Today, it was my turn for a Birthday Treat !
Sadly, the regeneration of Bradford is taking a long time and it could be said to have lost much of it's Northern, gritty, smoke-stained charm, along with many Victorian buildings and shops, a fact be-moaned by one of its most famous sons, J.B. Priestley.
Mr Priestley now stands outside the National Media Museum, one very good reason not to give up on Bradford...
...and the scene of my seriously good birthday treat, a visit to Only In England, an exhibition of black and white photography by Tony Ray Jones (1941 - 1972) ...
...and Martin Parr, whose 1970's black and white photographs show life among the Non-Conformist chapel-goers of deepest West Yorkshire.
What a diverse and delightfully eccentric bunch we English are!
The Museum's Media Café was one of the best we've come across, with surprisingly good lunches...
...or should I just say...
...very SURPRISING food? (He only ordered a burger.)
***
Somewhere I have never been to, but that creative lunch display would be worth a detour if I am ever in that area. Happy belated birthday to you...and Mr N
ReplyDeleteJulie x
It's a great museum for those interested in film and photography, and Bradford just a few miles from Salts Mill at Saltaire - you would love it!
DeleteHello,
ReplyDeleteIt feel like several lifetimes ago that we were in Bradford but your initial images paint a rather depressing view of this once proud and poised Yorkshire city.
However, the photograph exhibition would have been just our kind of thing. Such careful made compositions which really do bring to mind sights and memories of long ago. It really could only be in England.....
Happy Birthday to you!
The Media Museum is brilliant and there are many other exciting places to see in the area. We love how photography and film have become meaningful art forms.
DeleteHappy birthday Nilly. Those B&W pics are so evocative, I love English eccentrics and also strangely the word Alhambra, it would have sounded so exotic and fanciful at the time the theatre was named.
ReplyDeleteJean x
The Alhambra still beautiful and exotic-looking, rather like its multi-cultural population . I am sure it will become a vibrant and lively city again, once the centre has been rebuilt.
DeleteBelated Birthday Greetings Marilyn , glad you had a great day in Bradford too x 10/10 must also go to the chef for his Artistic impression !
ReplyDeleteThanks Lynn! The lunches in the museum tasted as good as they looked - just a little bit too substantial, though.
DeleteMight see you at Lincoln on Sunday?
Happy Birthday Nilly - and how wonderful that you celebrated it in my home town. I have to admit I didn't recognise much of it from your photos but seeing the Alhambra brought a big smile to my face. We always called it the A'lambra - not Al Hambra as I've heard it pronounced - and now I live so close to the 'other' one, here in Spain, I know we had the pronunciation absolutely right! And the Media Cafe is new to me too - looked at first glance more like Salt's Mill - and what a brilliant lunch! I can imagine how much you enjoyed the photo exhibition - looks great (I looked for my granny but it wasn't her..). Thanks for sharing. Axxx
ReplyDeleteThe Alhambra is looking good and there seems to be a campaign to save the Odeon too. Just don't get me started on the present state of the poor beleaguered North - and I'm not even a native
DeleteYes - my granny looked like that too!
Happy birthday Nilly... if my sums are right you are now a year older than me... well that is until my birthday in August!
ReplyDeleteMy how Bradford has changed. The last time I was there, was with last husband (the farmer) and his mother. We were there to attend a talk by Mike Harding on his Everest expedition, and jolly good it was too. Looking for somewhere for a meal, the obviously choice to me was an Indian, what with Bradford being the curry capital of the UK, and keeping the flavour and fun of the talk alive. But no, himself and his mother didn't fancy it, so we finished up in an Italian restaurant... I sort of knew then I should never have married him!
I adore black and white photos of yore, aren't they just the business.
LLX
Ha Ha - it won't be long before you catch up! Thank goodness I have a whole week in which dear Mr N is only 4 years younger than me!
DeleteOne day, maybe, Bradford will be finished......so many brilliant regeneration schemes have been suggested......some started, and then stopped. However, it still retains some real magic, much of which you have captured beautifully here. Great post Nilly, happy birthday !
ReplyDeleteYou are right Janice - there are still interesting and exciting places to visit in Bradford and, I find, it is a very friendly city. More so than Leeds, perhaps.
DeleteI agree, a great post, love your images. I have never visited Bradford before. Happy Birthday. I love black and white images, they leave so much more to the imagination.
ReplyDeleteThank you Jayne! Don't you just wish more people would start to appreciate The North!
DeleteTHANK YOU!
ReplyDeleteI havent been to Bradford since I was really young and I'm sorry that it's lost its character. I daresay someone pocketed a lot of cash somewhere in relation to that. That Westfieldt development will probably bring in visitors, and their cars. Is that good? I don't know. But I've long wanted to visit the media museum.
ReplyDeleteAh! I see we both chose to feature "The Last Cuppa". Some people would be surprised that you chose Bradford for a birthday treat. I wonder what effect Westfield will have on the city when it's eventually completed. Sorry I'm late to your party but I'm sure you had a lovely day. The food is a work of art. Must try it some day.
ReplyDelete