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Tunnels under Bradford
May. 15th, 2014 12:20 pmFrom Yorkshire Standard Newspaper - 6th May 2014 On the Sunbridge Wells development
Article with pictures is here: http://www.yorkshirestandard.co.uk/news/inside-bradfords-secret-tunnels-tourist-attraction/
Rubble and earth is being cleared as work continues on a Victorian-style underground shopping quarter. With over 300 tonnes moved, developers Sunbridge Wells plan to bring the abandoned tunnels located near Bradford’s City Park back to life.
The privately funded project is worth approximately £1 million and developers are working with Bradford Council to complete it.
Site manager Graham Hall happened to walk past the tunnel entrance in 2008 and became interested.
He told the Yorkshire Standard: “I was walking past the door when it was opened and had a nosey in. With a mobile camera, I took photographs and found out who owned this place and what they were doing here.
“I thought it was unique, and no one really knew it was there.”
Upon research, Mr Hall found that the tunnels had a fascinating history behind the walls.
The tunnels were used as old prison cells where people were sentenced, and was also used as an air-raid shelter during the war.
In the 1960s, the location was used as a nightclub, where Jimi Hendrix, and The Pretty Things played. The Beatles also played on the top deck of the place at an after-hours gig.
The project is expected to be finished by next year, and the public will be able to visit a Victorian-style market, a glassed atrium area, bars, and a bistro.
There will be three points of access from the city, and Mr Hall has high hopes when the project is finished.
He said: “You have to be over 70 to know that this place even exists. But once completed, the tunnels will be a wonderful tourist attraction and be something else visitors can see in Bradford.”
There are rumours that there is a passageway that connects the top floor of the tunnels to City Hall. It remains undiscovered.
I'm looking forward to this happening. I walked past that entrance so many times going to the shops, I just looked a wooden shutter door with pealing blue paint and I thought that all that was behind it was a lock up style garage space, maybe big enough for a couple of cars. As for a tunnel running to the City Hall it wouldn't surprise me, as the Bradford Beck goes underground up by the university and doesn't reappear until it reaches the other side of the Cathedral - and it run right under the city centre including the City Hall and the offices where I work (which used to be the offices of the Argus News Paper in the 1870s). There is access to it (the Beck) from the sub-basement of where I work. I've only even been down to the upper basement where all the old files are kept, and that's all echo-y, with creaky wooden floors and the original Victorian white and green tiles on the walls, and an electrical system were only about half the lights work at one time. I expect the sub basement is similar, but damper. I don't think we store anything there. As although not in the 10 years I've been working there, the Beck has in the past risen high enough to flood the base of the building.
Article with pictures is here: http://www.yorkshirestandard.co.uk/news/inside-bradfords-secret-tunnels-tourist-attraction/
Rubble and earth is being cleared as work continues on a Victorian-style underground shopping quarter. With over 300 tonnes moved, developers Sunbridge Wells plan to bring the abandoned tunnels located near Bradford’s City Park back to life.
The privately funded project is worth approximately £1 million and developers are working with Bradford Council to complete it.
Site manager Graham Hall happened to walk past the tunnel entrance in 2008 and became interested.
He told the Yorkshire Standard: “I was walking past the door when it was opened and had a nosey in. With a mobile camera, I took photographs and found out who owned this place and what they were doing here.
“I thought it was unique, and no one really knew it was there.”
Upon research, Mr Hall found that the tunnels had a fascinating history behind the walls.
The tunnels were used as old prison cells where people were sentenced, and was also used as an air-raid shelter during the war.
In the 1960s, the location was used as a nightclub, where Jimi Hendrix, and The Pretty Things played. The Beatles also played on the top deck of the place at an after-hours gig.
The project is expected to be finished by next year, and the public will be able to visit a Victorian-style market, a glassed atrium area, bars, and a bistro.
There will be three points of access from the city, and Mr Hall has high hopes when the project is finished.
He said: “You have to be over 70 to know that this place even exists. But once completed, the tunnels will be a wonderful tourist attraction and be something else visitors can see in Bradford.”
There are rumours that there is a passageway that connects the top floor of the tunnels to City Hall. It remains undiscovered.
I'm looking forward to this happening. I walked past that entrance so many times going to the shops, I just looked a wooden shutter door with pealing blue paint and I thought that all that was behind it was a lock up style garage space, maybe big enough for a couple of cars. As for a tunnel running to the City Hall it wouldn't surprise me, as the Bradford Beck goes underground up by the university and doesn't reappear until it reaches the other side of the Cathedral - and it run right under the city centre including the City Hall and the offices where I work (which used to be the offices of the Argus News Paper in the 1870s). There is access to it (the Beck) from the sub-basement of where I work. I've only even been down to the upper basement where all the old files are kept, and that's all echo-y, with creaky wooden floors and the original Victorian white and green tiles on the walls, and an electrical system were only about half the lights work at one time. I expect the sub basement is similar, but damper. I don't think we store anything there. As although not in the 10 years I've been working there, the Beck has in the past risen high enough to flood the base of the building.