Bradford – a Grand Day Out

We walked through Centenary Square, passing the beautiful Victorian building that now houses Bradford’s Police Museum, the stunning Ramadan Pavilion, and headed over to see Wallace wearing the Wrong Trousers, walking up the wall in the Science and Media Museum.

Hugely extended ahead of their year in the spotlight, the museum is free to enter, with a suggested £5 donation. This seemed more than reasonable for the multi levelled space, home to a number of exhibitions, interactive displays, cafe and shop.

Unfortunately, quite a few areas were not open for this visit, but we still managed to catch the David Hockney ‘Pieced Together’ exhibition, and wander round Wonderlab, a fascinating space with an energetic and vibrant way of explaining why things work as they do – suitable for curious younger minds, and 41 year olds alike.

After a stroll round the streets of Bradford city centre streets to get our bearings and admire the architecture, we headed to the Alhambra Theatre to get ourselves comfy for the Hamilton matinee. If you’ve not seen Hamilton yet, what can I say?

It’s absolutely outstanding. I’ve seen it twice in 18 months and it has completely blown me away. I didn’t even like musicals the first time, I’m now a convert. It’s finished its run in Bradford now, but you can catch it in other locations as it continues its UK tour over the coming months.

The Alhambra is a beautiful historic venue, one of the city's favourite attractions - a traditional, red velvet seated theatre that’s been a landmark of the Bradford cultural scene since the early 1900s. And what says traditional matinee performance more than an ice cream concession at the interval? - They were queuing to the back of the theatre.

We took a look at the rest of the year’s programme before we left, and it’s varied and impressive - opera, ballet, comedy as well as major West End shows. An Inspector Calls arrives at the end of April - reason 2 right there.

We’d worked up a thirst with the emotion of the performance, and were ready to have a couple of drinks and some food before we headed back to the Interchange.

Now Bradford’s nightlife isn’t bursting at the seams and in your face.

If you’re after a big night on the town, it’s perhaps not for you - and probably why the groups of lads in fancy dress drinking cans of Madri at 10.30am on the train, didn’t get off at our stop (a relief). But what we found with some research and recommendations was a network of both traditional and trendy drinking spots, both of which I heartily recommend (reasons 3, 4…).

The Corn Dolly was around a 10 minute walk from the theatre. It was what my Dad described as a “proper pub”. Inside, the sound of Yorkshire folk laughing and chatting mingled with the sound of pool balls being potted, bar mats filled every free wall space, the backdrop to an open fire complete with brass pokers. It’s the type of pub I remember going in as a child in the 80s, only this time I could have a delicious German lager instead of a coke and a packet of bacon fries.
Dad was impressed with his pint of Taylor’s and the friendly bar staff… and neither of us wanted to leave, especially as they have live music at weekends.

Still, we were determined to do a tour, and headed off to try another recommendation, The Record Café, part of the North Parade line up of independent bars.

A completely different kettle of fish. If The Corn Dolly is your Dad, The Record Cafe is your Gen Z colleague.

Craft ales, lagers and stouts of varying strengths are listed on a blackboard, the music is on point, and as well as buying delicious beers, you can buy vinyl AND cured meats. What on earth is there not to like about that?

I thoroughly enjoyed both pubs, and by this point could happily have stayed out all night. We recognised though that now was the time for the jewel in Bradford’s crown, what it’s probably most famous for, and for which we had high hopes.

We were off for a curry.

Thanks to the lovely girl behind the bar at The Corn Dolly, we ended up a few streets away at the Sheesh Mahal. A mainstay of Bradford’s culinary offer, it’s been there since the late 70s and is apparently one that comes up in recommendations time and time again.

And with good reason.

My Dad would consider himself a curry connoisseur, but with this comes high standards and an insistence on deciding what we all eat. Our usual format is a mixed starter, sharing a karahi or handi dish, and a couple of drinks alongside.
The mixed starter surpassed all expectation though, it tasted so fresh, so flavoursome, without being overpowering - it was delicious. We didn’t go for our usual main because they came as a larger sharing dish, so being just two of us we went for a Omar Kayahm (Keema) Balti, which is possibly the best curry I’ve ever had outside of India. It’s not licensed, so we shared a jug of water whilst exclaiming how lucky we were to have found it, before settling the bill and wandering back to the station.

Perhaps the best part of the whole experience for my Dad the Yorkshireman…the bill was less than £30!

All in all, the City of Culture met, and exceeded my expectations. I would, without doubt, travel back to eat in that restaurant alone.

I left with a list things we’d not managed to see and experience, and with plenty of 2025 still to go at, hopefully they are things I’ll get another shot at very soon.

Thanks for reading,
Amy

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