Letting agents in Guiseley generally consider it to be a north western suburb of Leeds. It is situated next to Otley and Menston and the A65 runs straight through the town's main shopping street.

There's debate about how the name Guiseley came about, but one theory says that after the collapse of Roman rule here in the fourth century, wave after wave of Germanic invaders made their way up the river valleys, letting agents of the petty chieftans (on in particular called 'Gislic) select promising locations for settlement. These new comers associated Roman culture in general, and city life in particular, with decadance. They took pride in a hard life, and cleared vast areas of forest. These forest clearings were called "leahs" and the word still survives as a suffix to many local places including Otley, Ilkley, Burley and Shipley.

The precise date, during the seven hundred years of barbarian invasion, when Gislic created his new settlement here cannot be determined. He sited it a mile or two from the nearest river and might have been drawn to the spot after noticing the abundant supply of fresh water provided by the spring which for centuries in the future will feed the village well. "Gislic" is a diminutive, a pet name, which the Saxon chief who came here continued to use adult life. The survival of the new community was problematic, rather than guaranteed, but Gislic's leadership was efficient enough to ensure its continuance after his death. The pioneering efforts of this blond - haired Angle are commemorated in the name given to his village, Gislic's leah, or Gislic's glade.

Prospective flat dwellers in Guiseley will find many available properties at the letting agents in Guiseley, as there has been a lot of construction in the area recently.

The town is most famous for Harry Ramsden, who sold his fish and chips from a small shed next to the tram stop. In 1930 he opened his first fish restaurant (which is still trading) and was, for many years, "the world's biggest fish and chip shop". Harry Corbett was related to Harry Ramsden and Corbett's famous children's television glove puppet character Sooty stage act was conceived in his parents "Springfield" fish and chip shop on Springfield Road in the same town. The restaurant featured in a BBC documentary in Spring 2008 and now boasts the slogan 'As Seen on TV' on the shopfront.

Crompton Parkinson was a major employer in the town until its factory closed in 2004. The town was also the home of Silver Cross, a pram manufacturer, whose factory was in Guiseley from 1936 to 2002.

Guiseley's parish church of St Oswald's was used by generations of the Longfellow family. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's grandfather left here for the New World in the 18th century. Patrick Brontė and Maria Branwell were married at St Oswald's and became the parents of six children, including Anne, Charlotte and Emily Brontė.

Victorian actress Adelaide Neilson although born in Leeds, passed the majority of her childhood in the village of Guiseley. She worked both at Green Bottom Mill and also as a nurse maid to a local family, before running away to seek her fortune in London.

Guiseley also host their own semi-professional football team, Guiseley A.F.C. at Nethermoor Park, who, as of the end of the 2007/2008 season, were playing in the Unibond Premier League, and also Guiseley's cricket team, who share the club house and play in the Aire-Wharfe Senior Cricket League. Aireborough RUFC is also situated in Guiseley at Nunroyd Park.
The former Yorkshire and England cricket captain Brian Close lived in the town during his childhood.

Other well-known people who currently live in Guiseley include the singer Tasmin Archer, famous for her number one single 'Sleeping Satellite', rugby league coach Brian Noble and jazz/easy listening singer Peter Grant. Barney Colehan lived in Guiseley until his death in 1991. He is buried in Guiseley cemetery on Chevin End Road.