A Tale of Two Cities.

Leeds and Bradford are two West Yorkshire cities less than ten miles apart
but their fortunes could hardly be more different. Bradford is my home town
and every time I visit it I genuinely want to like the place but such efforts on
my part are tinged with pathos. Even now I still love the night-time view from
Carr Lane across the city. But the close knit (not to mention stifling) working
class suburbs with flagstone paving and cobbled streets have long since vanished.

I find it sad to hear my relatives speak of the place in more prosperous
times when Bradford was at the heart of the worsted (wool textile) industry.
Once upon a time it hosted several department stores and had some real
civic pride. But textiles went into decline decades ago and Bradford hasn't
been able to find a new niche in the world; or so it seems to me.

The poverty of the place is reflected in the shops in the town centre - all
the major stores have relocated and have been replaced by shop squats
and discount stores. How many such shops does a place need?

Leeds in contrast seems ever more prosperous, having sensibly
pedestrianised the city centre [though this makes for some fiendishly difficult
traffic systems!] The range of shops there is quite astonishing; Helen & I
often do our Christmas shopping here rather than London! Leeds has a
cafe culture 'buzz' about it. I certainly enjoyed living in Leeds during the
1980s before I moved to London.

Another feature of the contrasting cities is how in the 1960's Leeds kept its
Victorian buildings when Bradford was happily demolishing what was then
regarded as its thoroughly unfashionable heritage. I bet the city fathers
regret that now! Anonymous, lookalike steel and glass boxes were erected
to replace the Victoriana but these now seem shabby and soul-less. Plans
are afoot to regenerate the city centre but one wonders how can a town
recapture its sense of place?

My temptation is to look back and feel rootless; so I'm glad to have been
reminded of where my true citizenship really lies. Last night in our penultimate
Bible study of the year we looked at the church in Philadelphia (Revelation 3).
They were a church that felt under the cosh but Jesus tells them that they
belong in the New Jerusalem. And that is where my home really is.....that's
not in the past but is a present reality and an eternal future........the place
where Ithaca and Darien meet!



Post Script: 23rd December 06. I should add that the village of Saltaire on the
outskirts of Bradford was recently given the status of "World Heritage Site".
The village was created by a local mill owner called Titus Salt for his workers
back in the 19th Century.
The grid of streets named after Titus Salt's family has become home to the
world's largest Hockney collection and has been joined by other arts, hi-tech
firms and shops. So maybe there is some room for optimism after all!