Bradford

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For other places with the same name, see Bradford (disambiguation).

Bradford [1] is a city in Yorkshire, a county in the north of England, in the United Kingdom.

view from bradford interchange
view from bradford interchange

[edit] Understand

Bradford is one of the ten largest cities in Britain with a population of over 450,000 people. Originally founded by the Saxons, the name is a corruption of "Broad Ford", reflecting the watercourse which ran through the fledgling town.

Water would continue to be of vital importance to the growing city, providing one of the raw materials needed for the wool trade as well as, via the canal, a way of transporting new goods off to market.

At the beginning of the 19th century Bradford had grown to be a rural market town of 16,000 people centre around spinning and cloth weaving. The following 100 years saw massive expansion of these humble beginnings into comprehensive industry and Bradford become the wool capital of the world. By 1850 the population had grown to 100,000 and there were around 40 mills in the city producing cloth. On the 9th of June 1897 the town became a city.

[edit] Get in

[edit] By plane

  • Leeds-Bradford International Airport [2] - a Metro bus connection runs roughly every half hour during the day between the airport and Bradford Interchange bus station (£1.80)

[edit] By road

  • The M62 motorway crosses the Pennine belt and Bradford's own motorway the M606 is a spur off it. Originally planned to go right through the city centre, the M606 was thankfully never completed, and as such is one of Britains shortest motorways at only just over 2 miles long.

[edit] By train

Bradford city centre has two railway stations. If travelling from most places in the UK, the easiest option is to travel into Leeds, and then catch a connecting service into one of the Bradford stations (journey time from Leeds of about 20 minutes).

  • Bradford Forster Square - trains from Bradford Interchange going west head to Manchester Victoria station and Preston (for connections to Carlisle and Glasgow). Another option for journeys from Glasgow is to change at Carlisle for the historic and scenic Settle-Carlisle line. All trains on this line call at Shipley (north of Bradford) for connecting trains into Forster Square.
  • Bradford Interchange - trains from Bradford Interchange also head into the Wharfedale and Airedale valleys to Ilkley and Skipton.

[edit] Get around

[edit] By taxi

  • Bradford Town Taxis, 78 Morley Street, ☎ +44 (0)1274 636293 or +44 (0)1274 638751. 24/7. No call out charge.  edit

[edit] By bus

  • West Yorkshire Metro [3] - Bus timetables and journey planner.

[edit][add listing] See

  • Bronte Country.  edit

  • Five Rise Locks.  edit

  • Little Germany. Stunning architecture - especially the area known as Little Germany - a unique collection of 85 buildings constructed between 1855 and 1890, during the peak of Bradford's wool textile industry, now a popular residential and business area. 55 of the 85 buildings are listed because of their architectural and historical importance. edit

  • Saltaire. Saltaire. A well-preserved mid 19th century industrial town, which is located within Bradford. The site is on the UNESCO World Heritage List. In the mill itself you will find a large David Hockney exhibition, two restaurants and numerous shops - well worth a visit. edit

[edit] Museums

  • National Media Museum, [4]. The wonderful museum - as featured so memorably in Bill Bryson's book Notes from a Small Island. A wealth of information and exhibits from the history of photography, film and television, as well as the IMAX cinema. Free.  edit

  • Industrial Museum, [6]. Early museum with displays of owrking textile machinery. Also working horse museum and mill manager's house on the same site. edit

  • Bolling Hall Museum - a beautiful hall, partly going back to medieval times, comes as quite a surprise on the ring road only about a mile from the centre.

[edit][add listing] Do

[edit] Theatre

Bradford has a wealth of theatres and performing companies to enjoy, watch, and participate in, both amateur and professional. Theatre venues include the Alhambra Theatre, Bradford University's Theatre In The Mill, the Priestley Centre, and St George's Hall. Theatre companies to get involved with, include Lost Dog at Theatre in The Mill, the Asian Theatre School (also at Theatre In the Mill, though operated by Red Ladder from Leeds), Page to Stage at the Priestley Theatre, and madcap theatre/caberet, and comedy promoters/performers (specialising in new writing), Komedy Kollective Theatre Company.

[edit] Cinema

Bradford is blessed with a useful number of film venues ranging from "arthouse" to "mainstream" flicks, and is also the home to many budding filmmakers, some of whom are based at Bradford University, and offer opportunities for students to get involved. The National Media Museum also operates two film festivals, the Bradford Film Festival, and the the Animation Festival (Bradford Film Festival [8]).

  • National Media Museum. 2 screens. edit

  • Odeon (X6, 15, 72 or 636 bus from Bradford Interchange).  edit

[edit] Live Music

All styles of music are available in Bradford, from rock, pop, indie, jazz, opera, to dance, and the latest listings can be found at alive.co.uk. Live venues include the Gassworks, St George's Hall, the University Union bars, and the Beehive. The Bradford Mela takes place every summer at Peel Park. Formally part and parcel of the now defunct Bradford Festival, this is now a free-standing gypsy event, fusing both Eastern musical influences with Eastern Commercialism.

  • Skewed Circus, Hilton Hotel, [9]. Skewed Circus aims to recreate the vibrancy of the Bradford Festival, combining stand-up, breakdancing, rock, dance music, hip hop, juggling, fire-eating, facepainting, and not-for-profit/charity info stalls. Music and comedy will take place once a month. edit

[edit] Sport

Bradford City AFC and Bradford Bulls RLFC represent the city at football and rugby league respectively.

[edit] Learn

  • Bradford University [10] - one of the best schools for optometry, pharmacy and digital media in England.

[edit][add listing] Buy

[edit][add listing] Eat

  • Chowdreys Restaurant (Chowdreys Restaurant), 342 Great Horton Road, Bradford, BD7 1QJ, ☎ 01274 579374, [11]. Seating two hundred people Chowdreys Restaurant serves the best in Indian / Kashmiri food, with a wide variety of meat & non-meat dishes - see our new menus online on our website. edit
  • Kebabish Original, 49 Great Horton Road. Serves curries and grills. Meat and fish is cooked over a charcoal grill and is without doubt one of the top restaurants in the UK. The grilled food is superior to the curry. Try the Chicken Tikka edit

Once famous for its woolen textile manufacture, Bradford is now known as one of the best cities in Britain to eat a curry.

  • Akbars, [12]. A modern style curry house with contemporary feel and superb value for money. The restaurant is always packed - always book as far in advance as possible to avoid disappointment. Although the food is rather good, and the naans enormous, it is somewhat overrated. The emphasis is on portion size rather than taste! £10.  edit

  • Karachi Restaurant, 15/17 Neal Street, ☎ +44 (0)1274 732015, [13]. M-Th 11AM-1AM F-Sa 11AM-2AM. This cheap and cheerful Pakistani/Indian restaurant is a Bradford institution. Mains roughly £4.50..  edit

  • Kashmir Restaurant, 25/27 Morley Street, ☎ +44 (0)1274 726513. 11am - 3am. . Excellent. Not just cheap - a main meal will cost including starter will cost about £6 per person. The oldest established curry cafe in Bradford. Absolutely phenomenal food. Recommended in the Rough Guide to Britain. [14][15]Known to locals. Easily the best curry in the UK edit

  • The Love Apple, [16]. Quality food and drink with full table service in a relaxed atmosphere, art exhibitions, music, dance and funky loving people. edit

  • Mumtaz - Great Horton Road - a very good up-market Pakistani restaurant, whose 'out' department has supplied Harrods among others. [17]
  • Nawaab's, 32 Manor Road, ☎ +44 (0)1274 720731. Very average curry restaurant in Bradford, just up from Valley Parade. Portions are thankfully small but dull. Never packed. Relaxed atmosphere and good people watching; try the Nirali special.
  • Omar Khan's, 30 Little Horton Lane, ☎ +44 (0)1274 720030.  edit

 edit

  • Omar's, 45 Stony Lane, ☎ +44 (0)1274 641321. Renowned for its "family sized naan" and "naan & curry challenge". edit

[edit][add listing] Drink

  • Cock & Bottle, Barkerend Road (near cathederal), [18]. Newly refurbished in 2005 after several decades of dereliction. Oldest pub in Bradford now serves thirteen guest Ales. edit

  • Fighting Cocks, 21-23 Preston Street, [19]. Cocks lol. edit

  • Sir Titus Salt, Unit B Windsor Baths, Morley Street. Good decor and a selection of ales available. Full of deadheads though! edit

  • Sun Hotel, 124 Sunbridge Road. Long established gay pub. Gay clubs and gay nights in other clubs change on a regular basis. Consult Yorkshire's gay paper Shout! [20] for the latest listing. edit

  • Walkabout, Glydegate Square.  edit

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There is a wide range of accommodation options in and around Bradford. Whether it is student accommodation for the college and university or businessmen and women.

[edit] Stay Safe

The city has a fairly high rate of crime, so be very careful if you decide to wander off the beaten track. If you come to an area that is rundown/derelict, heavily vandalised and gangs of young males hanging around, you're in the wrong place.

[edit] Get out

The Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales are all within reach of the Bradford district, with plenty of hotels available for people to check into.

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