Birkenshaw is Bradford. Don’t ever move to Bradford
well technically some of it is in Kirklees. but it may as well be Bradford, that’s the nearest big town.
as parts of Bradford go, it’s one of the better ones, and also being south of the city, isn’t as bad a pain if you want to get to Manchester.
Ilkley, while 12? miles away, is indeed lovely, but still pays council tax to Bradford and, for getting to Manchester, may as well be in Scotland.
I live in Baildon, between Bradford & Ilkley. I wouldn’t live anywhere else in the district. But getting to the M62 to travel either east OR west is a PITA. And the M62 is roadworks city for at least the next 12 months from Huddersfield (J24) to Rothwell (J30) in both directions
Having said that, if you’re looking to get to North Manchester, you could go cross country to Colne, pick up the M65 westbound as far as Great Harwood, then cut down the motorway past Accrington towards Manchester through the Rossendale valley
to add to what FunkyDunc says:
Baildon to north Barnsley – early AM or late evening, or when the schools are out: 50 mins
Baildon to north Barnsley any other time: anything up to 1hr 50. more if it’s raining. M62 drivers don’t know how to drive in the wet. slow fat git on a bike, 2 hrs