Previous Events

Bradford:Reimagined

From Saturday 10 July 2021  City Park  Exhibition open Monday to Friday, 10am to 3pm under the big screen.

Blue Plaque for Brontë Birthplace

Friday 30 July 6pm
Thornton Village
A blue plaque unveiling for the Bradford birthplace of the world-famous family.

Annual General Meeting 2020

Tuesday 12 May 2020, 7pm
This year’s AGM has been postponed due to Covid 19. Please check back for further updates.

Heritage Events

New Geographies of Bradford

Saturday 8 September, 11am
As part of Heritage Open Days, the society will host an event in the Jamiyat Tabligh-UL-Islam mosque on Westgate titled New Geographies of Bradford.
Dr George Sheeran, a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the University of Bradford, will examine how the city has changed, and how the architecture of Islam has given Bradford a new perspective.

Event ended

Guided walk: Merchant City

Monday 10 September, 12pm
Discover the story of how merchants from all over the globe turned Bradford into a true world city, and explore their built legacy along the way.
The walk will begin at 12 midday City Hall and will take in Bradford’s famous Wool Exchange before moving on to Little Germany (Bradford’s historic merchants’ quarter).

Event ended

Bring Back Titus Salt!

Tuesday 13 November, 7pm
The November meeting of the Bradford Civic Society will take place at the Bradford Mechanics Institute on Kirkgate and will hear about an interesting proposal to relocate the elaborate statue of Sir Titus Salt from Lister Park to its original home in central Bradford. Free entry, all welcome, refreshments provided.

Book a free place

City Hall Ghost Tour

Wednesday 5 December
Get into the Christmas spirit with a traditional festive ghost story in Bradford’s 1873 courtroom followed by a lantern-lit guided tour of the spooky police cells. This event is in partnership with the Bradford Police Museum.

Book here

Christmas lunch at Kala Sangam

Sunday 9 December 2018, 12.30pm
This year’s Christmas lunch will take place within the beautiful Kala Sangam building (Forster Square) with a special menu created by The Rooftop Cafe.

More information

January all-member meeting

Tuesday 15 January 2019, 7pm
**PLEASE NOTE CHANGE OF VENUE**
The first 2019 all-member meeting of the Bradford Civic Society will take place at the Mechanics’ Institute on Kirkgate in Bradford City Centre.

Save High Point / Raze High Point

A public debate to discuss the role of modernism in Bradford, featuring guest speakers Sir Simon Jenkins (Guardian columnist), Catherine Croft (Director of the C20 Society), Jordi Campo Bria (Yeme Architects), Vijay Taheem (University of Huddersfield). The debate was moderated by Dr George Sheeran, of the University of Bradford.

Unseen Undercliffe

Bradford Civic Society invite you to discover the secrets of northern England’s magnificent Victorian cemetery. We heard about Undercliffe’s fascinating history before taking in a short guided walk of some of the cemetery’s more notable sites and grand monuments. The cemetery contains the graves of the city’s rich and famous. More recently it’s provided a backdrop for popular films and TV dramas including BBC’s Peaky Blinders.

Bradford:2027

What will Bradford City Centre look like in ten years from now? Can the top of town be transformed? Will Bradford become a major railway hub once again?
Bradford Civic Society hosted a panel discussion on the plans that are in the pipeline for Bradford over the next decade. On the panel were representatives from Bradford City Council’s Department of Place including Saira Ali and Tom Jones.

Can Little Germany ever thrive?

It’s been described as the finest Victorian merchant quarter in Europe, and is undoubtedly one of Bradford’s architectural gems – but are we making the most of Little Germany? Why aren’t its streets full of life?

Bradford Civic Society welcomed Dave West – of Little Germany Action – to talk about their work to make Little Germany a great place in which to live, work and play.

An evening with the ghosts of City Hall

Bradford Civic Society and Bradford Police Museum hosted a nocturnal tour inside City Hall on Halloween. The intimate, lantern-lit tour took in the preserved Victorian cells, and there was a special talk about City Hall’s ghosts held in the historic 1873 Gothic courtroom.
To end the evening, we hosted a candle-lit supper at The Brick Box Rooms on Ivegate – Bradford’s oldest and most infamous street.

Peace in the City – Tuesday 16 January 2018

The first of the Civic Society’s 2018 meetings welcomes Lauren Padgett of Bradford Peace Museum. Lauren will be talking us through recent developments at the museum, and will share some of their ambitious plans for the future.
Join us from 7pm at The Midland Hotel, Forster Square, on Tuesday 16 January 2018.

Book your free place here.

Notice of Annual General Meeting – Tuesday 15 May

The 2018 AGM of Bradford Civic Society will take place on Tuesday 15 May at the Midland Hotel, Bradford, from 7pm.
The AGM is a chance to hear an update from the Chair on recent activities. We will also elect or Chair and Officers for the next civic year. All are welcome to attend, but only full members will be permitted to vote.

Book here

Summer Social – Wednesday 6 June

Join fellow members and friends of the Civic Society for an informal get-together at The Sparrow bier cafe on North Parade from 7.30pm.
Plus, on a first-come, first-served basis we will be inviting a very limited number of members only for a special tour underneath City Park to explore the state-of-the art technology behind this award-winning water feature. Details of this will be emailed to members.

Blue Plaques for Bradford – Tuesday 17 July

We will be launching our first-ever blue plaque scheme for Bradford on Tuesday 17 July. Save the date for now, as more details will be announced over the coming months, including a venue and time. We welcome guest speaker Martin Hamilton – Director of Leeds Civic Trust – to talk about the successful plaque scheme in our neighbouring city.

Darley Street debate

A public debate to discuss the future of Darley Street, a once thriving high street left vacant in the wake of the new Broadway development. This was a collaboration in partnership with Bradford Politics in the Pub, and the debate panel included Cllr Alex Ross Shaw, Cllr Simon Cooke, and David Craig of Assembly Bradford