Selby
In recent years there have been serious flood problems in Selby and the adjoining village of
Barlby. The threat in the Barlby area has been alleviated to some extent by work on improved flood barriers following the major flood of November 2000.
In 2004 the new Selby Bypass opened, taking traffic around the South and East of the town avoiding the town centre. The bypass was delayed due to problems in the construction of a swing bridge to allow large boats to get upstream through Selby towards York.
The town of Selby is negatively associated with the so-called
Selby rail crash, which happened a few miles south of Selby at a village called
Great Heck near the
M62 motorway. On February 28, 2001, a vehicle crashed off the M62 down an embankment on to a railway track, where it was struck by an oncoming passenger train heading to London. This accident was then multiplied by a collision with a second collision with a freight train. However, the train was not travelling to, from, or through Selby and the driver of the vehicle involved in the incident had no connection with Selby, but Selby is the closest major town to the accident site.
Selby and its surrounding area came to national prominence once again through another tragedy on 18 July, 2004, this time through four exceptionally violent murders carried out by former binman
Mark Hobson. Hobson, 35, killed his girlfriend Claire Sanderson, 27, and her twin sister Diane at a flat in the nearby village of
Camblesforth. He subsequently murdered an elderly couple, James and Joan Britton, at their home in the village of
Strensall, near
York.
Hobson was caught at a petrol station on 25 July, 2004, in the village of Shipton-by-Beningbrough, near
York, following a national manhunt. At his subsequent trial, Hobson made English legal history by becoming the first murderer to receive a whole-life tariff on his sentence even though he pleaded guilty to all four murders.
Selby Town Hall is regarded as being one of the best live venues in the area (as officially recognised by winning the Yorkshire Evening Post's Nightlife Award). Selby Town Council has been running this venue since 2003, with regular performances of music, dance, drama and comedy.
Selby Town Hall is a small venue (140 seats) with a big reputation. Acts like Hazel O'Connor, Dara O'Briain, Phil Cool, Dominic Holland, Finbar Furey, and White Lodge have all played at this friendly and intimate venue.
Selby Town Hall was originally a Primitive Methodist Chapel. It was then used for a variety of purposes, including a tyre fitting depot, before it fell derelict. In the 1990's, Selby Town Council bought the building and restored it to its former glory, overlooking the junction of Gowthorpe and Brook Street, in the heart of Selby.
Selby is home to a number of different sporting clubs. Selby's major sporting team is
Selby Town AFC. Selby Town currently play in the Northern Counties East Premier Division and their home stadium is the Flaxley Road Ground, Richard Street.
Selby is also represented in other major sports also. Rugby union club Selby RUFC and
rugby league club
Selby Warriors are based at
Sandhill Lane Stadium. Other clubs include
Selby Tennis Club,
Selby Cricket Club and numerous other local league football teams.
Selby's local running club is the locally renowned
Selby Striders. There are also numerous other clubs catering for sports and activities such as swimming, martial arts, bowls and cycling.
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Selby High School*
Selby News*
Official website of Selby Abbey.*
Selby District Council
