Bradford, Greater Manchester

Bradford is an electoral ward in the city of Manchester, England. It is two miles (3km) north-east from Manchester city centre. Recently the area has sometimes been known as Eastlands. Bradford has, for many years been an economically deprived area [ [https://www.e-manchester.gov.uk/impact/areas/wards/bradford/ Bradford profile] - e-manchester.gov.uk] but it has undergone regeneration with the building of the City of Manchester Stadium which hosted the 2002 Commonwealth Games and is now home to Manchester City F.C.. Bradford is neighboured by Beswick to the west and the two areas are sometimes referred to as Bradford-with-Beswick. The River Medlock and the Ashton Canal both run through Bradford.

History

Bradford was originally part of the Salford Hundred in the County Palatine of Lancashire. The name of the area is ancient and in 1196 the village was known as ‘"Bradeford"’, meaning "broad ford". Up to the commencement of the Industrial Revolution, Bradford Village was rural with woodland, pastures and streams. It is reported that wolves and eagles once inhabited the woodlands and that honey production was part of the local economy.

Bradford was an independent township of the ancient parish of Manchester, having its own parochial offices under the Manchester churchwardens. In 1841 this changed and the township became a member of the Manchester Union of Poor Law Guardians, which was established under the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1841. From the 13 April 1850 the village was a member of the Prestwich Union, constituted by order of the Poor Law Board in 1850. The Local Board was set up in 1863 under the Public Health Act of 1848. In 1896 Bradford was incorporated into the civil parish of North Manchester.

Coal Mining

From Tudor times (1485 – 1603), sufficient coal was mined at the village to supply most of the needs of Manchester and with the onset of the Industrial Revolution, Bradford Colliery, as it was then known, was rapidly expanded to provide fuel to power steam engines in the new cotton mills that were springing up in the neighbourhood. With the coming of the Ashton Canal in 1797, the colliery was connected to it by means of a private branch.

In 1871, the owner of Bradford Colliery was R T Parker and the occupier, for rate purposes, was T & C Livesey. When deeper pit shafts were sunk, seams of fireclay were discovered and consequently a brickworks was built on the north side of the site to manufacture firebricks for use in lining furnaces. The brickworks had the same owner and occupier as Bradford Colliery. By 1896, the pit manager was F L Ward and the under-manager was George Bentley. At that time there were 404 underground workers and 125 surface workers. Four types of coal were mined, namely gas coal, household coal, manufacturing coal and steam coal. The brickworks was still operational in 1896 but by this time it was owned by Edward Williams. However, the only employees were three underground workers still extracting clay and two surface workers and this indicates a decline in the local firebrick manufacturing industry. Bradford Colliery remained open until September 1968 when it closed, not because its supply of coal was exhausted, but because of the subsidence that would have been caused in the exploitation of new coal seams.

Other Industries

The other large employer in Bradford Village was Richard Johnson & Nephew (Bradford Ironworks), who manufactured wire of all kinds. The Ironworks was also served by the Ashton canal.In 1869, a giant gasholder or ‘"gasometer"’ was built at the new Bradford Gas Works and this, along with the adjacent colliery, ironworks and cotton mills, was a dominant feature of the landscape.

Regeneration

In addition to the City of Manchester Stadium, a huge ASDA hypermarket has also been built on the Eastlands site. Bradford has also been home to the National Cycling Centre, a cycling velodrome since 1996.

Representation

The current councillors are John Longden, Rosa Battle and Neil Swannick.

Notable Residents

*Buzzcocks guitarist Steve Diggle who moved to the district from Moss Side.

References