Located just one and three-quarter miles up the Airedale line from Bradford Forster Square, Frizinghall feels very much like an inner city suburb rather than a former village. And indeed, that is essentially what it is, comprising a district of the city’s Heaton Ward. Frizinghall and Heaton were both small hamlets, until Bradford expanded following the Industrial Revolution and they bypassed the village stage to become suburbs, acquiring several interesting nineteenth-century buildings and a quintessential Victorian city park in the shape of Lister Park. But whilst these are affluent (at least in the past) leafy suburbs, the walk is not entirely lacking in rural character, since it also includes a section of Northcliffe and Heaton Woods.
Frizinghall Railway Station was originally opened by the Midland Railway in 1875 and closed in 1965; it reopened in 1987, but with its platforms now staggered on either side of Frizinghall Road rather than opposite each other (the station’s signal box was removed in 1971 and can now be seen on the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway). We leave the station via the southbound platform and cross the car park, turn left, and then immediately turn left again to cross a bridge over the railway line and follow Frizinghall Road, soon passing the Black Swan public house on the left. This was originally built as a house during the eighteenth century and is Grade II-listed. We continue to follow Frizinghall Road until it ends at Keighley Road. Here, look left for a glimpse of Bradford Grammar School; the current impressive Grade II-listed building was completed in 1939, but the school itself is much older, having been founded in 1548 and given a Charter in 1662 by King Charles II.
We now turn right and immediately cross over Keighley Road at the pedestrian crossing, looking out for the Turf – a former public house – on the right. Walk straight ahead, passing through the arch of the Grade II-listed Keighley Road Memorial Gatehouse to enter Lister Park. The park was laid out between 1870 and 1904 on the site of the gardens of Manningham Hall, and is named after Samuel Cunliffe Lister, who inherited the land in 1853 and sold it to the Bradford Corporation on the condition that it was used to provide a park for the public. Immediately turn left, passing a statue of Sir Titus Salt, which was moved to its current location from outside Bradford City Hall, reportedly to make way for road traffic. Salt was a manufacturer, politician and philanthropist best known for building the model village of Saltaire, which is the location of one of our later walks in the City of Bradford. Follow a path along the bottom of the park, eventually leaving (briefly) via a path to the left that joins Keighley Road. Here, look left for a view of the former Spotted House public house, originally built as a house during the nineteenth century and also Grade II-listed.
Turn right along Keighley Road, and at a junction turn right and right again to re-enter Lister Park. Walk straight ahead to view the statue of Samuel Cunliffe Lister, then bear left past this and follow a path to Cartwright Hall. Just before reaching the hall, turn right and then left to visit the hall’s gardens, then turn left to reach the entrance to the hall, which houses an art gallery and museum and has a café and toilets. The Grade II-listed hall was built in 1900-1903 on the site of Manningham Hall and is well worth a visit.
Cartwright Hall
Afterwards, we follow paths to the left of the hall, then bear left, then right and then left again across the park, passing the bandstand and the lake. On reaching a fossil tree stump protected by metal railings, turn left and walk through the botanical gardens, then turn left at a fork and follow a path along the top of the park until tennis courts appear on the left. Here, turn right to exit the park and continue straight ahead along to Park View Road, looking out for the Ukrainian Catholic Church of the Most Holy Trinity & Our Lady of Pochaiv on the right. Originally St. John’s Methodist Church, this Grade II-listed church was built in a Gothic style in 1878-1879. Immediately after passing the church, turn right along Wilmer Road, shortly passing the Grade II*-listed Roman Catholic Church of St. Cuthbert on the left, which dates from 1890-1891.
Proceed along Wilmer Road, continuing straight ahead at the crossroads with Emm Lane, then turn left along Parsons Road and follow it to Ashwell Road. Turn left, passing the Church of St. Barnabas on the corner. This is the final listed church on the walk (albeit not the final church); Grade II-listed, it was built in 1864.
Church of St. Barnabas
Follow Ashwell Road back to Emm Lane, then turn right, soon passing Heaton Graveyard on the right. This small cemetery dates from 1824 and originally had a Baptist Chapel attached, which has long since been demolished. Continue along Highgate, and when it bends left and becomes Leylands Lane, continue straight ahead (this is still Highgate) and follow the road downhill. Just after passing a crossroads, turn right and pass through a wooden gate to follow a path into Northcliffe Woods. We now follow a lengthy path through the well-established and attractive woods, ignoring any turn offs. The woods eventual become Heaton Woods and the path reaches Sean’s Pond, a wildlife pond named after Sean Emmett, the son of a Heaton Woods Trustee who died in a car accident at the age of twenty-four.
Continue past the pond, eventually leaving the woods at the end of Aireville Avenue. Turn left and follow a path downhill between the woods on the left and houses on the right, then turn right when the path reaches the end of Ashfield Avenue and follow this to Bradford Road, passing Bradford New Church on the right-hand corner. Cross Bradford Road via the nearby pedestrian crossing and continue straight ahead along Shipley Fields Road, passing the Church of St. Margaret on the left just before the road crosses a bridge over the railway track. Continue along the road until it ends at Valley Road, then cross this and continue straight ahead along Poplar Road. Turn right and follow a path through a greenspace, eventually reaching Gaisby Lane. Finally, turn right to reach Canal Road, turn right again, and then cross over and bear left along Frizinghall Road to return to the railway station.
From Frizinghall, we continue north along the Airedale Line for a short distance to the town of Shipley, for a walk that once again reunites us with our old friend the Leeds and Liverpool Canal…
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