BRADFORD has produced powerful academics such as Alan Bullock, expert on Hitler, and Asa Briggs, expert on Victorian cities, who both ended as masters of Oxford colleges.
There have been powerful scientists of international renown in the 20th century, such as Bradford’s Nobel Prize winner, Sir Edward Appleton, and Bingley’s astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle. Bradford also nurtured two other world-famous astronomers in their day - Abraham Sharp (17th/18th century) and Sir Frank Dyson (19th/20th century).
In the world of medicine two Bradford consultants - Professor Robert Turner and George Whyte-Watson - led a major breakthrough in cancer treatment, a hero of the Bradford City fire created a world-class specialist burns unit (Professor David Sharpe) and a Bradford doctor cracked the anthrax problem - the so-called ‘Bradford disease’ (Dr Friedrich Eurich).
l Sporting heroes: The pre-First World War years were a golden age of professional team sport with Bradford teams vying with the best in rugby (union and league) and then soccer. The highlight was Bradford City winning the FA Cup in 1911 which has lived long in the memory.
Since then many Bradfordians have contributed to dominance by Yorkshire County Cricket in the 1930s and 1960s. More recently, led by the legendary Brian Noble, Bradford Bulls enjoyed a golden era of rugby league as they reached the Grand Final six times between 1999 to 2005, three times as winners.
In the past 50 years, Bradford also has a clutch of remarkable individual heroes achieving global status in their respective sporting disciplines - Boris Rankov (rowing), Adrian Moorhouse (swimming), Richard Nerurkar (marathons), the Brownlee brothers (triathlon) and Yvonne McGregor (cycling). Bradford has never had a world boxing champion, but did have at least a heroic challenger (Richard Dunn) who stepped into the ring, and survived, with the great Muhammed Ali.
l Humble starts: Many others have risen to great heights from the most unpromising starts in life - the child working in a mill developing into an Oxford professor of philology (Joseph Wright), the Pakistani girl in a dysfunctional family becoming an MP (Naz Shah) and the bullied boy with Crohn’s disease becoming one of the world’s best magicians (Dynamo).
Others with real creative talent did not fully overcome their dysfunctional upbringing but managed to showcase their talent (playwright Andrea Dunbar)
l National life: In the 17th century, Sir Thomas Fairfax from Denton Hall near Ilkley became one of the major Parliamentarian figures in the Civil War fighting across the North. Over 200 years later Bradford’s longest-serving MP. WE Forster passed the Elementary Education Act of 1870, one of the most significant contributions in public policy. Bishop Blunt’s accidental intervention in the 1936 Abdication crisis was one of the most unexpected and JB Priestley gripped the nation with his stirring radio talks at the height of the Blitz.
l Women achieving against the odds: It was not until the late 19th century when education allowed women to come to the fore. In the 1880s Marion Greenwood became the first Bradford-educated girl to take a university degree, becoming a Cambridge don. Only at the turn of the 20th century did campaigners such as Margaret McMillan (innovation in education), Julia Varley (trade unionism), Florence White (pensions for women) and latterly Debbie Purdy (right-to-die) make their mark on national life. And of course the Bronte sisters had to use male pseudonyms to publish their classic novels.
Read Martin Greenwood's other City of Culture articles here: https://www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/news/20120148.david-hockney-fastest-man-swim-channel---bradfords-movers-shakers/
l Diversity: The character of the city has been shaped by immigration at different periods of its history. High levels of immigration from the Indian sub-continent from 1960 onwards changed the nature of city. Early achievers included Mohammed Ajeeb, Lord Mayor of Bradford, who in 1985 was the UK’s first Asian Lord Mayor, Naila Zafar, a Bradford headteacher and the first Pakistani woman to be made a Dame and Lord Patel, a dedicated public servant appointed the first Chair of Social Work England and now Chair of Yorkshire County Cricket Club.
There are many examples of children of immigrant families who have had substantial achievements in the past 20 years. Cricketer Adil Rashid (from Heaton) was a member of England’s first ever World Cup Champion team in 2019. Zayn Malik (from East Bowling), shot to international stardom after appearing on X Factor in One Direction. Trained as a pharmacist, AA Dhand is a writer of ‘crime noir’ detective thrillers set in Bradford.
Being awarded UK City of Culture 2025 would provide an excellent opportunity to build on the tremendous potential of a diverse community. Although there’s no point in speculating about proposals for the bid, it would be a surprise if the Bradford Live regeneration of the old New Victoria did not figure prominently - the largest cinema outside London when it opened in 1930. Planned to re-open later in 2022, Bradford Live will complete the backcloth to the reshaped city centre, destroyed by the 1960s demolition of many fine Victorian buildings. At the centre is the modern public space of City Park, venue for festivals and cultural events. It provides a link between the Victorian city centre, represented by City Hall, and the City of Film, represented by the National Science and Media Museum, alongside one of Bradford’s famous cultural venues, the Alhambra Theatre. What better symbol than this to show how a successful bid will build on Bradford’s unique heritage with exciting new creative opportunities?
l Martin Greenwood’s book Every Day Bradford - a story for each day of the year about people, places and events from Bradford’s history - is available online and in bookshops.
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