- 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 north of England in the county of West Yorkshire. It officially became a city in 1897.
The Bradford Metropolitan District (population:477,775) is England's 4th largest metropolitan area in terms of population. It
has a large number of recent immigrants, and approximately 19% of the population are from ethnic minority groups, particularly
from Pakistan. Asian immigrants' restaurants have led to the city being dubbed "the curry capital of Europe". Bradford is the
district with the second highest percentage of Muslims in Britain (16,5).
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 anywere in Bradford.
The Bradford district also contains the villages of Thornton and Haworth that were the birthplace and home
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 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
2 were from the Bradford area.
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
The University of Bradford has more than 7,000
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.
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
Bradford was the birthplace of the writers J. B. Priestley &
John Braine, the composer Frederick Delius and the artist David Hockney.
Commemorated by a statue in the city are Priestley, W.E. Forster after whom Forster Square is named, and Industrialist and inventor Samuel Lister. World War II
minister Sir Walter Womersley represented Grimsby. Wm Morrison
Supermarkets also originated in Bradford. Richard Whiteley, the
host of Countdown, was born in the city. Young Ones and Bottom actor and comedian Adrian Edmondson, Pop Idol runner up Gareth Gates and glove puppet Sooty also
hail from Bradford. Edward
Garvey, Garda Commissioner, was born in Bradford in 1915 and had a distinguished career in An Garda Síochána (the Irish police). The Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne were born in Thornton on the outskirts of Bradford.
Bradford is the birthplace of rock bands 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" North, 01°50'00" West (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 iteslf, the rest living in the surrounding towns, villages and countryside.
More information can be found by visiting http://www.bradfordinfo.com and http://www.mapsandstats.com
External links
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