
folklore. Grove Hill Dike, above Sladen Valley Reservoir, was a place of
fear for children as they believed a troll lived there. Emily Bronte
called the Dike 'Blackhorse Marsh' in Wuthering Heights, as even she
knew all about this story. There are a couple of wells, one at
Priestthorpe, Bingley and another at Blackhill, Keighley, that were
named in honour of Jennet, the Fairy Queen. One of the servants of the
Brontes actually claimed that the fairies has been driven away by
industrialisation.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, a devout
Spiritualist and great believer in the Occult who is most well known for
writing 'Sherlock Holmes', claimed to have accounted fairies. The Cottingley Fairies were however fakes dreamed up by Frances and Elsie, although they did fool Conan Doyle for a while fairies were also documented as having been seen in Lister park, also known as Manningham park, Bradford.
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