Last week I was trying to figure out some of the key places to take my parents on tour of Bradford. I didn’t really know where to go as there’s not much to see. The old Wool Exchange was about the only place that sprang immediately to mind; a beautiful building, and a symbol of Bradford’s past riches, now a bookshop with a built in Starbucks. Once we were actually walking round the town, though, there was always something else to see. Bradford’s no longer just some place I studied. It’s been my life for three and a half years and God’s got plans for me here. Yet still I hardly know the place.

For three years I’ve thought that all the interesting parts of Bradford were demolished long ago; that the fact there are really only two shopping streets is a result of a history of bad planning decisions. While this is undoubtedly partially true, I realised on Saturday that there are plenty of curious back streets and interesting alleyways still standing. Between all the leisure arcades and pound stores there’s even the occasional interesting shop. With a little effort Bradford could be a great place to live.