Bradford

On Tuesday, the day of the Explosions in the Sky gig in Sheffield, I nipped through to Bradford to catch up with a friend.

I had a bit of time to kill before seeing him, so had a chance to explore something of the city, which I had never before visited.

After the slight disappointment of Sheffield, I was surprised to be quite taken by Bradford, famous – in my mind – for little else than curry.

From the station, I was first struck by signs towards “Little Germany”, which Wikipedia informed me (ah, the wonders of the iPhone while travelling) was an area of town built in the 19th century by merchants and traders from Germany and other places.

The beautiful warehouses and trading centres are now a mixture of offices, flats and cultural thingamibobs, and their ornate, Victorian style made me think more of the aspirational skyscrapers of New York or San Franscisco rather than Germany. See what you think.

Little New York, however, maybe doesn’t have the same ring to it.

Sun behind the city hallI also took in the cathedral and City Hall, both gorgeous buildings that – like much of Bradford – seemed to really suit black and white photographs, even in the bright sunshine.

It was a city that seemed in a real transition, but which still hung on to much of its beautiful architecture and I was very surprised to like it as much as I did.

I was sorry not to have more time to wander through the city centre, but would definitely notch it up as somewhere to revisit.

Especially for a curry.

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