From Manningham to Bradford....

Just a few strides up the road is Manningham, an area they are all too familiar with as they lived in Bradford before emigrating to Australia more than 40 years ago.

The irony is the beautiful suburb in Adelaide, the capital of South Australia which is now their home, is called Manningham! In contrast to Manningham in the city they left all those years ago, their suburb is much smaller and set amidst a much flatter landscape.

However, it does bear hallmarks of Bradford’s Manningham as Kristina and Molly explain. Manningham in Adelaide was created by Florence Birkinshaw who was born in Manningham, Bradford, in the 1840s.

“Pioneers from Manningham in Bradford established our suburb. They bought land and built houses and named their streets after their homeland,” explains Kristina.

Close to them is Birkinshaw Avenue - christened after Florence Birkinshaw. According to Kristina, Florence died in Adelaide in 1907.

Although Kristina and Molly never lived in Manningham, Bradford, Molly was born in Shipley and the family lived in Bolton Woods and Swain House, their bond with their home city hasn’t, and will never be, broken.

They say the world is a small place and technology has certainly made it easier for Kristina and Molly to keep in touch with friends and family back home through social media.

Kristina also loves keeping up with the latest news through the Telegraph & Argus website telegraphandargus.co.uk.

Molly explains they went to Australia in the Seventies at a time when many families were emigrating out there.

“We thought we would go for two years and have a holiday but decided we would stay,” she says.

Molly, who studied hotel and catering at Bradford College and worked on school meals before moving to Australia, spent 13 years as a school cook for 150 boarders after emigrating.

“Everybody had jobs and the weather was perfect. It is a good way of life,” says Molly.

“It was a bit of a sense of an adventure,” adds Kristina, who was 17 when they emigrated.

Since moving to Australia the family has expanded with the addition of Kristina’s children, 27-year-old Tristan, an aerospace engineer and daughter, Gemma, 25 who works in the tax office.

“It is a great place for families,” says Kristina.

After 40 years of living out there the family, including Kristina’s brother Mark, have now become citizens of Australia.

Despite the 16,000 or so kilometre difference between Manningham in their home city of Adelaide and Manningham in Bradford, they try to visit family and friends who are still over in the UK as often as they can.

During their recent six week trip, which involved sight seeing in Italy and Dubai, London, Wales and York, they returned to their roots, staying at the Midland for a couple of days and visiting tourist hotspots such as Haworth and Saltaire.

For Kristina, the development of Bradford city centre has been the greatest change. She and Molly were keen to check out The Broadway shopping centre, which was open space when they last visited the city a few years ago.

Another change for Kristina was the re-location of Central Library into City Park. “My first job was at Bradford Central Library, that is where I started my working life,” she says, referring to her role as a short-hand typist.

Now working as a personal assistant, 58-year-old Kristina says: “Doing short-hand and typing - the skills I learned at Hanson School have served me well!”

While in the city, Kristina and Molly visited the popular tourist destinations, Saltaire, Kristina’s favourite as she is a fan of the Bradford-born artist, David Hockney, and Haworth.

“We’re enjoying every minute of the holiday, but also being a tourist in our own town you do see it through different eyes,” says Kristina.

Riding on the Shipley Glen tramway evoked fond memories for Kristina who remembers travelling along it as a child.

They even had chance to watch Billy Elliott at the Alhambra Theatre - a place which holds fond memories for Molly who spent two seasons there as a Sunbeam from the age of 13.

Kristina says they thoroughly enjoyed the show and loved seeing some of the sunbeam photos in the theatre.

At 82 Molly is still tap dancing - with the Tapliners, a group of mature tap dancers based in Adelaide - the oldest dancer is 87!

During their trip, Kristina and Molly also seized the opportunity to catch up with family members, June Sharp, Molly’s niece and Kristina’s cousin, and June’s daughter Adele Jespersen who popped in to see them while they were in the city.

June also grew up in Bradford but eventually moved out to Wawne, in between Beverley and Hull. She now lives in Sproatley and daughter Adele lives in Wilmslow.

“It’s always hard to leave family but it is easier to stay in touch these days,” says Kristina.

“Initially when people went in the Sixties and Seventies people went and that was it. It was a case of writing an aerogram and keeping in touch.”

But she says these days they tap into Facebook to see what friends and family are doing. “We get on in a morning and we can see what happened in Bradford last night or find out what our family did yesterday. Technology makes us feel like we can keep in touch, whereas it used to be three months when you sent a letter and got a letter back.”

In contrast to their home city, Australia is relatively modern. “Australia is only 200 years old, it is a really modern city,” says Kristina.

“The other thing you notice is Australia is very flat. The lovely thing about Bradford is you can be in a suburb and come down and see the old buildings.”

“We do miss Bradford. It has got a lot going for it. One of the many things is the beautiful architecture. When you sit and look up at the buildings and see the beautiful architecture and the connection with the woollen industry, Bradford has such a rich history,” adds Kristina.

But they do have a regular taste of home - Yorkshire Tea is their favourite brew and is now more widely available in Australia.

“You can take the girl out of Yorkshire, but you can’t take Yorkshire out of the girl!” concludes Kristina.