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Bradford Information
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| Bradford is a city in West Yorkshire,
England. It lies amongst the Pennines, 8.6 miles (13.8 km) west of
Leeds, and 13 miles (20.9 km) northwest of Wakefield. Bradford is
surrounded by several smaller settlements which together form the
metropolitan borough of the City of Bradford, Bradford being the administrative
centre. Bradford has a population of 293,717, whilst the wider borough
has a population of 493,100. Historically a part of the West Riding
of Yorkshire, Bradford rose to prominence during the 19th century
as an international centre of textile manufacture, particularly wool.
It was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution, and amongst the earliest
industrialised settlements, rapidly becoming the "wool capital of
the world". The area''s supply of coal, iron ore and soft water facilitated
the growth of Bradford''s |
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| manufacturing base, which, as
textile manufacture grew, led to an explosion in population size and
a stimulation in civic investment; Bradford has fine Victorian architecture
including the grand Italianate City Hall. Bradford became a municipal
borough in 1847, and received its charter as a city in 1897. Following
a boundary reform in 1974, the city status was bestowed upon the wider
metropolitan borough. The textile sector in Bradford fell into a terminal
decline from the mid-20th century. Since this time, Bradford has faced
similar challenges to the post-industrial north, including deindustrialisation,
economic deprivation and housing problems. Since the decline in heavy
industry, Bradford has emerged as a tourist destination with attractions
such as the National Media Museum, Cartwright Hall, and Saltaire,
which is a World Heritage Site. |
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| Recently many significant developments
have been completed in the Bradford district (last 10 years).
In addition further large schemes are under construction and
proposed. |
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Centenary Square, city centre,
public piazza and retail. |
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Connecting the City, £20 m clearance
of 1960s structures over several acres of the city centre,
in preparation for the Broadway project |
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Lister Mills Silk Warehouse, Manningham,
131 apartments, the first phase of a £100 m project. |
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Victoria Mill, Shipley, £70 m conversion
and new build, 300 apartments (part complete). |
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City termination of M606. |
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Leisure Exchange, city centre, multiplex cinemas,
bowling, restaurants. |
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Abbey offices, Yorkshire Building Society offices
in the city centre. |
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New Class 333 electric trains (similar to Heathrow
Express) from Forster Square railway station to Leeds/Ilkley/Skipton/Shipley/Bingley/Keighley.
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Abbey offices, Yorkshire Building Society offices
in the city centre. |
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Valley Parade, Manningham, the completion of
25,000 seat covered stands at Bradford City football stadium. |
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Manchester Road corridor, a 2 mile guided bus
route with innovative art installation/bus stops. |
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Bingley Relief Road, a £49m project creating
a 9 mile high-speed route through Airedale. |
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Rawson Quarter, redevelopment of the former
Rawson Market. |
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The Gatehaus, Little Germany, a £22m 11 floor
apartment building |
| Under construction and (proposed) |
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Lister Mills Velvet Mill, 170 apartments. |
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Broadway Project, £300 m city centre shops,
offices and apartments (proposed, clearance complete). |
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Eastbrook Hall, Little Germany, £12 m rebuilding
significant structure to create commercial and living space (completion
summer 2008). |
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Listerhills urban village, £90 m mixed use
project, student and key-worker housing, in the city centre Thornton
Road/Valley area (commences 2008). |
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New Victoria Place, £55 m hotel, public square,
offices, retail, Bradford College, 205 apartments, adjacent to the
Alhambra Theatre and Centenary Square (proposed, site is under discussion).
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Channel neighbourhood, £350 m waterside project
in the city centre Canal Road area, with shops, offices, apartments,
includes reopening the Bradford Canal (in planning). |
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University campus refurbishment, £75 m project
as part of ''Ecoversity'' vision (part complete). |
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Lister Mills further phases of a £100 m project,
Chimney Square, Boiler House, link to Victor Road and Lister Park
(proposed). |
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Drummonds, Manningham, conversion of mills
to apartments and offices (proposed). |
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The Bowl, centrepiece of the Alsop Masterplan
large pool backed by City Hall, the future gathering place for Bradfordians
(purchase of land in progress). |
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Citygate project, Manchester Road (City Centre
end) hotel, residential and commercial buildings including a 38 storey
tower, making it Bradford''s tallest building(completion 2012). |
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Beehive Mills, Thornton Road, residential apartments
and commercial uses on the ground floors including a 22 storey tower
(completion 2010) |
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The University
of Bradford has over 10,000 students. It received its Royal
Charter in 1966, but traces its history back to the 1860s. It has always
been a technical and technological institution, and has no true arts faculties;
but it still covers a wide range of subjects including technology & management
science, optometry, pharmacy, medical sciences, nursing studies, archaeology
and modern languages. Its Peace Studies Department, founded with Quaker
support in 1973, was for long the only such institution in the UK. In terms
of nationally recognised leading areas of research there are various departments
such as Institute of Pharmaceutical Innovation, Institute of Cancer Therapeutics,
Bradford School of Pharmacy, Peace Studies, Archaeology, Engineering, Management,
Biochemistry, amongst others. It balances academic research, teaching quality
with a strong tradition of social inclusion.
University
of Bradford School of Management located near Lister Park,
is currently rated the 11th best business school by the Financial Times
and 21st best by the Economist in the UK.
Bradford
College has around 26,000 students. It developed from the
19th century technical college whose buildings it has inherited. It now
offers a wide range of further and higher educational courses, and is an
Associate College of Leeds
Metropolitan University. It has absorbed the Art School whose
most famous alumnus is David Hockney.
Bradford
Grammar School, in Frizinghall, dates back to 1548: it has
been co-educational since 1999. The Girls'' Grammar School, Bradford is a
quite separate establishment dating from 1875: it continues to take only
girls except for its Infants'' Department. Woodhouse
Grove School is another major private education establishment,
located in the Aire Valley at Apperley Bridge.
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| Click the map
below to read about local living in Bradford on AboutMyPlace.co.uk |
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