There’s nothing more fulfilling than witnessing a community’s love for its history. On 6 November, thanks to our wonderful hosts at the University of Bradford, we experienced this first hand.
We held a public consultation event, inviting people to hear more about our Mapping Bradford’s History project and asking them to contribute their ideas to what the map will show.
Project lead and local archaeologist Ian Roberts kicked the evening off with a talk about this fascinating area of West Yorkshire. It was his first chance to share his research and the stories he has collected with an audience.
His research plots out how this small medieval town grew exponentially over the course of the 19th century. One example of the speed of its expansion was the fate of its quarries. The outlying rural quarries were the main source of materials for the housing, factories and civic and religious buildings shooting up throughout the city. So fast was the expansion, the quarries soon became subsumed into the city’s conurbation. Now well-placed to act as a refuse pit for the waste that the city’s growth was producing, the quarries were soon refilled, flattened out and becoming – in one example – the location of a fair ground.
Stories like this demonstrate how rapid the city’s rise was to become a world-centre of industry and the wool and cotton trade.
In addition to the talk from Ian Roberts, Martin Wills (our Development Manager) gave a presentation about the production of our maps and the project’s aspirations. Prof Andrew Wilson and Prof Chris Gaffney were then able to show the digital mapping work that the University of Bradford has been working on for their Virtual Bradford and Visualising Heritage projects. This 3D mapping project was shown in the iGloo cylinder, an immersive walk-in space within the University.
The evening finished with an open forum discussion about our project, where attendees could share their opinions and ideas about the map, and suggest possible themes and areas of research which can contribute to the publication – set for release in the summer of 2025.
The feedback was invaluable and demonstrated the knowledge and pride the local people of Bradford have for their city. Bradford has always been a dynamic and exciting place, and its past reflects this. Participants shared stories about its
past and what makes its development utterly unique.
We have great ambitions for our Bradford project. We hope to capture the narrative of this fascinating city with our publication and share these stories through education and outreach activities, impacting the lives of thousands of people in the area.
We are still fundraising for this project, so all contributions received will help us engage more people with their city's history. To donate please click here to be taken to our donations page. Every donation – no matter how big or small – is greatly appreciated.
We also want to build more local partnerships with community groups and create activities throughout the city, please contact Martin Wills at development@historictownstrust.uk if you would like to work with us.
