Surprises in the City Centre

Two weeks ago (yes I know I'm behind) I was in the city centre tending to some errands and happened and a pretty exciting discovery. I was sitting in the city park waiting to meet someone. It was a nice sunny day, the temperature was warm and I had found myself a place to sit with the intention of reading while I waited. As I sat down an interesting scene was unfolding in front of me. A man dressed in an old police uniform (think bobby) was forcing a Beefeater Bear into a telephone box.

It was quiet an amusing scene so I put my book down to watch for a while. Soon enough there were these women dressed in incredibly colourful costumes that emerged from the building behind the telephone boxes.

Being my confused and curious self I had to ask what was going on. It turns out that the building you see in the background of the photos is the city hall. That weekend marked World Heritage Day so the mayor here decided to open up City Hall to the public. There was a self-guided tour of the council chambers and many other rooms. There was a replica of the building on display for people to see.  

Really the building is very cool. I liked this replica since it meant I could show everyone what the building's structure looks like. Note the bell tower -it's very imposing and I think very English. Apparently th

There was also many royal souvenirs from different time periods and artifacts from the city's collection.

This is the view when you first walk in through the front doors. It is a very beautiful building. 

The gorgeous ceilings in the council chambers.

Stained glass windows in the ceiling. Think of all the hard work it too to get those up there. This building was built in the 1873s. I was impressed.

Stained glass really is all the rage in this building. It looks far more impressive in person. This picture really does not do it justice at all. 

The council chambers was constructed completely out of one kind of wood. It feels very impressive to stand in the chambers even when it is nearly empty.

Something really cool that everyone should know about Bradford's City Hall: on the outside of the building (which is made of stone) there are 35 statues of Britain's monarchs positioned on the outside of the building, including according to Wikipedia (although I didn't take the time to double check myself) Oliver Cromwell.