Bus Congestion, Market Street

     The Bradford Interchange (bus station) is currently closed dure to storm damage which occurred earlier in the month, it's currently causing some 'bus congestion' on city centre streets.

Bradford Prepares For EDL Demonstration

There were more police officers than shoppers in the town centre this morning as road closures were put in place and barriers were erected to segretate the visiting English Defence League from the main part of the city.  Bradford residents had been urged to carry on as normal, but most stayed away.

Stop The Cuts

Further cuts in public spending will probably mean more cuts to council services and jobs. Protesters putting across their point to passers by in the city centre yesterday.

Dynamo - Magician

This was the scene outside of Waterstones bookshop a few days ago.  The large queue of people were patiently waiting to see magician Dynamo (real name Steven Frayne) who was in his home town of Bradford to promote his new book 'Nothing Is Impossible'.  I was ignorant as to who Dynamo was and upon making a few inquiries with his fans discovered that he can 'walk on water' amongst other feats, and has appeared on TV numerous times, so I will have to keep an eye out for Mr. Dynamo in the future.

Street Vendor - City Park

Whenever there is any kind of outdoor event in the town centre these street vendors appear, I think this one was expecting rain.

Positive Bradford Day

Positive Bradford Day took place today in Centenary Square in the centre of Bradford.  As the name suggests, the aim of the event is to promote Bradford, the good things things that are happening in the City.  A combination of music, dance, food, stage performances by local schoolchildren and lots of information about local voluntary organisations made for a very informative and entertaining afternoon.  The weather wasn't very good, heavy driving rain and strong winds (a bit of a recurring theme lately).  I took the picture above when I nipped into one of the tents to escape the rain, a group of (Bradford) Punjabi musicians were drawing quite a crowd, these are two of the band.

Mission Occupy

I missed all the exitement last week down in the centre of Bradford as I was away on holiday.  The famous (or is that infamous) hole, a huge depression in the city centre, intended to be a retail development but abandoded after the foudations were excavated some years ago, was occupied by a group of protesters attempting to bring attention to the situation.  The protesters were still there yesterday.  The saga goes on.

Jubilee Big Lunch

Unfortunately it rained, heavily, at the Jubilee Big Lunch earlier today in the centre of Bradford, even my normally waterproof waterproofs left me feeling a little soggy.  The entertainers worked extra hard though, bands playing music from the late 50's up to the 90's and enthusiastic (but very wet) street performers providing the 'feel good' factor, in fact, I'm still  'feeling good' as I hang my wet clothes up to dry, so they must have done a good job!

Bradford Pride 2012

There was a bit of a party atmosphere in Centenary Square today as Bradford hosted its annual Pride celebrations.  The event drew quite a large crowd, families as well as members of the gay and lesbian communities.  The sunny weather seemed to put everybody in a good mood, the spectators are singing along at this point and I probably spent a little longer at the side of the stage than I intended to, I was temporarily deaf for a short while afterwards.

Mortal Orchestra - Carnival Parade

These giant musicians and opera singers took part in the Mayor's Carnival Parade yesterday, sixteen foot tall and quite impressive I thought, these two youngsters weren't too sure though, they didn't seem to want to go any closer.