Thursday, 16 June, 2022
Thursday the heat began. Ouch. it was really REALLY hard going for me. But first – breakfast. This was the first time we’d booked a hotel that included breakfast and Krish wrinkled his nose at the prospect. It used to be a big deal to get a hotel breakfast but, since the pandemic, they have mostly regressed to nothing better than hospital cafeteria style – with steam tables full of questionable quality and predictable British favourites. Luckily for us, the Midland had a ‘nice’ breakfast with juices, fruit, some cheese, yogurts and various spreads, then a menu of cooked to order food. The first day I had haddock with a poached egg, and Krish had a kipper with his poached egg. This was the type of light breakfast I love. The dining room was large with only a couple of tables being used by guests and it was all presided over by Carol, the best hostess we have ever had. Carol was probably in her 60s, and had her grey-blonde hair up in a bun. She wore a loose fitting black dress with a slit at the bottom hem that revealed a white slip. She walked with a heavy limp but managed the walking back and forth quite well. The Queen of the dining room!
We had a plan and it included me taking buses if I needed to – I had a freebus pass after all – but it didn’t come to that.
We left the hotel and went through the nearby cathedral grounds. I popped into the quite lovely and very quiet and cool cathedral. The site of the cathedral has been used for Christian worship at least since 627AD. By 1327 there was a stone church here, some of the older masonry may have been used in the reconstruction of the Nave. The oldest parts of the present building, the nave arcades. were completed in 1458. The Tower was added to the West end and finished in 1508. The newest parts were completed in 1963. I thought the largest stained glass window quite spectacular but the light behind it created a rather disappointing photo (the third one).
When I came out I found Krish had left (ugh). He sent me a text that he’d left. not having heard that I was going into the cathedral, and was in Little Germany (German Quarter he said) which was next on our list. It’s right next to the cathedral so a very short walk. Little Germany was home to the German merchants, many Jewish, who came to Bradford in the late 1850s for the prosperous textile industry. Little Germany itself is also protected as a Conservation Area. Of the collection of 85 buildings constructed between 1855 and 1890, 55 are listed. Most of the buildings were constructed for the use of textile businesses, including imposing warehouses/
I started up the steep hill. There was a bunch of the area I didn’t see – just too much of a steep hike on a hot day. At first I was a bit disappointed by the area – I’d read so much – but after a while, started noticing all the architectural detail and then I enjoyed it.
Back near the intersection with the main road bordering little Germany is The Bradford Playhouse which seats 266 people and was founded back in 1929. It was called The Priestley for while, after Bradford son J. B. Priestley who was its president. He wrote of the theatre, “it is a genuine popular movement, not something fostered by a few rich cranks.” To bolster this sentiment of being independent and ordinary hardworking people, at the back is a mural that commemorates the centenary of the founding of the Independent Labour Party in Bradford in 1893.
Which once was a stark warehouse and business district is now a neat and impressive neighbourhood of imposing buildings, peppered with art. The most famous of these is a portrait of David Hockney (one of Bradford’s most famous sons) in nails. Yes, the kind you hammer. The sculpture is 16ft high, 12ft wide, and weighs almost three-quarters of a ton, consisting of 12 panels. The 250,000 nails that make up the artist’s portrait were hammered into a base of lacquered marine plywood and fixed onto the wall.
We left Little Germany in search of lunch. Just beyond lay a road considered to be a good source of local (probably curry) restaurants, but when we got there it was a major road with lots of traffic. It was after noon now and the sun felt relentless. It was getting harder to find shade and I decided to veto the journey when we figured out how far we’d have to walk to find a bus. Instead we turned about and walked towards the city centre. There was a street near the hotel called North Parade and we’d read that it had a good collection of independent cafes and bars. It was on our list, we were hungry and thirsty so off we went.
We went around the back way this time, passing the older entrance to the Kala Sangam (the South Asian community arts centre) which is in front of the cathedral. I rested in the cathedral grounds for a while. Then at the very back of the hotel was a large vaulted area leading along Forster Square Station. We hoped there was a way out from here and luckily there was.
Continue reading “Bradford 2 – Bradford Cathedral, Little Germany and curry”