Bradford's Rivers

Bradford, a city built at the junction of three valleys in the middle of the Pennines - one of the wettest parts of England. So, where does all the water go??? There's no sign of it in the centre of Bradford, yet this is a city which grew round the woollen industry and the industrial revolution, of which sources of flowing water were always a major player.

The fact is that Bradford does have water, although today the vast majority of it flows through culverts under the city. Bradford itself is not on the course of a major waterway, that job goes to Shipley to the North, which sits on the banks of the River Aire, and is itself home to many mills from the 18th and 19th century - including Sir Titus Salt's model village Saltaire.

In addition to numerous streams, there are three main water courses - the largest of these is Bradford Beck itself, which runs from Thornton to the East on its way passing through the centre of Bradford and turning sharp left north to join the River Aire in Shipley. The second is East Brook running from the Leeds side of Bradford, and the third - West Brook, which passes through the Shearbridge area and under the campus of the University of Bradford.

On a modern map it is very difficult to follow the watercourses, however in many cases their route is still marked out as the parish boundaries which they separated.

In a fast growing city like Bradford space is at a premium and for this reason, and the smell of the water that much of the route is now covered. Along all of the three waterways mills were built to take the water, and in many places mill ponds can still be seen. By the time the water reached the edge of the city, it was a disgusting mix of pollutants from the woollen industry and sewerage. To then make matters worse, Bradford Canal drew its water from the beck, and over time gained the name "The River Stink".

When the canal was closed and drained in 1867 the canal was refilled with water from the Leeds and Liverpool, reopening in 1873. Pumping stations were placed on the route to fill the canal above each of the five locks.

Lock 3 & 4

The canal is cut across by Poplar Road, a more recent addition which crosses from Valley Road (A6037) up to Crag Road, which can be seen on the above map / aerial photo above labelled Crag Lane. Immediately before this stood Locks 3 & 4. The road appears to cross at roughly the same point a footbridge(?) crosses the locks. The map clearly shows three arrows usually indicating the top and bottom lock gates, however the bottom gate of lock 4 is not visible , possibly located underneath the bridge.

Just to the right of the lock running alongside Valley Road is a Mill, sandwiched between Valley Road and Bradford Beck, which cannot be found on the 1852 map. It is clear however that the course of Bradford Beck was altered at this point to allow the building of the mill. The 1852 map (below) shows the beck meandering across Shipley Fields, however the modern beck runs in a straight line through a man made cut.

The map / aerial photo overlay suggests that the route of the canal is now hidden beneath that of a row of houses along Poplar Crescent, however this is not the most accurate overlay, and it appears more realistically that the canal's route now runs along the road in front of the houses. As the ground slopes down in front of the road, any attempt to restore the canal could get round this by leaving the canal at the lower level and moving locks 3 & 4 further towards the Bradford end. Thus also solving the issue of height levels where Poplar road crosses over the canal.       

Previous Page

Next Page