Bradford: City of Culture Tour
02/05/2025 – 04/05/2025
Bradford: City of Culture Tour
BOOKING FOR THIS TOUR HAS NOW CLOSED
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 walking tour of the city centre, including the former headquarters of Yorkshire Building Society (John Brunton & Partners, 1972) and a specially arranged tour of Bradford ODEON (William Illingworth, 1930) following its recent transformation into the Bradford Live events venue. An excursion by train to nearby Shipley will take in the town’s famous market clocktower, before a sandwich lunch alongside David Hockney’s ‘Punchinello’ mural at Café in to the Opera. The afternoon will be aboard a coach to visit William Mitchell’s Grade II listed ‘Story of Wool’ - a sculptural mural of 1968 at the former technical centre of the International Wool Secretariat in Ilkley. The coach will also call at a number of suburban churches including St Saviour’s Fairweather Green (George Pace, 1966), before returning to Bradford via the Richard Dunn Sports Centre (Trevor Skempton, 1976) – saved from demolition by a listing application from C20 Society in 2022.
Sunday 4 May begins with a group visit to ‘David Hockney: Pieced Together’ at the National Science and Media Museum, before the exhibition closes later in the month. A tour of Bradford Cathedral, highlighting the significant twentieth century additions by Edward Maufe, will be followed by a short train ride to Halifax for lunch at the Grade II listed Three Pigeons - its original Art Deco rooms earning it a place on the CAMRA list of historic pub interiors. An afternoon stroll around the town centre will take in the iconic Halifax Building (BDP, 1968-74) and conclude with the National Children’s Museum, Eureka! (Ken Moth, 1992). The day will end with a visit to The Record Café in Bradford, where the interior of a mid-century men’s outfitters was discovered when converting the premises in 2014.
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
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