If the closure of the Shipley Glen tramway this weekend turns out to be permanent, it will be a big blow to Bradford. Not only is it part of the Capital of Culture bid, but it is also an important link between several generations of local people.

For more than a century it has carried Bradfordians up and down between Saltaire and Shipley Glen. It is hard for many of them to think of a bluebell season passing without a ride through the scented woodland.

Yet the owner of the cable railway is adamant that "enough is enough" following a rise in costs, a drop in income and a delay in securing charitable status for a trust which it was hoped would prove to be the tramway's salvation.

It is to be hoped that even at this eleventh hour the Council can come up with a way of keeping it running - particularly as its loss could precipitate the closure of the fairground at the top, another important part of Bradford's heritage.

The owner of the pleasure park has said that he is considering selling the site for house building if the tramway does close. The two have gone together for a long time. It is hard to see one surviving without the other. As Councillor Tony Miller says, people could still walk up the hill. Whether they would do so, though, in sufficient numbers is by no means a foregone conclusion.

Every effort needs to be made to keep the pair of attractions functioning for new generations of young Bradfordians to enjoy. Yet more housing would be poor consolation.