Bradford

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This article discusses the city Bradford, in West Yorkshire, England. Bradford gives its name to the metropolitan borough named the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, discussed in a separate article, which also takes in many towns and villages in the surrounding area.
For other places named Bradford, see Bradford (disambiguation).

Bradford is the major settlement in the City of Bradford Metropolitan District, in the county of West Yorkshire in the north of England. It officially became a city in 1897.

Contents

History

Bradford was long a centre of the West Riding wool industry. The name is derived from the "Broad Ford" at Church Bank by the site of Bradford Cathedral, around which the city was founded sometime around the time of the Norman Conquest. The stream, called Bradford Beck, now passes through underground tunnels to the River Aire near Shipley.

Bradford was one of the many English cities which really came into its own in the Industrial Revolution. Bradford's textile industry dates back as far as the thirteenth century, but it was not until the nineteenth century that it became world famous. Yorkshire boasted plentiful supplies of iron ore, coal and soft water which were used in cleaning raw wool, and a coal seam which stretched as far as Nottingham provided the power that the industry needed. Sandstone, Bradford's local stone, provided an excellent resource for the building of the mills, and the large population of West Yorkshire meant there was a readily available workforce.

To support the textiles mills and machinery a large manufacturing base grew up in the city, leading to diversification with different industries thriving side by side. Today most of the older textile mills and some of the heavier industries have closed, but Bradford remains one of the north's important cities, with modern engineering, chemicals and financial services replacing the "dark satanic mills" of the revolution.

One of the mills that remains — now in the form of a museum — is Salt's Mill, in the heart of the industrial village and UNESCO designated world heritage centre of Saltaire. The village was built by enlightened industrialist Sir Titus Salt for his many employees. Also still standing is Lister's Mill (or Manningham Mills), once owned by Samuel Lister. It is believed that the chimney of Lister's mill can be seen from just about anywhere in Bradford.

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The Bradford district also contains the villages of Thornton and Haworth that were the birthplace and home of the Brontë family. Clayton was home to Albert Pierrepoint, Britain's last hangman.

On May 11 1985, 56 people were killed at a fire at Valley Parade. Centenary Square now contains a monument to the disaster.

Bradford has been praised for its cultural diversity. However, this leads to conflicts on occasion. In 1989 copies of Salman Rushdie's The Satanic Verses were publicly burnt in Bradford. A video-tape documenting this event triggered the world-wide campaign against this book. In July 2001 ethnic tensions led to widespread rioting . Fireworks, bottles and bricks were thrown at the police. Of the 36 arrested — 13 white and 23 Asian — all but two were from the Bradford area.

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Bradford was one of the contenders for 2008 European Capital Of Culture, eventually losing to the city of Liverpool. In 2004, the Bradford Urban Regeneration Company commissioned flamboyant architect Will Alsop to create a vision for the City's future and indeed the role of a "City Centre" in the 21st century. Alsop's celebrated plans envisioned four regenerated quarters within the heart of the city — The Bowl, The Channel, The Market & The Valley — each creating new public spaces for commerce, education, leisure and showcasing Bradford's setting within the Pennine mountains.

Institutions, galleries, parks and Museums

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The University of Bradford has around 10,000 students. It received its Royal Charter in 1966, but traces its history back to the 1860's. It used to be famed for its Modern Languages Department.

Bradford College offers a wide range of Further and Higher Education courses, and is an Associate College of the University of Bradford.

The city is home to the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television.

Owing to its heritage as an international trading centre, Bradford boasts some fine Victorian buildings, including the Wool Exchange, the Medieval mansion Bolling Hall, Manningham Mills, as well as a fine Victorian cemetery at Undercliffe.

Within the city there are numerous parks and gardens, including Lister Park, home of Cartwright Hall museum and art gallery and the Mughal Water Gardens, Peel Park (the venue for the annual Mela — a celebration of eastern culture) and the local beauty spot of Chellow Dene with its two fine Victorian reservoirs set in pleasant woodland.


It is also known as Little Germany. Please refer.

Sport

Bradford is the home of the very successful Rugby League side Bradford Bulls and the less successful football clubs Bradford City and Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C.

Famous Bradfordians


Wm Morrison Supermarkets originated in Bradford. Bradford is the birthplace of rock bands Southern Death Cult / The Cult;Terrorvision and The Mission; techno outfit Unique 3, an important part of the Yorkshire Bleeps and Bass scene of the early 1990s; and Asian hip hop group Fun-Da-Mental.

Geography

Bradford is located at 53° 45′ 00″ N, 01° 50′ 00″ W (53.7500, -1.8333)1.

The Bradford Metropolitan District has an estimated population (2003) of 477,775. About 300,000 of these live within the main city area itself, the rest living in the surrounding towns, villages and countryside.

Railways

External links

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