Balby
| Balby | |
|---|---|
 Balby
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| Balby shown within South Yorkshire | |
| Population | 15,332 (Population of Balby ward at 2011 census) |
| OS grid reference | SE561012 |
| District | |
| Shire county | |
| Region | |
| Country | England |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | DONCASTER |
| Postcode district | DN4 |
| Dialling code | 01302 |
| Police | South Yorkshire |
| Fire | South Yorkshire |
| Ambulance | Yorkshire |
| EU Parliament | Yorkshire and the Humber |
| UK Parliament | |
Balby is a suburb of Doncaster and civil parish located to the south-west of the borough in the north of England. It is home to Balby Carr Community Academy. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the area of Balby stretches south of the town centre from the Balby Bridge area to Loversall, a small village bordering the new Woodfield Plantation residential development which is still expanding eastwards towards the Lakeside Village retail park. The area has a mixture of housing that has developed in accordance with growth patterns of other similar sized towns, with Victorian terraced housing nearer to the town centre and post-war built suburbs. The range of housing stock available means that there is a wide disparity in the socio-economic profile of the area with pockets of relative affluence of the newer suburbs seemingly juxtaposed with poorer areas, often social housing. Much of this social housing consisted of council houses, some of which has been subsequently sold off to become owner occupied under the Conservative Government's "Right to Buy" policy of the 1980s.
The socio-economic profile of the area is said to be one of "developing working class" which is characterised by two-thirds of people being owner occupier of a two/three bedroom house with children who have left the family home or are still at school. Car ownership is relatively high and nearly 1 in 5 residents is aged between 20 and 35 years old. Council tax for nearly all bands was above the national average. In this regard it can be compared to urban areas such as Stoke-on-Trent, Derby and neighbouring Rotherham.
Potteric Carr Nature Reserve is in Balby.
The earliest written reference to Balby occurs in the Domesday Book (1086), which records the name as Balle(s)bi. This almost certainly derives from a personal name, Bal, together with the Old Norse word býr (meaning a farm) – dating the foundation of Balby to some time in the period of Viking settlement, between the late 8th and early 11th centuries.
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Wikipedia