Held aloft like some Roman Regimental banner, the enormous naan made its way through the restaurant to be placed with due reverence on the table behind us. Before it could be ripped apart, the youngest member of the group took a phone snap to commemorate its arrival. I quickly leapt up and asked if I could do the same; I’d never seen naan bread on this scale. I was in Lala’s Restaurant in the heart of Bradford‘s ‘Curry Capital’ with a group of friends. Every year we go away somewhere in the north west for a weekend break, combining a bit of sight-seeing and culture, some eating and drinking and a lot of laughter. Lala’s serves superb authentic Kashmiri food amidst an elegant setting with attentive, friendly service. We indulged in a lot of tasty dishes including fish pakora, lamb rogan josh, achari chicken, karahi fish, biryani and jugs of ice-cold mango lassi. All around us, smartly dressed families enjoyed their Saturday out, all without a drop of alcohol and a great deal of lively chatter.
Bradford Wool Exchange
We’d arrived in the Yorkshire city of Bradford mid-morning after a scenic journey from Carnforth Station in Lancashire, via cloud-shrouded Ingleborough and Keighley. Having dropped off our bags at the newly refurbished Midland Hotel, we got a taxi for our first stop, Undercliffe Cemetery.
Bradford Undercliffe cemetery
Chris, who has lived in the area for many years and had organised this trip, gave us a tour of its rather macabre delights. Spread across 25 acres, the Victorian great, the good and the probably-not-so-good-but-could-afford it, were buried here, vying with each other to erect the most impressive funerary monuments. Undercliffe contains over 23,000 graves and many are extremely ornate and some very poignant. The Illingworth Mausoleum is in the form of an Egyptian temple, guarded by two sphinxes, an exotic choice for one of Bradford’s leading politicians.
Illingworth Mausoleum Undercliffe Bradford
From the end of the main avenue, ‘lined with every variety of Victorian funery art from broken columns, obelisks and draped urns to Celtic and Roman crosses’ (Undercliffe Cemetery leaflet), there’s a great view down onto Bradford. Clearly those wealthy industrialists were more than happy to ‘lord it’ over their city even in death … Our favourite was a beautiful sculpture in memory of Miles Moulson, a monumental mason, carved in loving detail by John Thorp.
Miles Moulson memorial
We had lunch at The Turls Green, one of the outdoor bars and restaurants that surround Centenary Square, heart of Bradford’s city, with a giant pool, City Park, spouting fountains around which children and adults splashed in the summer sunshine. The Italianate clock tower, inspired by the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, chimed at regular intervals and a video of Bradford’s cultural highlights was projected on the wall of a modern building nearby.
Bradford Centenary Square
Having fueled up with chilli con carne, salad and some very weak cocktails (probably no bad thing at this time of day …), we hopped onto the free local bus for a quick whizz round the streets before getting off at the National Media Museum. Bradford is the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, recognising, ‘the city’s rich film heritage, diverse movie locations and its many celebrations of the moving image through the city’s annual film festivals’ (Discover Bradford leaflet). Appropriately, one of the very first cinema shows outside London took place on the site of the National Media Museum.
National Media Museum
Part of the Science Museum Group, there is a huge amount to see and do in this attraction and children especially love it. It’s a winning combination of exhibitions and interactive displays covering all aspects of media including photography, film, TV, video games and animation. The photography exhibition is fascinating with cameras through the ages, the world’s first negative and some evocative images from the Kodak era. Kiddies giggled their way through the Magic Factory and we reminisced at the old TV ads. It’s got Yorkshire’s only IMAX cinema and a media-themed cafe. There are temporary displays; I loved the ‘Light Fantastic’ room with its kaleidoscopic neon strips creating a rainbow of light.
Light Fantastic – National Media Museum
After a busy day travelling both literally and metaphorically through Bradford’s diverse history we returned to the Midland Hotel to get ready to go out for dinner. Its elegant interior reflects the industrial wealth that was generated by the cotton and wool barons of over a hundred years ago. Eating at Lala’s, it’s easy to see why Bradford has won ‘Curry Capital of Britain’ for three years running. Make sure you book a table when you visit Bradford – and order one of those enormous naans; symbol of this impressive city’s great big heart.
Bradford from National Media Museum
The next day we went to Saltaire, a UNESCO World Heritage village. Visit Salts Mill with the world’s biggest permanent collection of David Hockney artworks.
Salts Mill – David Hockney
On the day after this, we went Saltaire, a mill and village built by Titus Salt and now home to a wonderful David Hockney collection, independent retail outlets and much more. Well worth a trip.
Fascinating – had not idea Bradford had so much to offer!
Neither did I Carol. We all enjoyed discovering this city and there’s certainly plenty for a weekend break.
You’ve managed to make a city that I didn’t think had much to shout about look really interesting. Might go there one day …
I think everywhere has something special John; sometimes you need to look a bit harder, but in Bradford’s case it’s more about a reputation that goes back to the grim days in the Industrial Age. Things have changed a lot recently.
It’s great to see posts about British cities. A lot of people forget that Bradford is connected directly to London by a Grand Central service. The restaurant you mention isn’t one of the many I have visited in the city, so I look forward to trying those enormous naans sometime.
Love writing about lesser-known places Stuart especially up north. And as you say, often well-connected to London. Lala’s is well-known locally but (fortunately) not always mentioned on the tourist sites. There were only locals there and the food truly is superb. Hope you get there sometime.