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Bradford Leasing

Did You Know?

Bradford is Britain’s curry capital: each year a national competition is held to see who makes the best curries in Britain. The competition is among restaurants that are selected by local councils and then judged on many specific features based on this famous dish, along with how it is presented.

Britain’s highest water fountain: in Bradford city park, you’ll find a beautiful fountain. The park is located near the Grade 1 listed Bradford City hall, and this is where you’ll find a lovely mirror pool. This is the home of the highest water fountain in Britain! The fountain can shoot water up as high as 100 ft!

Home to the largest former industrial building: Bradford is home to the largest former industrial building! The Salts Mill was built back in 1853 and was designed by Lockwood Mawson. The owner was Sir Titus Salt. When the building was completed, it was the largest industrial building in the world! It was used up until 1986, when it closed.

The Sheffield theatre complex is the largest in the UK outside of London and won two awards at the 2020 Stage Awards. The city Lyceum, Crucible Theatre and Studio Theatre are located in Lyceum Square and host a variety of plays and live performances.

Oldest concert hall in still in use: the city is also home to the oldest concert hall, which is still in use in the UK! In fact, this is the third oldest on the entire continent. St. George’s Hall was opened back in 1853 and it’s still going strong today.

The name of the city: today we tend to forget that place names were chosen for a reason. In the case of Bradford, the name literally means “village by a ford.” The first part of the name “Brad” meant broad. So, the name should really be “Village by a Broad Ford.” The name referred to a crossing of the Bradford Beck at Church Bank, which is just below the Bradford Cathedral.

Cars were once manufactured in Bradford: do you remember a car manufacturer called Jowett? This was a vehicle manufacturer that once had a factory in Bradford. Jowett made light cars and light commercial vehicles, along with peddle bikes. The company was started in 1906 by the Benjamin Brothers.

King of wool: back in the 19th century, Bradford became the international centre for textile manufacture, especially in wool. The city became a boomtown during the industrial revolution, which led it to becoming the wool capital of the world.

In fact, by 1914 Bradford was considered one of the wealthiest cities in Europe because of its connection with wool. One sign of the prominence of the wool industry here is the Wool Exchange, a Grade I listed building that was built between 1864 and 1867.

The city invented school dinners: actually, the city was the very first place in the UK to serve state-funded meals. This started back in 1906 at one of Bradford’s primary schools. The meals were started due to school children collapsing from hunger. The parliament passed the Education (Provision of Meals) Act, which allowed local education authorities to provide free meals to elementary school kids. By 1912/13, about 358,306 elementary school kids were provided free meals under this act.

With a population of over 528,000, Bradford is the fourth largest metropolitan district and has the eighth largest economy in England, worth over £8.7 billion.

The city’s Alhambra Theatre is named after Alhambra Palace in Granada, Spain which was the residence of the Emirate of Granada when the Moors ruled the Iberian Peninsula for 700 years between 711 AD and the fall of Granada in 1492.

Bradford Cathedral (Cathedral church of St Peter) is a cathedral, which is built on a site used for Christian worship since the 8th century, when missionaries based in Dewsbury evangelised the area. The cathedral is the oldest building in Bradford Until 1919, it was the parish church of St Peter.

The National Science and Media Museum, located in Bradford, West Yorkshire, is part of the national Science Museum Group in the UK. The museum has seven floors of galleries with permanent exhibitions focusing on photography, television, animation, videogaming, the Internet and the scientific principles behind light and colour.