
West Yorkshire
The city is 9 miles west of
The city is also the admin
Until the end of the 18th century, Bradford was a small rural market town with farming and cottage industry spinning and weaving among its biggest activities. It experienced rapid growth in the 19th century when it became a major centre for woollen textile manufacturing.
Bradford became a city in 1897, four years after Leeds and Sheffield and in the same year as Kingston upon Hull.
The city has become well-known for its increasing ethnic diversity over the last 200 years. In the 19th century this included Irish and Jewish immigration, after World War II there were settlers from Poland and the Ukraine, and in the latter part of the 20th century there were arrivals from Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.
For 50 years Bradford has had an Ice Arena at Little Horton Lane, providing the city and further afield with a venue for public skating, ice hockey and syncronised skating.
Since 1983, the city has been the location of what is now the National Science and Media Museum, originally called the National Museum of Film, Photography and Television.
Adjacent to the City Hall is Centenary Square, a regenerated city park area with lake and fountains providing a modern focal point for Bradford.
Find out more about Bradford's year as City of Culture in 2025 at the official
Bradford 2025 - UK City of Culture website.

City features












Stott Hill
Initially the parish church of Bradford, its oldest parts date from 1458, but the parish history can trace earlier churches. The church became a cathedral in 1919 when a new diocese of Bradford was separated from that of Ripon. Major extensions and alterations were made to the cathedral in the 1950s.More information at the

Entertainment
Alhambra Theatre
Morley Street
Close to the city centre and a premier touring venue for West End and other shows, the theatre offers ballet, musicals, opera, variety, comedy and drama. The Alhambra also has a reputation for Yorkshire's biggest pantomime. Adjacent to the Alhambra, The Studio is an adaptable small theatre and rehearsal space.
St George's Hall
Bridge Street
Bradford's grand historic concert hall, first opened in 1853, reopened early in 2019 after three years of major renovation work.
Sport
Bradford City
'The Bantams' play at Valley Parade, the Coral Windows Stadium
Bradford City official website.

Bradford Bulls
Bradford Bulls play rugby league at The Provident Stadium, Odsal. The Bulls' women's team were 2017 Women's Super League leaders and winners of the first ever Women's Grand Final.
Bradford Bulls official website.

University
University of Bradford
City Campus, Richmond Road, and Emm Lane Campus
Founded in 1966, the University of Bradford has its main campus at Richmond Road just over half a mile to the west of the city centre. Its faculty of management and law is based at a parkland campus at Emm Lane around two miles north north west of the city centre. More details at the
University of Bradford website.

Museums
National Science and Media Museum
The museum near the city centre reopened in January 2025 after prolonged closures since 2023 with some refurbishments completed and some continuing. It has three cinemas including Yorkshire's biggest IMAX screen and a Wonderlab experience, which features fun interactive experimentation with light and sound. The history of photography is explored in the Kodak Gallery on Level -1. Previously the museum had galleries on seven floors, but while the museum is now reopen its Gallery 1 on Level 1 and Power Up gallery on Level 6 will not be reopening until April 2025 and its Sound and Vision galleries on Level 3 and Level 5 will not open until June 2025. Previously popular Animation and Experience TV galleries have been permanently closed as has the Games Lounge which featured retro computer games. Original models from Wallace and Gromit and Morph featured in the closed animation gallery and Wallace and Gromit again featured in a one-day special event "A Grand Day Out" in January 2025. The museum has reduced daily opening hours of 10am to 5pm each day with its cafe closing an hour earlier. Free tickets can be booked online. Cinemas are open into the evening. Changes to the museum have been made possible through funding from the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
More details at the

Bradford Industrial Museum
Moorside Road, Eccleshill
The museum is housed in a Victorian worsted spinning mill, Moorside Mill, in Eccleshill, about 2 miles north east of the city centre. It has textile and engineering exhibits and displays of steam power, motor vehicles and printing machinery. Further details at the
Bradford Industrial Museum website.

Bradford Police Museum
City Hall
At the site of what was Bradford's police station for 100 years, the museum has a vast range of memorabilia from the city's policing history and guided tours of the original police station cells and a preserved Victorian court room. More information at the
Bradford Police Museum website.

Places to visit
Bolling Hall
Bowling Hall Road
About 1 mile south of Bradford, Bolling Hall is one of the city's oldest buildings with its earliest parts dating from the 14th century. The manor house has a rich history and has rooms furnished to represent many of the periods in its life. More information at the
Bradford Museums - Bolling Hall website.

Saltaire
Near ShipleyAbout 4 miles north-north-west of Bradford,


Travel
Bradford Interchange station Bridge Street
⁗ Only 4 trains daily. Pontefract: Mon-Fri 3 ; Sun 0.
♠ No Sunday service - change at Leeds for stations to Hull.
Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN, GRAND CENTRAL.

External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).
Bradford Forster Square station Forster Square
⇆2 Two trains per day - reverses at Leeds. Italics - one train.
Station managed by: NORTHERN. Operator/s: NORTHERN, LNER.

External link to National Rail live departure board for services at this station (opens in new tab).
Bradford Interchange Bridge Street
Metro - Bradford Interchange

Link to Metro - external web page with details of services and buses at this bus station.
Road travel
Bradford ring road is linked by the M606 motorway to the M62 which provides for east-west journeys across West Yorkshire and a route towards the M1. It also often provides a faster but less direct route to other big towns and cities in West Yorkshire.
Leeds Bradford Airport Yeadon
Further details on our Air travel page.
More information at
Leeds Bradford Airport website.

Emergency services
West Yorkshire Police 
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Yorkshire Ambulance Service NHS Trust

Local government
Metropolitan district council
The City of Bradford authority covers an area extending many miles beyond the city itself, including areas of moorland of The Pennines and Ilkley Moor, parts of Wharfedale and Airedale and the Worth Valley.
The area includes many separate small towns and villages, among them
Councillors are elected across 30 wards with three councillors per ward.
One councillor per ward is elected for a four-year term on each of three years out of four.
Political composition after May 2024 election:
90 members
Link to
City of Bradford MDC website.



County strategic authority
West Yorkshire Combined AuthorityCovers some combined services of the five metropolitan district councils of






Elected mayor:

Police and Crime Commissioner
The Police and Crime Commissioner for West YorkshireThis role has become one of the many responsibilities of the West Yorkshire elected mayor since May 2021.

Fire Authority
West Yorkshire Fire AuthorityThe fire authority is made up of elected members of each of the five metropolitan district councils of West Yorkshire - Bradford, Calderdale, Leeds, Kirklees and Wakefield.

Parliamentary constituencies
Bradford WestElected MP:
Bradford East
Elected MP:
Bradford South
Elected MP:
National government region
Yorkshire and the HumberCeremonial county
West YorkshireHistoric
Municipal borough 1847-1889County borough 1889-1974 (within the West Riding of Yorkshire)
City charter from 1897