Bradford: City of Culture Tour
Bradford: City of Culture Tour
Friday 2 to Sunday 4 May 2025
Start time/place: 6pm/Assembly Bradford, 20 North Parade (BD1 3HT)
Finish time/place: 5pm/The Record Café, 45-47 North Parade (BD1 3JH)
Andrew Jackson will lead a weekend tour of Bradford, UK City of Culture 2025, with excursions to nearby Shipley and Halifax.
Friday 2 May at 6pm there will be a drinks reception with members of Bradford Civic Society and a lecture from George Sheeran, University of Bradford, on the topic of ‘Bradford: A Changing Architectural Heritage’.
Saturday 3 May starts with a tour of the city centre, looking at buildings such as the former headquarters of Yorkshire Building Society (John Brunton & Partners, 1972) and former Bradford ODEON (William Illingworth, 1930) – recently transformed into the Bradford Live events venue. There will be a sandwich lunch in Saltaire at ‘Café in to the Opera’, with interior decoration by David Hockney, followed by a walk to Shipley’s famous market clocktower and a tour of Bradford Cathedral – remodelled by Edward Maufe in the 1950s and 1960s. A variety of restaurants can be found nearby for evening meals.
Sunday 4 May begins by boarding the train to Halifax for a morning stroll around the town centre, taking in Eureka! (Ken Moth, 1992) and the iconic Halifax Building (BDP, 1968-74). A lunchtime buffet will be provided at the Grade II listed Three Pigeons, with its original Art Deco rooms that earn it a place on the CAMRA list of historic pub interiors. The afternoon will be aboard a coach for visits to suburban churches, including St Saviour’s Fairweather Green (George Pace, 1966), and the Richard Dunn Sports Centre (Trevor Skempton, 1976) – saved from demolition by a listing application from C20 Society in 2022.
Andrew Jackson is a Trustee of C20 Society and Co-Chair of Civic Voice. He regularly leads tours for the Society and last led a visit to Bradford as part of a C20 West Yorkshire weekend in 2018.
C20 Members’ price: £230
Non-members’ price: £260
Note: Ticket price includes drinks reception, lunches, coach travel and public transport costs.
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The Twentieth Century Society is an IHBC (Institute of Historic Building conservation) recognised CPD provider.
Twentieth Century Society is a registered charity, no 1110244
Caption / credit: Arndale House (John Graham and Company, 1963) in front of Bradford’s Wool Exchange (1864)
Credit: Jonathan Taylor / Cloud9 Photography