Alhambra Theatre

          This Grade II listed building is a Bradford landmark, it was almost demolished and made into a car park in the 1980s.  It was rescued and fully refurbished in 1986, a glass facade and main entrance being added to the front of the building, the original entrance was on the corner beneath the dome.  I was once told that the building was painted black during the second world war, but I can't find anything to confirm this, so it may or may not be true.

Cowpers Cross - Ilkley Moor

     This stone cross stands a short distance from the old Keighley to Ilkley road on the top of Ilkley Moor.  The name Cowper is thought to derive from the local family name of Cawper. The cross has been repaired at some time as the shaft has been replaced by an old stone gatepost.

Ilkley Moor - Path Erosion

     Ilkley Moor lies some seven or eight miles Northwest of Bradford and is part of the South Pennines Moor Site of Special Scientific Interest.
     Many of the paths on the moor are heavily used by walkers, runners, and more recently mountain bikers leading to some serious path erosion. Work is underway to repair  badly affected sections of path using flagstones from demolished mills.  Some of these flagstones are being flown in by helicopter due to the inaccessibility of these paths by normal vehicles.
     This picture was taken at Whetstones, a vantage point from where you can see into the Wharfe valley and beyond in one direction, and into the Aire valley and beyond in the other direction (Listers Mill chimney is plainly visible in the Bradford direction).

Fibres

     This unusual sculpture 'Fibres' by Ian Randall lies between Forster Square Railway Station and the town centre.  The two pillars are constructed from old railway lines radiating out into the surrounding paved area.  The sculpture is popular with young children who run at the pillars to see how far they can climb up!
     The building in the background is the Midland Hotel.  The original railway station was located some 300 yards closer to the town centre, next to this hotel.

Richard Oastler

     This statue of Richard Oastler (1789-1861) stands next to the Oastler Centre at the top end of Bradford.  Richard Oastler was a campaigner for factory workers rights and was involved in the campaign to reduce childrens working hours to ten hours per day.  The statue was the result of a national subscription with most of the funds coming from the Bradford area.

Derelict School

     This derelict building is situated on the corner of Claremont and Morley Street, just a short walk from the town centre.  Composer Frederick Delius was born only a few doors away at No.6 Claremont, but this building was formerly  Fox's School of Commerce.  The school taught shorthand, typing and book-keeping to a high standard and was run by a no-nonsense Mrs. Whitely.  The school closed some years ago and the building is now in very poor condition.  Writing on the door warns not to enter as there is no floor behind the door.

Bradford Women For Peace

     After visiting the Peace Banner exhibition last Friday I decided to look back in my files and came up with this picture. This is Bradford Women For Peace in the city cente of Bradford in August last year, possibly the day before the EDL demonstration.  I think the green banner in the background is on display in the exhibition. 

Priestley Theatre Mural

     This mural is on the wall of the Priestley Theatre and is visible from Leeds road as you leave Bradford.  It celebrates the birth of the Independent Labour Party at Bradford in 1893 following a strike at Manningham Mills two years earlier.

Quaker Graves

     This is the Quaker burial area of Undercliffe Cemetery.  The gravestones are laid flat 'as no man is above another' and usually bear only simple inscriptions of name, age at death, and date of death.

Wool Exchange

     This is the modern plate glass facade of the Bradford Wool Exchange building viewed from Piece Hall Yard.  The building now contains a large bookshop, coffee shop and a number of smaller businesses, wool trading ceased here in the 1960s.

Peace Banners

     This exhibition of peace banners is currently on display at the Pop Up Arts Space in Centenary Square, Bradford.  This is basically an empty shop unit used as a temporary art gallery.  The banners span 100 years of peace protesting.  The most recent of these banners was used here in Bradford in last years demonstration against the English Defence League.

World War 1 Memorial Window

     This window, in the North wall of Bradford Cathedral commemorates local regiments involved in the 1st World War.  To see all the detail, the window needs to be observed from a close distance.  This is a detail from the central panel.

Moonset

      This looks a bit like a sunset, but is actually the moon.  It was taken this morning from my back garden at about 6.30 after a quick scramble to find and set up my tripod.

Bowness This Way

     This signpost, just below Bradford Cathedral marks the start of a link path to the Dales Way (a long distance footpath from Ilkley to the Lake District).  The route passes through Saltaire and then up over Ilkley Moor before dropping down to Ilkley and the River Wharfe, distance twelve and a half miles, or ninety six and a half miles if you want to go all the way!

Listers Mill

     This is part of Listers Mill (also known as Manningham Mills).  At one time the mill had thousands of employees making high quality velvet and silk on its 27 acres of floorspace.  The Mill closed in the 1990s and a campaign then followed to save the buildings. The building in the picture is now an apartment block.  The main feature of the mill is its 255ft tall chimney (not shown) which can be seen from almost anywhere in Bradford.  (I will post a picture of the chimney when I can figure out how to photograph it).

The Promenade - Undercliffe Cemetery

     This is the promenade at Undercliffe Cemetery.  The obelisk in the centre distance is the memorial of Joseph Smith (1801-1858).  He was the agent of the Cemetery Company with responsibility for the layout and sale of burial plots, this enabled him to secure this prominent spot right at the end of the promenade overlooking the city of Bradford.

Help for Heroes

 

     This piper, on a cold and wet Saturday morning in Darley Street Bradford was fundraising for the charity 'Help for Heroes'.  Money raised goes to support wounded members of the Armed Forces.    

Undercliffe Cemetry At Dusk

     This is the view from Undercliffe Cemetery looking West over the city.  The cemetery was opened in 1854 and contains many extravagant Victorian tombs, obelisks and other monuments.  The cemetery was nearly lost when in the 1970's the original Cemetery Company went bankrupt and the entire 25 acre site was sold to a property developer for £5.00.  After a public campaign to save the cemetery Bradford Council compulsorily purchased the now derelict and much vandalised site.  A team of volunteers have since spent many years restoring and maintaining the cemetery.

Bus Shelter

       This recently constructed bus shelter lies at the opposite side of the road to the Jacobs Well pub in yesterdays post (the pub is behind the trees on the left).  Bus travellers are not pleased with the new shelter, a combination of the height of the roof and insufficient overhang means that the slightest breeze blows in rain. 

Jacobs Well

     This is one of a handful of pubs which have somehow survived redevelopment in the city centre, a little bit of old Bradford.  It is believed that a well existed nearby at one time, hence the name 'Jacobs Well'.  Unfortunately I can't comment on the quality of the beer, I was  a bit pushed for time and didn't go in.

Alladins Cave

     I can't walk past this camera shop at the top end of town (Bradford is on a bit of a slope) without stopping for a look at the bargains on display in their second-hand window.  I've always had an interest in photography and love old cameras, I like their chunky metal bodies and whirring mechanical shutters, I suppose that makes me a bit of an anorak, or a bit sad, or something...

Paper Hall

     This Grade II listed building was built as a private house in 1643 and can be found at the top of Church Bank, just a short uphill walk from Bradford town centre.  The building was neglected for many years and was described by a Bradford alderman in 1949 as 'a woeful wreck'.  The house was at one time owned by James Garnett who is credited with starting the industrial revolution in Bradford by installing hand operated spinning machines in the loft.  The building was rescued from its collapsed state in the 1990's and is currently used as offices.

Reindeer Stampede

     This fundraising event in Roberts Park Saltaire should have been held in December but was cancelled due to heavy snow.  The 5km charity run in aid of charity 'Epilepsy Action' was held today instead.
     This picture shows competitors warming up before the race.

Jowett - A Century of Memories

     My local newspaper, the Bradford Telegraph & Argus has nominated 'Jowett - A Century of Memories' by Noel Stokoe as its book of the week.  The book contains letters from the owners of these Bradford built cars and previously unpublished pictures from the Jowett archives.
      This is a picture of Noel (taken last year) stood in front of a splendid Jowett Bradford (not his own car) at the Jowett Centenary gathering in the grounds of Cannon Hall near Barnsley   

More Snow

     I had intended to visit Bradford town centre today.  I abandoned the idea when falling snow quickly turned to ice on the main roads and traffic slowed to a crawl.  I went for a walk instead, a red traffic light was the only bit of colour I could find on this dark, wet, foggy afternoon.

Bobbins

     These are bobbins on a spinning machine at the Bradford Industrial Museum.  These bobbins were a common sight in the mills of Bradford around thirty or more years ago.  The late 1970's and early 1980's saw a major decline in the Bradford textile industry with only a comparatively small number of successful companies surviving.

Half Man/Half Insect

     This half man/half insect sculpture by Anthony Bennett is currently on display at the Bradford Industrial Museum as part of an exhibition of fairground history.

The Great Omi

     This is a life sized sculpture of The Great Omi, supposedly the worlds first completely tattooed man and is currently on display at the Bradford Industrial Museum.  It is part of an exhibition of Bradfords fairground history.  The museum also has permanent displays of textile machinery, steam power, and a collection of Bradford built Jowett cars.

Wooden Structure - Bradford Urban Garden

         This wooden structure has recently appeared in the Bradford Urban Garden, I don't know if it's  an artwork or has a more practical purpose.                                                                                                                                                                   

Canadian Air Force Memorial - Oakworth

     This is the Lord Mayor of Bradford Cllr. Peter Hill laying a wreath at the Tewitt Lane Canadian Air Force War Memorial.
     The Memorial lies about nine or ten miles to the West of Bradford on an isolated green lane.  A service is held here each year to honour the memory of the six Canadian Airmen who lost their lives when their Wellington bomber crashed into the hillside on January 2 1944.
     These are fairly solemn occasions, but I had to smile when one elderly gentleman told me that he remembers as a boy the local police visiting every school in the area.  It was the week following the crash and the police wanted to recover the numerous small items of wreckage that had mysteriously transported themselves from the crash site into the pockets of local schoolboys.

Bradford Mirror Pool

     This picture was taken a few days ago and shows the site of the Bradford mirror pool.  The building directly behind the crane is the Alhambra theatre, the other building is the former Odeon cinema which closed for business several years ago.  Efforts by a local pressure group to save the building seem unlikely to save this Bradford landmark from demolition.
     Construction of  the mirror pool itself seems to be running at a slow pace, although I believe most of the work so far involves the installation of underground services, leaving little to see on the surface.