This article is about the city itself. For the metropolitan borough (division of West Yorkshire county), and the local authority, seeCity of Bradford. For other uses, seeBradford (disambiguation).
Bradford is acity inWest Yorkshire, England. It became a municipal borough in 1847, received a city charter in 1897 and, since the1974 reform, thecity status has belonged to the largerCity of Bradfordmetropolitan borough. It had a population of 349,561 at the2011 census, making it the second-largest subdivision of theWest Yorkshire Built-up Area afterLeeds, which is approximately 9 miles (14 km) to the east. The borough had a population of 563,605, making it the9th most populous district in England.
Historically part of theWest Riding of Yorkshire, the city grew in the 19th century as an international centre oftextile manufacture, particularlywool. It was aboomtown of theIndustrial Revolution, and amongst the earliestindustrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of the world"; this in turn gave rise to the nicknames "Woolopolis" and "Wool City".[3] Lying in the eastern foothills of thePennines, the area's access to supplies of coal, iron ore andsoft water facilitated the growth of a manufacturing base, which, as textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population and was a stimulus to civic investment. There is a large amount of listedVictorian architecture in the city including the grand Italianatecity hall.[4]
The name Bradford derives from theOld Englishbrad andford the broadford, which referred to a crossing of theBradford Beck at Church Bank below the site ofBradford Cathedral, around which a settlement grew in Anglo-Saxon times.[6] It was recorded as "Bradeford" in 1086.[7]
By theMiddle Ages, Bradford had become a small town centred on Kirkgate, Westgate and Ivegate.[6][9] In 1316 there is mention of afulling mill, a soke mill where all the manor corn was milled and a market. During theWars of the Roses the inhabitants sided withHouse of Lancaster.Edward IV granted the right to hold two annual fairs and from this time the town began to prosper. In the reign ofHenry VIII Bradford exceeded Leeds as a manufacturing centre.[8] Bradford grew slowly over the next two-hundred years as thewoollen trade gained in prominence.
During theCivil War the town was garrisoned for theParliamentarians and in 1642 was unsuccessfully attacked byRoyalist forces from Leeds.Sir Thomas Fairfax took the command of the garrison and marched to meet theDuke of Newcastle but was defeated. The Parliamentarians retreated to Bradford and the Royalists set up headquarters atBolling Hall from where the town was besieged leading to its surrender.[8] The Civil War caused a decline in industry but after the accession ofWilliam III andMary II in 1689 prosperity began to return.[6] The launch of manufacturing in the early 18th century marked the start of the town's development while newcanal andturnpike road links encouraged trade.
In 1801, Bradford was a ruralmarket town of 6,393 people,[10] where wool spinning and cloth weaving were carried out in local cottages and farms. Bradford was thus not much bigger than nearbyKeighley (5,745) and was significantly smaller thanHalifax (8,866) andHuddersfield (7,268).[10] This small town acted as a hub for three nearby townships –Manningham,Bowling andGreat andLittle Horton, which were separated from the town by countryside.[10]
Blast furnaces were established in about 1788 by Hird, Dawson Hardy atLow Moor and iron was worked by theBowling Iron Company until about 1900. Yorkshire iron was used for shackles, hooks and piston rods for locomotives, colliery cages and other mining appliances where toughness was required. TheLow Moor Company also madepig iron and the company employed 1,500 men in 1929.[11] When the municipal borough of Bradford was created in 1847 there were 46 coal mines within its boundaries. Coal output continued to expand, reaching a peak in 1868 when Bradford contributed a quarter of all the coal and iron produced in Yorkshire.[12]
The population of the township in 1841 was 34,560.[13]
In 1825 the wool-combers union called a strike that lasted five-months but workers were forced to return to work through hardship leading to the introduction of machine-combing.[14] ThisIndustrial Revolution led to rapid growth, with wool imported in vast quantities for the manufacture ofworsted cloth in which Bradford specialised, and the town soon became known as the wool capital of the world.[15]
A permanent military presence was established in the town with the completion ofBradford Moor Barracks in 1844.[16]
Bradford became amunicipal borough in 1847, and acounty borough in 1888, making it administratively independent of theWest Riding County Council. It was honoured with city status on the occasion of Queen Victoria'sDiamond Jubilee in 1897, withKingston upon Hull andNottingham. The three had been the largest county boroughs outside the London area without city status.[17] The borough's boundaries were extended to absorbClayton in 1930, and parts of Rawdon, Shipley, Wharfedale and Yeadon urban districts in 1937.[18]
Bradford waterworks on completion of the Wharfedale scheme in 1881
Bradford had ample supplies of locally mined coal to provide the power that the industry needed. Localsandstone was an excellent resource for building the mills, and with a population of 182,000 by 1850,[19] the town grew rapidly as workers were attracted by jobs in thetextile mills.[15] A desperate shortage of water inBradford Dale was a serious limitation on industrial expansion and improvement in urban sanitary conditions. In 1854 Bradford Corporation bought the Bradford Water Company[20] and embarked on a huge engineering programme to bring supplies of soft water from Airedale, Wharfedale andNidderdale.[21] By 1882 water supply had radically improved. Meanwhile, urban expansion took place along the routes out of the city towards the Hortons and Bowling and the townships had become part of a continuous urban area by the late 19th century.[9]
A major employer wasTitus Salt who in 1833 took over the running of his father's woollen business specialising in fabrics combiningalpaca,mohair, cotton, and silk. By 1850 he had five mills. However, because of the polluted environment and squalid conditions for his workers, Salt left Bradford and transferred his business toSalts Mill inSaltaire in 1850. There, in 1853, he began to build the workers' village, which has become aUNESCO World Heritage Site.[22]
Henry Ripley was a younger contemporary of Titus Salt. He was managing partner of Edward Ripley & Son Ltd, which owned the Bowling Dye Works. In 1880 the dye works employed over 1000 people and was said to be the biggest dye works in Europe. Like Salt he was a councillor, JP and Bradford MP who was deeply concerned to improve working class housing conditions. He built the industrialModel village ofRipley Ville on a site inBroomfields,East Bowling close to the dye works.
Other major employers wereSamuel Lister and his brother who were worstedspinners and manufacturers atLister's Mill (Manningham Mills). Lister epitomisedVictorian enterprise but it has been suggested that hiscapitalist attitude madetrade unions necessary.[23]Unprecedented growth created problems with over 200 factory chimneys continually churning out black, sulphurous smoke. Bradford gained the reputation of being the most polluted town in England. There were frequent outbreaks of cholera and typhoid, and only 30% of children born to textile workers reached the age of fifteen. This extreme level ofinfant and youth mortality contributed to a life expectancy for Bradford residents of just over eighteen years, which was one of the lowest in the country.
Like many major cities, Bradford has been a destination for immigrants. In the 1840s Bradford's population was significantly increased by migrants from Ireland, particularly ruralCounty Mayo[24] andCounty Sligo, and by 1851 about 10% of the population were born in Ireland, the largest proportion inYorkshire.[25]Around[26] the middle decades of the 19th century the Irish were concentrated in eight densely settled areas situated near the town centre. One of these was the Bedford Street area ofBroomfields, which in 1861 contained 1,162 persons of Irish birth—19% of all Irish born persons in the Borough.[27]
During the 1820s and 1830s, there was immigration fromGermany. Many wereJewishmerchants and they became active in the life of the town. The Jewish community mostly living in theManningham area of the town,[28] numbered about 100 families but was influential in the development of Bradford as a major exporter of woollen goods from their textile export houses predominantly based inLittle Germany and the civic life of Bradford.Charles Semon (1814–1877) was a textile merchant and philanthropist who developed a productive textile export house in the town, he became the first foreign and Jewish mayor of Bradford in 1864.[29]Jacob Behrens (1806–1889) was the first foreign textile merchant to export woollen goods from the town, his company developed into an international multimillion-pound business.[30] Behrens was a philanthropist, he also helped to establish the Bradford chamber of commerce in 1851.[31]Jacob Moser (1839–1922) was a textile merchant who was a partner in the firm Edelstein, Moser and Co, which developed into a successful Bradford textile export house. Moser was a philanthropist, he founded the Bradford Charity Organisation Society and the City Guild of Help. In 1910 Moser became the first Jewish Lord Mayor of Bradford.[32]
To support thetextile mills, a large manufacturing base grew up in the town providing textile machinery, and this led to diversification with different industries thriving side by side.[15] TheJowett Motor Company founded in the early 20th century by Benjamin and William Jowett and Arthur V Lamb, manufactured cars and vans in Bradford for 50 years.[33]The Scott Motorcycle Company was a well known producer of motorcycles and light engines for industry. Founded byAlfred Angas Scott in 1908 as the Scott Engineering Company in Bradford, Scott motorcycles were produced until 1978.
On the morning of 1 July 1916, the 16th and 18th Battalions left their trenches in Northern France to advance across no man's land. It was the first hour of thefirst day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men from Bradford and District in the two battalions, 1,060 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village ofSerre-lès-Puisieux.[36]
The textile industry has been in decline throughout the latter part of the 20th century. A culture of innovation had been fundamental to Bradford's dominance, with new textile technologies being invented in the city, a prime example being the work ofSamuel Lister. This innovation culture continues today throughout Bradford's economy, from automotive (Kahn Design)[48] to electronics (Pace Micro Technology).Wm Morrison Supermarkets was founded byWilliam Morrison in 1899, initially as an egg and butter merchant in Rawson Market, operating under the name ofWm Morrison (Provisions) Limited.[49]
The grandest of the mills no longer used for textile production isLister Mills, the chimney of which can be seen from most places in Bradford. It has become a beacon of regeneration after a £100 million conversion to apartment blocks by property developerUrban Splash.[50]
In 1989, copies ofSalman Rushdie'sThe Satanic Verses were burnt in the city, and a section of theMuslim community led a campaign against the book. In July 2001, ethnic tensions led torioting, and a report described Bradford as fragmented[51] and a city of segregated ethnic communities.[52]
In 2006 WmMorrison Supermarkets opened its new headquarters in the city, the firm employs more than 5,000 people in Bradford.[54]
In June 2009 Bradford became the world's firstUNESCOCity of Film and became part of theCreative Cities Network since then.[55] The city has a long history of producing both films and the technology that produces moving film—including the invention of theCieroscope in Manningham in 1896.[56]
In 2010Provident Financial opened its new headquarters in the city. The company has been based in the city since 1880.[57]
In 2012 theBritish Wool Marketing Board opened its new headquarters in the city.[58] Also in 2012Bradford City Park opened. The park cost £24.5 million to construct, and is a public space in the city centre that features numerous fountains and a mirror pool surrounded by benches and a walk way.[59]
In 2015The Broadway opened, the shopping and leisure complex in the centre of Bradford cost £260 million to build and is owned byMeyer Bergman.
In 2022, Bradford was named theUK City of Culture 2025, beatingSouthampton,Wrexham andDurham.[60][61] The UK City of Culture bid, as of 2023, was expected to majorly stimulate the local economy and culture as well as attracting tourism to the city. By 2025, the UK City of Culture bid is expected to support potential economic growth of £389 million to the city of Bradford as well as to the surrounding local areas, creating over 7,000 jobs, attracting a significant amount of tourists to the city and providing thousands of performance opportunities for local artists.[62]
The city played an important part in the early history of theLabour Party. A mural on the back of theBradford Playhouse (visible from Leeds Road) commemorates the centenary of the founding of theIndependent Labour Party in 1893, and quotes its motto "There is no weal save commonweal".[63]
Original Independent Labour Party logo
The original Bradford Coat of Arms had the Latin wordsLabor omnia vincit below it, meaning "Work conquers all".[64] A new coat of arms was emblazoned in 1976, after local government reorganisation in 1974, with the English motto "Progress, Industry, Humanity".Bradford is represented by three MPs: for the constituencies ofBradford East (Imran Hussain, Labour Party),Bradford South (Judith Cummins, Labour), andBradford West (Naz Shah, Labour Party).
Original Bradford Coat of Arms with the Motto "Labor Omnia Vincit"
TheCity of Bradford Metropolitan District Council has 90 councillors (2023). As of 2023, a political party must hold more than 45 seats to control of the council. A minority-led administration occurs when all parties hold less than 45 seats on the council.[65] Following local elections on 5 May 2022,Labour had majority control over Bradford council with 56 seats; this was followed by Conservatives and the Green Party with 16 and 8 seats, respectively.[66] The council was led by council leader Susan Hinchliffe, representing theWindhill and Wrose ward, and chief executive Kersten England.[67]
Bradford is not built on any substantial body of water, but is situated at the junction of three valleys. One of the valleys, theBradford Beck, rises inmoorland to the west—swelled by its tributaries, the Horton Beck, Westbrook, Bowling Beck, and Eastbrook. At the site of the original ford, the beck turns north, and flows towards theRiver Aire atShipley. Bradfordale (or Bradforddale) is a name given to this valley (see for example Firth 1997[1]). It can be regarded as one of theYorkshire Dales, though as it passes through the city, it is often not recognised as such. The beck's course through the city centre isculverted and has been since the mid-19th century. On the 1852Ordnance Survey map[2] it is visible as far as Sun Bridge, at the end of Tyrrell Street, and then from besideBradford Forster Square railway station on Kirkgate. On the 1906 Ordnance Survey,[3] it disappears at Tumbling Hill Street, off Thornton Road, and appears north of Cape Street, off Valley Road, though there are culverts as far as Queens Road.
TheBradford Canal, built in 1774, linking the city to theLeeds and Liverpool Canal took its water fromBradford Beck and its tributaries. The supply of water from the polluted Bradford Beck was often inadequate to feed thelocks and heavily polluted the canal over time.[68] Due to the polluted state of the canal causing health problems, the council temporarily closed the canal in 1866.[69] In 1922, the canal was permanently closed due to it not being economically viable to maintain the canal. In modern times, remnants of the canal can still be found, including by Canal Road where the route of the old canal can be seen by car.[70]
The underlying geology of the city is primarilycarboniferoussandstones. These vary in quality from rough rock to fine, honey-coloured stone of building quality. Access to this material has had a pronounced effect on the architecture of the city.[71] The city also lies within the north western parts of theYorkshire Coalfield, which is mostly composed of carboniferouscoal measures.[72] The coal measures stimulated early urban development, in the modern day, geological extraction of minerals is heavily reduced in terms of scale.[73]
As with the vast majority of theUK, Bradford experiences amaritime climate (Köppen:Cfb), with limited seasonal temperature ranges, and generally moderate rainfall throughout the year.[74] Records have been collected since 1908 from theMet Office's weather station at Lister Park, a short distance north of the city centre. This constitutes one of the nation's longest unbroken records of daily data. The full record can be found on the council's website.[75]
The weather station enclosure at Lister Park
The absolute maximum temperature recorded was 37.9 °C (100.2 °F) inJuly 2022.[76] In an 'average' year, the warmest day should attain a temperature of 27.5 °C (81.5 °F),[77] with a total of 6 days[78] rising to a maximum of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or above.
The absolute minimum temperature recorded was −13.9 °C (7.0 °F) during January 1940. The weather station's elevated suburban location means exceptionally low temperatures are unknown. Typically, 41.4 nights of the year will record an air frost.[citation needed]
Rainfall averages around 870 mm (34 in) per year with over 1 mm falling on 139 days.[79]
Sunshine, at little in excess of 1,250 hours per year is low, as one would expect of an inland location in Northern England located amongst upland areas. All averages refer to the 1981–2010 observation period.[citation needed]
Climate data for Bradford (Lister Park),[a] elevation: 134 m (440 ft), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1908–present
Bradford is within agreen belt region that extends into the borough and wider surrounding counties. It is in place to reduceurban sprawl, prevent the towns in theWest Yorkshire Urban Area conurbation from further convergence, protect the identity of outlying communities, encouragebrownfield reuse, and preserve nearby countryside. This is achieved by restricting inappropriate development within the designated areas, and imposing stricter conditions on permitted building.[82]
The green belt surrounds the Bradford built-up area, separating towns and villages throughout the borough. Larger outlying communities such asBingley,Wilsden,Cottingley, andThornton are also exempt from the green belt area. However, nearby smaller villages, hamlets and rural areas such asBrunthwaite, Keelham, Denholme Gate,Laycock,Esholt,Micklethwaite,Goose Eye,Stanbury,Hainworth,Tong, and Harecroft are 'washed over' by the designation.[82] Much semi-rural land on the fringes is also included. The area in 2017 amounted to some 23,890 hectares (238.9 km2; 92.2 sq mi).[83]
A subsidiary aim of the green belt is to encourage recreation and leisure interests,[82] with rural landscape features, greenfield areas and facilities including Park Wood,Northcliffe park and woods,Heaton Woods, Chellow Dene woods and reservoirs, Horton Bank country park, Norr Hill, Gilstead recreation park, Stone Circle remains byShipley Glen,Bracken Hall, River Aire valley, Leeds and Liverpool canal, and the Leeds Country Way. In May 2025, West Yorkshire's first national nature reserve,Bradford Pennine Gateway, was created encompassing parts ofPenistone Hill, Shipley Glen, and Ilkley Moor.[84]
Population density in the Bradford Metropolitan District Council Area from the 2011 censusEthnic demography of the Bradford District over time
At the 2011 UK census, Bradford had a population of 522,452.[85] There were 106,680households in Bradford, and thepopulation density was 4,560 inhabitants per square kilometre (11,820/sq mi). For every 100 females, there were 92.9 males.[86] Bradford has the youngest, fastest growing population outside London.[87]
The census showed that of Bradford's total population, 67.44% (352,317) wasWhite, 26.83% (140,149)Asian, 2.48% (12,979)Mixed Race, 1.77% (9,267)Black and 1.48% (7,740) from other races.[88]
The Office for National Statistics Regional Trends report, published in June 2009, showed that some parts of Bradford suffer from the highest levels of deprivation in the country, while other areas of Bradford are some of the least deprived in the country.[92][93] Infant mortality is double the national average,[94] and life expectancy is slightly lower than in other parts of thedistrict.[95]
Bradford's textile industry has been in decline for many years and the city has suffered from de-industrialisation. Some areas of Bradford are among the worst levels of social deprivation in the UK,[96] with widespread pockets of exclusion, and rates of unemployment in some wards exceeding 25%,[51] though other areas of Bradford are among the least deprived in the UK.[97] The economy is worth around £9.5 billion, making Bradford's economy a major powerhouse in the region and is forecast to grow to more than £10 billion by 2018,[98] contributing around 8.4% of the region's output, and making the district the third largest (after Leeds and Sheffield) in Yorkshire & Humber. The economy has diversified and the city is home to several major companies, notably in finance (Yorkshire Building Society,Provident Financial,Santander UK), textiles (British Wool Marketing Board, Bulmer and Lumb Group), chemicals (BASF, Nufarm UK), electronics (Arris International, Filtronic), engineering (NG Bailey, Powell Switchgear), and manufacturing, (Denso Marston, Bailey Offsite,Hallmark Cards UK andSeabrook Potato Crisps). Supermarket chainMorrisons has its head office in Bradford as does water utility companyYorkshire Water.[99]
Vanquis Banking Group, formerly Provident Financial plc, has moved into a 250,000 sq ft (23,000 m2), £45 million, flagshipheadquarters building in the city centre. The building also houses a 200-bedJurys Inn hotel.[100]
In October 2011 Plans to regenerate Bradford city centre, including the long-delayed Broadway shopping centre, was given a boost as Bradford Council secured £17.6 million of regional growth funding from the government, which it will match to create a £35 million "growth zone" in which companies would get business rate relief in exchange for helping people get training and jobs.[101]
In April 2012 retail giantFreeman Grattan Holdings secured a deal to open a new head office and house around 300 staff in the centre of Bradford. The mail order and online retailer will transfer office staff from its Lidget Green base, where Grattan has had a presence since 1934, to a Grade II-listed former wool warehouse on the edge ofLittle Germany.[102]
As of 2023, Bradford is currently developing city regeneration projects in conjunction with the successful City of Culture 2025 bid. With one of the most major redevelopments being the regeneration of the localBradford Odeon building in the city centre into "Bradford Live", a £22 million music venue with a capacity of 4,000.[103] In addition to Bradford Live, some other major projects are being developed in the city including:[104][105]
•High Point, a £11 million development transforming the former Yorkshire Building Society building into residential apartments.
• Bradford Central Rail Station, a planned central rail station integrated with "mass transit".
•Darley Street Market, a £23 million commercial development including three trading floors.
In addition to the regeneration projects, existing buildings within the city centre will be demolished—including demolishing the NCP car park to expand and improve the currentBradford Interchange.[106]
Kirkgate Shopping Centre is located in Bradford city centre. It includesNew Look,Bank,W H Smith,Boots,Boyes,[108]SportsDirect.com,Deichmann andF. Hinds in its 65 shops, as well as an indoor market and 550 car parking spaces. The centre has undergone a multimillion-pound refurbishment recently, and plans to upgrade the facade of the 1960s building have been submitted as it anticipates competition from the long-awaited £260 millionWestfield development, which opened on 5 November 2015.[109][110][111][112] In 2022 it was announced that the centre would eventually be demolished for the "City Village" development and that Primark would move to The Broadway replacing the old Debenhams unit.[113]
Sunbridge Wells is an underground retail complex, it incorporates restaurants, bars and retail units. The complex is built in a series of Victorian tunnels situated in the centre of Bradford.[115]
Darley St. Market is an upcoming shopping centre opening in 2024, the new shopping centre replaces existing city centre markets including theOastler Shopping Centre andKirkgate Market.[116]
Bradford's oldest building is thecathedral, which for most of its life was a parish church. Few othermedieval buildings have survived apart fromBolling Hall, which has been preserved as a museum.
There are some fineVictorian buildings: apart from the abundance of mills, there is theCity Hall (with statues of rulers of England unusually includingOliver Cromwell), the formerWool Exchange, and a large Victoriancemetery at Undercliffe.Little Germany is a splendid Victorian commercial district just east of the city centre. Its name comes from 19th-centuryGerman Jewish immigrants who ran businesses from some of the manylisted buildings. Following decades of decay, there have been successful conversions to office and residential use.Paper Hall was saved from demolition and renovated in the 1990s and in mid-2005 renovation began on the prominent Eastbrook Hall in Little Germany. This was opened as luxury apartments byPrince Charles in autumn 2008.[117] Bradford also has a number ofarchitecturally historic hotels that date back to the establishment of the two railway lines into the city centre, back inVictorian times. The Victoria Hotel and theMidland Hotel were built to accommodate business travellers to the city during the height of the woollen trade.
In addition to Undercliffe Cemetery, there are seven other cemeteries in Bradford, located in Bowling, Clayton, North Bierley Thornton, Queensbury, Scholemoor, Thornton and Tong, as well as a number of Council-operated cemeteries in Keighley, Wharfedale and other parts of the district.[118]
Like many cities, Bradford lost a number of notable buildings todevelopers in the 1960s and 1970s: particularly mourned at the time were theSwan Arcade and the old Kirkgate Market. In recent years some buildings from that era have themselves been demolished and replaced: Provincial House, next to Centenary Square, was demolished by controlled explosion in 2002,[119] and Forster House was pulled down in 2005 as part of theBroadway development.
Bradford's main art gallery is housed in the grand EdwardianCartwright Hall inLister Park. TheNational Science and Media Museum celebrates cinema and movies, and is the most visited museum outside London. It contains anImax cinema, theCubby Broccoli Cinema, and thePictureville Cinema — described by David Puttnam as the best cinema in Britain.[123]
TheBradford Alhambra frequently stages hit West End and Broadway musicals.
Also in the city is TheSt George's Hall—a grand concert hall dating from 1853 making it the oldest concert hall in Britain and the third oldest in the whole of Europe.[citation needed] TheAlhambra theatre, built in 1914 for theatre impresario Frank Laidler, and later owned by theMoss Empire group (Oswald Stoll andEdward Moss). The theatre was refurbished in 1986.
Within the city district there are 37 parks and gardens.Lister Park, with its boating lake and Mughal Water Gardens, was voted Britain's Best Park for 2006.[124] Bowling Park inEast Bowling is the site of the annual Bradford Carnival celebrating local African and Caribbean culture.
Bradford City Park, now home to the Bradford Festival, which includes the Mela. It is a six-acre (2.4-hectare) public space in the heart of Bradford that contains the largest man-made water feature in any UK city. A 4,000 m2 (43,000 sq ft) mirror pool features more than 100 fountains, including the tallest in any UK city at 30 m (100 ft). When the mirror pool is drained, City Park holds events such as carnivals, markets, theatre productions, screenings and community festivals. Work started on the £24 million project in February 2010 and City Park officially opened in March 2012, with thousands of people turning out for the grand opening event.
TheBradford Odeon, formerly the Gaumont and New Victoria Theatre, was built in 1930 as a music venue and cinema with a capacity of over 3,000, and was the largest UK cinema outside London at the time. (Another Odeon, always part of theOdeon Cinemas chain, was built in the city in 1938 and demolished in 1969.) Standing in a conservation area adjacent to the listed Alhambra Theatre, it closed in 2000 and was sold to developer Langtree with the intention it would be demolished and replaced with an apartment and office block. The Odeon was the subject of much controversy over these proposals, with public support in the form of a 10,000-signature petition and campaigns for its renovation. In his successful by-election campaign for Bradford West in March 2012,George Galloway cited the restoration of the Odeon as his number one priority, later asking Prime MinisterDavid Cameron to intervene.[125] The architectural historianJonathan Foyle, actressesImelda Staunton andJenny Agutter, and directorMichael Winner all lent their support to the campaign.
TheM606, a spur of theM62 motorway, connects Bradford with the national motorway network. Although originally planned to go directly into the city centre it ends at the city'sring road.
TheBradford Canal was a 4-mile (6.4 km) spur from theLeeds and Liverpool Canal atShipley. It was built to connect Bradford with theNorth Riding'slimestonequarries, the industrial towns on both sides of thePennines and the ports of Liverpool and Goole. The canal opened from 1774 until 1866 and 1871 until 1922, plans to rebuild it have existed.
Forster Square and Bradford Interchange stations are part of the West Yorkshire Metro. There have been many schemes to link between Bradford's railway terminals. The major redevelopment of the city centre in the 1960s provided an opportunity to connect the termini, this did not happen with large buildings constructed in the 1990s along the proposed line of route. There is the great difference in elevation: Bradford Interchange is at the end of a long steep slope and is much higher than Forster Square. This gradient is not unprecedented in railway construction and the relocation of Forster Square further from the city centre provided additional space to facilitate the transition.
Atram system was inaugurated by Bradford Corporation in 1882. At first the vehicles werehorse-drawn but were replaced bysteam-driven trams in 1883, and byelectric vehicles in 1898. The system ran until 1950.[130]
Leeds Bradford Airport is 6 miles (9.7 km) to the north east of the city. Bradford and Leeds councils jointly opened the airport in 1931. It is the home base ofJet2.com airlines. In May 2007 the joint councils sold the airport toBridgepoint Capital for £145.5 million, £70 million would be invested in airport improvements by the company and expected to increase passenger usage to over 7 million by 2015.[131]
TheUniversity of Bradford, which has over 10,000 students, received itsroyal charter in 1966, but traces its history to the 1860s when it was founded as theBradford Schools of Weaving, Design and Building. The university now covers a wide range of subjects including technology and management science, optometry, pharmacy, medical sciences, nursing studies, archaeology and modern languages. ItsPeace Studies department, founded withQuaker support in 1973, was for a long time the only such institution in the UK.
In terms of nationally recognised leading areas of research there are various departments such as Institute of Cancer Therapeutics, Bradford School of Pharmacy, Peace Studies, Archaeology, Engineering, Management, Centre for Skin Sciences amongst others. The university balances academic research and teaching quality with a strong tradition of social inclusion. TheUniversity of Bradford was ranked second in the UK for graduate employment by theTimes Higher Education Supplement in 2005.[133]
In December 2010 the university was named as the greenest in the UK for the second year running.[134] In 2019, the university was named the UK's top university for social inclusion.[135] Additionally, for 2021 and 2022, the university was named the top university in England for social mobility by the Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI).[136]
TheUniversity of Bradford School of Management was in 2011 rated the 14th best business school in the UK by theFinancial Times.[137]Bradford College developed from the 19th-century technical college whose buildings it inherited. It offers further and higher educational courses and is an Associate College ofLeeds Metropolitan University and is the UK's largest provider of higher-education courses outside the university sector, with 23,000 students and 1,800 staff.[138] It absorbed the Art School whose most famous alumnus isDavid Hockney.
Whilst in Bradford after 1892,Margaret McMillan joined theFabian Society and theIndependent Labour Party. Working with her sister, Rachel, she set about improving the welfare of children living in theslums, and campaigned for free school meals. A memorial college to Margaret McMillan was opened in 1952.[139]
During the 2010s,Ofsted reports ranked many Bradford schools as amongst the UK's finest.[138]
Two carved stones, probably parts of aSaxon preaching cross, were found on the site ofBradford Cathedral. They indicate that Christians may have worshipped here sincePaulinus of York came to the north of England in AD 627 on amission to convertNorthumbria. He preached inDewsbury and it was from there that Bradford was first evangelised. The vicars of Bradford later paid dues to thatparish. The most prominent Christian church in Bradford isBradford Cathedral, originally theParish Church ofSt Peter. The parish was in existence by 1283, and there was a stone church on the rock shelf above Bradford Beck by 1327. TheDiocese of Bradford was created from part of theDiocese of Ripon in 1919, and the church became a cathedral at that time.
Many of theRoman Catholic churches that are found within the city are a legacy of the largeIrish population that migrated to Bradford in the 19th century.[141]
The patron saint of Bradford isSaint Blaise because of his patronage of wool combing, and his statue features on the Wool Exchange in the centre of the city. There is also a statue of the saint in St Cuthbert's Catholic Church, Wilmer Road, also noted as the location of the famous Stations of the Cross byEric Gill.[142][143]
TheJewish community was strong in the middle to late 19th century and builtBradford Reform Synagogue in Manningham. This, "The oldestreform synagogue outside London",[145] was established byGerman Jews who had moved to Bradford for the wool trade. According to historian Sharman Kadish, "The city of Bradford was unique in that it boasted a reform synagogue before it acquired an orthodox one".[146] In 1881Russian Jews made their home in Bradford, having fled their homeland, and founded an orthodox synagogue.[147]In 2011 the Jewish population was 299.[148]
The city has a sizeable South Asian community and theLakshmi Narayan mandir, which opened in April 2008[149] is the largestHindu temple in northern England.[150] There is a Hindu temple and community centre on Thornton Lane[151] and smaller house-based mandirs.
TheSikh community has sixgurudwaras in the city. The Sikh festival ofVaisakhi is celebrated on 14 April. Sikhs travel to each of the gurudwaras in the city in a procession called anagar kirtan.[156]
TheNational Science and Media Museum hosts the Bradford International Film Festival annually in March.In June 2009 Bradford was designated the world's firstUNESCO City of Film for its links to theproduction and distribution of films, its media and film museum and its "cinematographic legacy". "Becoming the world's first City of Film is the ultimate celebration of Bradford's established and dynamic history in film and media," said Colin Philpott, director of Bradford's National Media Museum. "With theUNESCO City of Film designation, Bradford will now go on to achieve inspirational projects in film."Simon Beaufoy from Bradford, the Oscar-winning screenwriter ofSlumdog Millionaire, said the city had played a crucial role in the story ofcinema and deserved to be recognised.[158]
The Bradford Animation Festival is the UK's longest-runninganimation festival. Held each November, the festival hosts an array of screen talks, workshops and special events. The festival culminates in the annual BAF Awards, which celebrate new animation from around the world.[159]
TheCottingley Fairy photographs taken byElsie Wright and two of the cameras used are on display in the Kodak Gallery in the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.
There are four theatres in Bradford. TheAlhambra also has a smaller studio theatre in the same complex. These are operated byCity of Bradford Metropolitan District Council. The Theatre in the Mill is a small studio theatre at theUniversity of Bradford, which presents student and community shows and small-scale touring professional work. TheBradford Playhouse is a privately run venue with a medium-sized proscenium theatre and a small studio.
Among the professional theatre companies based in Bradford areKala Sangam, thesatirical madcap comedy troop,Komedy Kollective,Lost Dog (based at Theatre in the Mill) andMind the Gap, one of the longest established, who have always worked with a mixture ofdisabled and able-bodied performers. Groups and organisations teaching theatre include TheAsian Theatre School, Bradford Stage and Theatre School andStage 84. There are also a number of amateur theatre groups.
St George's Hall is a concert hall dating from 1853 making it the oldest concert hall in Britain and the third oldest in Europe.[citation needed]Bradford Festival Choral Society was founded to perform at the inauguralBradford Musical Festival that took place in August of that year,[160] and the choir is still a part of the musical life of the city. TheHallé Orchestra have been regular visitors over the years, as have a wide range of popular musicians, bands, entertainers, comedians and theatrical productions.In 2017 an £8.2 million renovation scheme of St George's Hall was started, after completion it is planned for the concert venue to re-open in late 2018.[161]
St George's Hall
Cinemas have been replaced by vast entertainment complexes with multi-screen cinemas. TheLeisure Exchange in the city centre has a 16 screen Cineworld. AtThornbury, on the outskirts is theOdeon Leeds-Bradford with 13 screens, which replaced the old Odeon next to the Alhambra. The Odeon is a continuing focus of protests by Bradfordians who do not wish to see the old building demolished.[162] The University of Bradford also has a cinema run by the Students' Union, operating from the university's Great Hall.[163]
Nightlife in Bradford has traditionally centred on Manor Row and Manningham Lane. More recently, several clubs andpubs have opened in the West End of Bradford, around theAlhambra Theatre, turning what was a previously fairly quiet area into one that is often crowded and vibrant at night. North Parade has also seen several new themed bars open and is at the heart of the Independent Quarter of the city.[164]Sunbridge Wells is an underground leisure and retail complex. It opened in Bradford city centre in 2016.
Sunny day at the City Park
Bradford was one of the first areas of the UK to get a local commercial radio stationPennine Radio in September 1975. Today, this isHits Radio West Yorkshire andGreatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire. As of 2006[update], Bradford Community Broadcasting based in the city centre has broadcast on full-time Community Radio licence around Bradford and the Aire Valley, whilst the university radio stationRamair broadcasts to the student population. Bradford's only television stationAAP TV caters for Bradford's large Asian community. TheTelegraph and Argus is Bradford's daily newspaper, published six days each week from Monday to Saturday.
TheBradford Mela is now part of the biggerBradford Festival in June.[165] The wordmela isSanskrit for 'a gathering' or 'to meet'. In the UK, melas provide an opportunity for communities to come together to celebrate and share their cultures. Mela festivals include a combination ofmarkets, funfairs, food and drink, arts and workshops, children's activities, strolling entertainment and a variety of music and dance performances on a number of stages. Bradford held the first mela in Europe in September 1988 and it is presently held in Bradford City Park.
Bradford is home to the acclaimedNational Science and Media Museum (previously the National Museum of Photography, Film & Television), which celebrates cinema and movies, and is the most visited museum outside London. It contains the UK's firstIMAX theatre, theCubby Broccoli Cinema, and thePictureville Cinema — described byDavid Puttnam as the best cinema in Britain.[123]
Bradford Industrial Museum was established in 1974 at Moorside Mills, a spinning mill inEccleshill. The museum celebrates and explains the significant achievements in Bradford's industrial past, from textiles and printing to the manufacture of motor cars.[167]
A mile from the city centre isBolling Hall Museum, a partmedieval building that offers visitors a journey through the lives and times of the families that lived there for over five hundred years. Rooms are furnished and decorated to give a taste of life at different periods in the house's history.[168]
TheBradford Museums & Galleries has a collection items relating toHerbert Morley (explorer) andMitch the printmaker.[170]
Impressions Gallery is an independent contemporary photography gallery with a temporary exhibitions programme showing on average six exhibitions each year. The gallery moved from York to Centenary Square, Bradford, in 2007.
After a campaign in 2008, Bradford was recognised as a 'City of Sanctuary' on 18 November 2010. Bradford is "a place where a broad range of local organisations,community groups andfaith communities, as well aslocal government, are publicly committed to welcoming and including people seeking sanctuary." The city has a history of welcoming newcomers from throughout the world. An example of this was when between December 1938 and September 1939 as part of theKindertransport scheme, Bradford welcomed around 270German Jewishrefugee children. Many of these children were initially housed in a former hospital building on Shipley Glen, which had been converted into a temporary hostel. Later, the children were moved to private homes throughout Bradford and the surrounding areas. The purchase of the Carlton Hostel building in 1939, part of the same Kindertransport scheme, was made possible through donations from both Bradford's Jewish community and non-Jews.[171][172][173]
In 2002Gareth Gates came second in the first series ofPop Idol and went on to achieve four UK number one singles before enjoying success inmusical theatre.Kimberly Walsh achieved major success after winning a place in the girl bandGirls Aloud inPopstars: The Rivals later in the same year, and in 2010Zayn Malik came third inThe X Factor with his boy bandOne Direction, who in March 2012 became the first British group to go straight to the top of the US music charts with their debut album.[176]
In 2013 Bradford was again crowned "Curry Capital of Britain" after seeing off other strong contenders such asGlasgow andWolverhampton. Bradford scored highly not just for the quality of food and service offered by each of the restaurants, but also for food hygiene, a deep understanding of the curry restaurant sector and its success in collectively raising funds for food charity The Curry Tree, which seeks to alleviate the plight of the poor in South East Asia. The judges were also particularly impressed by Bradford's International Food Academy andJamie's Ministry of Food, which teaches the districts residents how to cook quick, simple, healthy and cost-effective meals.[178] The city has been voted the curry capital of the UK for 6 years running.[179]
Bradford has a long sporting tradition, andBradford Bulls, formerly Bradford Northern, is one of the most successfulrugby league clubs in the world, winning the World Club Championship three times since 2002 and theRugby Football League Championship seven times. Bradford Bulls play at theGrattan Stadium, Odsal, formerly Odsal Stadium. The city is also home to a number of rugby union clubs—Bradford Salem are based in the Heaton area and Wibsey RFC can be found to the south of the city centre. TheRichard Dunn Sports Centre is close to the Odsal and the sports facilities at the university are also open to the public at certain times.
Odsal Stadium is also the home of regular nationalBriSCA Formula 1 Stock Cars andBriSCA Formula 2 Stock Cars race meetings. The venue has hosted stock car and banger racing in the multi-use stadium since 23 June 1945, however the end of speedway racing in 1997 brought stock car racing in Bradford to a temporary close when the shale track was removed. The sport was revived atOdsal in 2021 with a brand new track surface, and is managed by Yorstox who also host meetings atOwlerton Stadium in Sheffield.[188]
The defunctBradford Dukesspeedway team raced at Odsal until 1997. Speedway was staged at Greenfields Stadium in the pioneer days, when it was known as the Autodrome in the early 1960s. Odsal opened its doors in 1945 and continued in the late 1950s. It entered a team in the 1960 Provincial League then fell dormant until the 1970s when it re-opened. The track staged a Speedway World Final. The speedway team rode under a number of names—probably the longest running was Bradford Northern—in common with the Rugby League team. This was changed to Bradford Barons, emulating the more successful Halifax Dukes. Eventually the Halifax team was brought to Bradford under the name Bradford Dukes, who raced mostly on shale surfaces until 1997, when motorsports temporarily ceased atOdsal.
The city also has a history ofskateboarding culture; in Ian Glasper's 2012 bookArmed with Anger, the city was described as "West Yorkshire'sde facto skate capital".[175]
There are two major hospitals in Bradford:Bradford Royal Infirmary andSt Luke's Hospital. Both are teaching hospitals and are operated by Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS trust. Over the years the Trust has subsumed a number of smaller hospitals; these include Woodlands Orthopaedic Hospital, Northern View and Bierley Hall.
Bradford is the focus of one of the UK's largest ever birth cohort studies, known asBorn in Bradford. Partly supported by European funding, it is the result of close collaboration between theUniversity of Bradford, theNHS and other institutions in West Yorkshire. It will track the lives of all the babies born in the city from 2006 to 2008 and aims to provide a wealth of data, allowing health researchers the opportunity to investigate many different aspects of health and wellbeing.
Bradford has been the scene of some high-profile crimes such as the shooting of Bradford PCSharon Beshenivsky while responding to a burglary in the city.[191] In May 2010, Stephen Griffiths was charged with theBradford murders.[192]
Among Bradford born people who made significant contributions to the arts wereDavid Hockney, painter, draughtsman, printmaker, stage designer and photographer, who was born in the city and educated atBradford Grammar School.[196]Frederick Delius (1862–1934) was a composer born to a family of German descent in the city[197] andJ.B. Priestley (1894–1984) was a novelist and playwright.Sir William Rothenstein was a painter, draughtsman and writer on art who was principal of theRoyal College of Art from 1920 to 1935.[198] In the genre of classical musicRodney Friend is an English violinist, born (1940), in 1964 he became the youngest ever leader of theLondon Philharmonic Orchestra.[199] In the field of science and medicine,Friederich Wilhelm Eurich (1867–1945), professor of forensic medicine and bacteriologist, did much to conqueranthrax in the wool trade.
In the field of industry, SirJacob Behrens (1806–1889) was an Anglo–German textile merchant who was instrumental in Bradford becoming a major exporter of woollen goods.[201]
A social reformer who campaigned against child labour,Richard Oastler (1789–1861), is commemorated by a statue in Northgate[202] and the Oastler Shopping Centre located close to the Kirkgate Shopping CentreW.E. Forster (1818–1886), was MP for Bradford and, commemorated by statue, is the namesake of Forster Square.[203]
TheButtershaw area of the city is featured in the filmRita, Sue and Bob Too (1987), in which two 16-year-old girls are involved in a love triangle with a wealthy married man (played byGeorge Costigan). The film, created by localAndrea Dunbar, was initially unpopular with local residents due to its negative image of the area, but has since earned itself a good reputation in the local community as Buttershaw's claim to fame.[210][211] The award-winning 2013 filmThe Selfish Giant takes place in and around Bradford.[212]
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^Richardson, C. (1968). "Irish Settlement in Mid-Nineteenth Century Bradford".Bulletin of Economic Research.20:40–57.doi:10.1111/j.1467-8586.1968.tb00038.x.
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^Maj A.F. Becke,History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 2a: The Territorial Force Mounted Divisions and the 1st-Line Territorial Force Divisions (42–56), London: HM Stationery Office, 1935/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007,ISBN1-847347-39-8, p. 90.
^"The English Indices of Deprivation 2007"(PDF). Communities and Local Government. pp. 41, 59,86–87. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 13 December 2011. Retrieved10 April 2012.In Bradford, almost 30% of the LSOAs are amongst the 10% most deprived while over 6% of LSOAs in Bradford are among the 10% least deprived in England.
^"Westfield Shopping Centres".bradfordbroadwaydevelopment.co.uk. Westfield Shopping Centres. Archived fromthe original on 22 February 2014. Retrieved7 February 2014.
^Wainwright, Martin (19 February 2012)."Bradford's new 'puddle in the park' reflects burst of Yorkshire pride".The Guardian. London.Archived from the original on 24 September 2014. Retrieved28 March 2012.UK's largest water feature cost £24.4m and caused lots of controversy but could now bring city estimated £80m a year
^"Bradford Museums". Bradfordmuseums.org.Archived from the original on 17 November 2010. Retrieved26 November 2010.
^"Bradford Museums". Bradfordmuseums.org.Archived from the original on 16 July 2011. Retrieved26 November 2010.
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