The café at the Media Museum was closed when I visited, so I called in for a cuppa at the coffee shop on the mezzanine above Waterstone's bookshop in Bradford. It's one of the most wonderful bookshops in the country (in my opinion and that of countless journalistic reviewers). It is housed in the main hall of the magnificent building that used to be Bradford's Victorian wool exchange, where the wool merchants gathered to trade. Designed by the same architects responsible for Saltaire, Lockwood and Mawson, it has a soaring hammer-beam roof, granite pillars, lots of wrought ironwork and some beautiful tiles. It was last used for trading wool in the 1970s, by which time the wool textile industry was in severe decline. It's a delightful place to browse books and take refreshment. Modern plate glass windows along one side now let in plenty of light, though it must have been a lot darker inside originally.
A beautiful space.
ReplyDeleteI think I could live there for a few days, weeks...what a great roof design.
ReplyDeleteAmazing space.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad blogger is working again!
oh I better not go there, it would be dangeorus being a bookworm.
ReplyDeleteBooks are akin to holy icons for me, so I am quite sure I could lose myself for days on end in that wonderful place!
ReplyDeleteWhat a great re-use of this grand building space, Jenny, and enjoying a cup of coffee and looking at those books would be a wonderfully spent few hours.
ReplyDeleteWow! I thought it must be a former church. A cathedral of commerce instead. Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThat's a beautiful old building and a magic library.
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