Going back 50 years!

I first came to Bradford some fifty years ago, when I studied for my degree at Bradford University's School of Management. It was based in this building in Heaton, on the edge of Lister Park among leafy gardens, set apart from the main university campus which was in the city centre. Originally a theological college for Congregational ministers, built in the 1870s, it was a rather grand and wonderful place to study. It was designed by Saltaire's architects, Lockwood and Mawson, and the foundation stone was laid by Titus Salt Jnr, as the Salts were involved in financing the new college. 

It was quite compact in my day, with perhaps 150 or so undergrads studying in the building shown; the post-grads used a mansion in the same grounds. The department gradually expanded and new buildings were added behind this building. 

It's a long time since I went to have a nostalgic look at it, but I was visiting Lister Park with a friend recently and we walked down the drive. Down by the gate we were warmly greeted by a gentleman, who asked why we were there. Turns out that the university's management centre moved out to a building on the main campus a couple of years ago. The Heaton site has recently been sold to the Greensville Trust, an Islamic community group involved in education and community outreach. Their plans for the site sound really positive (see HERE) and I am pleased that it will continue to be used for educational purposes. The gentleman we were talking to has been a caretaker at the site for over 16 years - and he offered to show us round! 

I can't tell you how emotional it felt to walk once again past the grand fireplace in the entrance hall, up the staircase to the library - where I sat hour after hour scribbling essays, all those years ago. (Yes, those essays I found during a clear-out not that long ago, that had me incredulous that I had actually been intelligent enough to write them!) It all feels like a different, distant life and yet, at the same time, revisiting brought back so many memories. 

The library had the most amazing stained glass, with Biblical exhortations to read and study hard. I well remember gazing at them as I waited for inspiration. "Happy is the man that findeth wisdom and the man that getteth understanding." (The woman was pretty happy too!) The heavy desks and dark wood bookcases have been removed but the room still felt much as I remembered it (perhaps smaller!) 

I only had my phone to take photos, as this was very much an unexpected excursion, so the pictures aren't brilliant but what a wonderful treat it was to 'go back in time'. I am so grateful to the kind gentleman (whose name I omitted to ask) for inviting us inside and showing us round.