town, Bradford metropolitan borough, metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, historic county of Yorkshire, northern England. It lies along the River Worth near its confluence with the Aire, in a deep valley below gritstone Pennine moors that supply an abundance of soft water. Keighley grew rapidly in the 19th century when its woolen industries and manufacture of textile machinery benefited from access to the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. The town adjoins Haworth, home of the Brontë family. Pop. (2001) 49,453.