Just how short a distance Bradford’s two stations were from being joined up is clear in this aerial photograph of the city centre, taken by CH Wood in 1966.
Forster Square station was then much closer to the city centre than it is now. Just below Exchange Station (top right) is St George’s Hall and the Telegraph & Argus building with, to the left of it, the open space which was once the old Courthouse and is now occupied by the glass press hall.
The area bounded by Petergate, Forster Square and Broadway had already been redeveloped. Those buildings are now gone and await their latest replacement.
In the centre foreground is John Street Market, with the adjacent multi-storey car park already completed (though not, apparently, yet in use).
The Morrisons supermarket at the corner of John Street and Westgate had yet to be built, as had the Yorkshire Building Society concrete construction on the opposite corner. That space in 1966 was still occupied by the Provident Clothing & Supply Co Ltd..
Beyond Rawson Market were the old Central Library and Kirkgate Market. That whole area between Darley Street and Westgate was shortly to be reborn as the Kirkgate Centre.
Picture courtesy of Bradford Museums, Galleries and Heritage.
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