Visit City of Bradford Places

Welcome to Visit City of Bradford Places
The Walkfo guide to things to do & explore in City of Bradford

  

City of Bradford Places Overview: History, Culture & Facts about City of Bradford

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City of Bradford history

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Bradford was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1847, covering the parishes of Bradford, Horton and Manningham. It became a county borough with the passing of the Local Government Act 1888. The county borough was granted city status by Letters Patent in 1897. Bradford was expanded in 1882 to include Allerton, Bolton, Bowling, Heaton, Thornbury and Tyersall. In 1899 it was further expanded by adding North Bierley, Eccleshill, Idle, Thornton, Tong and Wyke. Clayton was added in 1930. The Brontë sisters, Emily, Anne and Charlotte were born along with their brother Branwell at 74 Market Street in Thornton in Bradford before moving to the parsonage at Haworth in the heart of West Yorkshire’s Brontë Country where they wrote a range of classics of English literature including “Wuthering Heights” and “Jane Eyre”. The city played an important part in the early history of the Labour Party. A mural on the back of the Priestley Centre For The Arts in Little Germany commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893. The Bradford Pals were three First World War Pals battalions of Kitchener’s Army raised in the city. When the three battalions were taken over by the British Army they were officially named the 16th, 18th and 20th Battalions, The Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment. On the morning of 1 July 1916, an estimated 1,394 young men from Bradford and District The Bradford Pals, the 16th and 18th Battalions of the Prince of Wales Own West Yorkshire Regiment left their trenches in Northern France to advance across No Man’s Land. It was the first hour of the first day of the Battle of the Somme. Of the estimated 1,394 men who left the trenches 1,094 were either killed or injured during the ill-fated attack on the village of Serre. Other Bradford Battalions involved in the Battle of the Somme were 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment, based at Belle Vue barracks in Manningham and the 10th Battalion of The Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment. The 1st/6th Territorial Battalion of The Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment first saw action in 1915 at Neuve Chapelle before moving north to Yser Canal near Ypres. The 10th Battalion The Prince of Wales’s Own West Yorkshire Regiment was involved in the attack on Fricourt, the 10th West Yorks suffered the highest casualty rate of any battalion on the Somme on 1 July and perhaps the highest battalion casualty list for a single day during the entire war. Nearly 60% of the battalion’s casualties were deaths. In 1919 the Diocese of Bradford was founded, the Church of Saint Peter was then elevated to cathedral status. The current city boundaries date from 1 April 1974, when the county borough of Bradford was merged with the borough of Keighley, the urban districts of Baildon, Bingley, Denholme, Ilkley, Shipley and Silsden, along with the Queensbury parts of Queensbury and Shelf Urban District and the parishes of Addingham, and Steeton with Eastburn from Skipton Rural District. Kildwick was part of Bradford at this time, but has since been moved into the Craven District (part of North Yorkshire). The National Science and Media Museum (formerly the National Museum of Photography, Film and Television) was established in the city in 1983. One of the first cinema shows outside London took place on the site where the museum now stands, in a music hall known as the People’s Palace. Today, the National Science and Media Museum hosts the annual Widescreen Weekend film festival. With a large influx of South Asian immigrants and the Bradford Council’s pursuit of a policy of multiculturalism in the 1980s, separatism between ethnic communities became an issue, an issue highlighted by Bradford headteacher Ray Honeyford. In 1989, a section of the Muslim community led a campaign against Salman Rushdie’s The Satanic Verses, and caught the attention of the international media by publicly burning a copy of the book. In July 2001, ethnic tensions led to rioting. The Ouseley Report, written shortly before the riots broke out, noted that Bradford had become deeply divided by segregated schooling, with communities deeply ignorant of each other, and there was widespread fear of crime and violence which West Yorkshire Police had insufficiently tackled for fear of being branded racist. In one case, a Bradford man whose car was set on fire following his conversion complained to police, but the officer advised him to “stop being a crusader and move to another place.” In response to the Ouseley Report, approximately £3 million was provided by the Home Office and the Neighbourhood Renewal Fund to regenerate the city. A further £2 billion was invested in regenerating the city centre, building a banqueting hall, new housing and leisure facilities. In December 2001, Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This means that the government has a duty to protect the site. The buildings belonging to the model village are individually listed, with the highest level of protection given to the Congregational church (since 1972 known as the United Reformed Church) which is listed grade I. The village which includes Salts Mill (pictured right) has survived remarkably complete with Roberts Park on the north side of the river recently restored by Bradford Council. In October 2007, Bradford was voted the greenest city in the United Kingdom. In the Sustainable Cities Index, compiled by Forum for the Future, the city was revealed to have the lowest environmental impact of any British city. In spite of its undeniably large role in the Industrial Revolution, Bradford’s rivers were not polluted beyond redemption, and the streams surrounding the city are now a haven of wildlife. The City of Bradford has areas of green space, and recycling schemes. Bradford became the world’s first UNESCO City of Film in 2009. The designation recognises Bradford’s aim to use this history and the local popularity and accessibility of film as a major tool for regeneration, cultural development and social inclusion. The cinema connections in the city (which is also the home of the National Science and Media Museum) are both historical and contemporary, with ongoing efforts to preserve, promote and enrich the city’s heritage of film. Bradford has been a film location since the beginning of cinema, with its indigenous film industry being traced back to the years around the First World War. By then the residents of Bradford had already witnessed important contributions to cinema development, such as the invention of the Cieroscope in Manningham in 1896. In April 2021, Little Germany, Bradford was one of the areas where scenes for the second series of All Creatures Great and Small were being filmed. Some child and adult actors from the theatre school Articulate were to appear in some episodes.

City of Bradford geography / climate

Bradford district has 3636 hectares of upland heathland, including Ilkley Moor where peat bogs rise to 402 m (1,319 ft) above sea level. Three river systems serve the City of Bradford, along with 23 km of canal. The Airedale towns of Keighley, Bingley and Shipley lie on the River Aire.

Parishes

Most of Bradford is unparished, there are parish and town councils for most of the outlying towns and villages in the District. From 2009, the parishes are: Addingham Baildon Burley Clayton Cullingworth Denholme Harden Haworth, Cross Roads and Stanbury Ilkley Keighley Menston.

You can visit City of Bradford places with Walkfo City of Bradford to hear history at City of Bradford’s places whilst walking around using the free digital tour app. Walkfo City of Bradford has 101 places to visit in our interactive City of Bradford map, with amazing history, culture & travel facts you can explore the same way you would at a museum or art gallery with information audio headset. With Walkfo, you can travel by foot, bike or bus throughout City of Bradford, being in the moment, without digital distraction or limits to a specific walking route. Our historic audio walks, National Trust interactive audio experiences, digital tour guides for English Heritage locations are available at City of Bradford places, with a AI tour guide to help you get the best from a visit to City of Bradford & the surrounding areas.

“Curated content for millions of locations across the UK, with 101 audio facts unique to City of Bradford places in an interactive City of Bradford map you can explore.”

Walkfo: Visit City of Bradford Places Map
101 tourist, history, culture & geography spots

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City of Bradford historic spots	City of Bradford tourist destinations	City of Bradford plaques	City of Bradford geographic features
Walkfo City of Bradford tourism map key: places to see & visit like National Trust sites, Blue Plaques, English Heritage locations & top tourist destinations in City of Bradford

  

Best City of Bradford places to visit

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City of Bradford has places to explore by foot, bike or bus. Below are a selection of the varied City of Bradford’s destinations you can visit with additional content available at the Walkfo City of Bradford’s information audio spots:

Birch Lane Birch Lane was the first long term home of Bradford Northern Rugby League Football Club. It was also home to Bradford F.C. in their first incarnation as a football club. The ground was described as “notorious” and a “poverty-stricken place”

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford is home to Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley Parade fire, and for baseball, basketball, kabbadi, show jumping, tennis, live music, and the 1997 Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain. The stadium is owned by Bradford City Council, but due to financial problems the Rugby Football League purchased the lease on it in 2012.

East Bowling East Bowling is an area of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England located to the south of Bradford city centre. It forms the eastern half of the historic township and manor of Bowling. Bowling became a ward of the newly created Borough of Bradford in 1847.

Iraq Economic Development Group The Iraq Economic Development Group (also frequently abbreviated to IEDG) is an apolitical private limited company established in United Kingdom that facilitates financial services in Britain. Its official abbreviated form is IEDg_UK Ltd and its abbreviated word is commonly used.

Bradford Alhambra The Alhambra Theatre was built in 1913 at a cost of £20,000 for theatre impresario Francis Laidler. In 1964, Bradford City Council bought the theatre for £78,900 and in 1974 it was designated a Grade II listed building.

Bradford City Park Bradford City Park is a public space in the centre of Bradford, West Yorkshire. It is centred on the Grade I listed Bradford City Hall. It comprises three main areas (each side of the triangular City Hall site.) To the east of the City Hall is the Norfolk Gardens area.

The 1 in 12 Club The 1 in 12 Club refers to both a members’ club and the building in which it is based. Owned and run by its membership as a collective based upon anarchist principles. In the 1980s it was one of the main locations for the UK crust and anarcho-punk scene.

Wool Exchange, Bradford The Wool Exchange Building in Bradford, West Yorkshire, was built as a wool-trading centre in the 19th century. The Gothic Revival architecture is symbolic of the wealth and importance wool brought to Bradford. Today it is a Waterstones bookshop as well as a cafe.

Bradford (Park Avenue) A.F.C. Bradford (Park Avenue) Association Football Club is a football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club is a reincarnation of the club which played in the Football League from 1908 to 1970. The new entity, established in 1987, currently competes in the National League North.

St Patrick’s Church, Bradford St Patrick’s Church is a Roman Catholic church in Bradford, West Yorkshire. It was built from 1852 to 1853 and designed by George Goldie. It is situated on the corner of Sedgfield Terrace and Westgate in the city centre.

Visit City of Bradford plaques