Thank you for highlighting this once magnificent building.. Sad loss for Bradford, why didn’t they save the station and repurpose it, like Manchester did with Central station turning it into a conference/exhibition centre still in use today? Pure vandalism really and great loss for Bradford.

@solsticepilgrim

3 ай бұрын

Blackpool Central was similar loss. What a waste.

@gaz4840

3 ай бұрын

same reason they tore down Kirkgate market and put up that concrete eyesore, the arndale centre

You do the best then-and-now fades I've ever seen. The precision and the way you match-up the shots taken decades apart is superb. Love your channel. I didn't think I'd ever find Bradford so interesting! Videos of ghost railways and stations are fascinating, please do some more !

Its so sad that these Railway Stations are going. England was known though out the world as the home of railways. It's time to start to preserve your history before it's all gone.

@EgoShredder

4 ай бұрын

Not going to happen because we have an anti-White government, with other plans for us in mind.

Great video Darren, having been born and bred in bradford I don't think I've ever been in the exchange garden area , its a disgrace of how much of our once great city has been lost forever , so much history lost and how bad its now become

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

First time in that garden for me too

It was a beautiful station , absolute disgrace when it was destroyed.

@richardkellett7910

4 ай бұрын

A great way of seeing this station, watch the black and white movie of Billy lyer . It was filmed in Bradford and the station was used in the movie also other parts of Bradford.

@solsticepilgrim

3 ай бұрын

I remember seeing the old station on my journey to school and thinking it was a shame to knock it down. If it had been listed or repurposed then it would be a great asset to the city. Think of how well King's Cross looks now with the blend of old and modern. Bradford Exchange could have been the same.

@Kropotkin2000

6 күн бұрын

@@richardkellett7910 Sadly not. The station used in the film was Marylebone in London.

My Dad worked at International Harvesters in Bradford and he would go to the bank in Bradford to draw money out as you did in those days and as a treat he would take me to Exchange to see the trains. It was amazing. Brilliant video Darren. Brought back happy memories.

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Thanks for sharing!

@juniourst3ven596

Ай бұрын

Amazing historical info here. 😊 At around 1:30 of this clip, do you think that the oven-like-kiln thing could have been where they heated & kept coal for the steam engines back in the days?

King of the photo fades is at it again! 😂 Another stunning episode! Quality!

Thank you for this wonderful video, l shed a tear especially with the background music. I remember it, l'm 62 now, unfortunately everything has changed not for the better.

My understanding from my Dad who was brought up in Bradford was the cost and the engineering challenges were very difficult to overcome. Just like today, it could be done but the cost out weights the benefit

Great video, I was born in 1972 and one of my earliest memories was the back end of its demolition, I'm presuming maybe 75, I can vaguely remember the steel arches being still up from my view on the bus going into town, it's well read story of how the city planners ruined my city, but they did!

My mum was telling me after seeing your video in the 1950’s her grandfather (who was architect) would book at table at the restaurant of that hotel for Christmas for the family. In those days it was very upmarket and they’d be an orchestra playing. She said it was lovely and regal.

Forster Square next please

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Already filmed 😀

Such a shame for Bradford. It could still be a grand city had all those historic buildings been kept and well maintained.

Thanks for the memories! in the mid-60's, as young railway enthusiasts living in Bramley we often travelled from Leeds city to Forster square just for the fun of it. The interchange has always been a travesty built to a tight budget.

I worked in Bradford in the early 1990’s so had no real knowledge of the Exchange Station. A brilliant portrayal of the “then & now”. I agree - they missed the boat in not linking the lines across the city and having one big station.

What a shame that they didn't keep the station; looked really impressive on the old photographs. Cheers for making your videos, the fade in with the photographs is really cool :)

Amazing footage,remember the railway station well ,when was very young,my late dad was a fireman on the steam trains,then was a driver on the seventies trains,so different now,but at the time was ,one of the busiest train hubs ,in the North, its ashame Bradford left behind ,Amazing vidio

@andymullaney1594

4 ай бұрын

It be hard work,but the line from Halifax, from under North bridge ,tunnel still there ,Queensbury routes, to Bradford, old lane Halifax ,to Hothfield ,was a station there

I used to come into Bradford from Leeds regularly for gigs at St George’s and Queens Hall I’ve always said that it’s criminal that such a major city like Bradford has such a tiny train station.

Really enjoyed that , many thanks. Grew up trainspotting in the Exchange late 50’s -60’s until the end of steam. The absolute fools who authorised the demolition of such a structure should have been jailed for architectural vandalism . Criminals !

Happy Easter. So much change and not for the better aesthetically speaking. "Absolutely no idea what these are" Priceless.....

Where the current line ends the bridge was in need of renewing which was going to be too expensive as well as the Exchange roof being in need of repairs, They decided to close the station instead and build a cheap replacement. It is a shame the old station was not renovated and turned into something else, it was a lovely building. Bradford never seem to get things right, neither station is something a city can be proud of, and both have been moved further away from the town centre when renewed.

Great video. It's such a shame a central station could not have been built as part of shopping centre development. The North deserves so much better.

bradford has an amazing history and lots of magnificent buildings, such a shame it's a dive now... have you seen they have turned the old "lifting tower" in leeds into a mini museum? not sure when it opens/opened.

If you want to see the station lost in time watch old black and white movie of Billy lyer . It was filmed in Bradford back in the 60s and shows all parts of Bradford .

@pyewackett5

3 ай бұрын

Fantastic film & as you say was filmed in quite a few Bradford locations. The house used in the film is in Shipley however. Just a bit more trivia from Billy Liar :)

@Pisstake1

3 ай бұрын

Loving this shit man if it wasn't for this channel and the Comments I wouldn't know any of this 😂

hiya mate , we ve missed you

Another great video so sad to see the difference

That was excellent.. on the entrances the Exchange Station sign could be seen until recently so has someone stolen it or has it been painted over

The stations will never be linked. There is a significant height difference between the two (and a very tight curve). Great in theory but pretty much impossible in practice. The gradient would have to start back towards Frizinghall and even then it would end up being amongst the steepest in the country.

Das war ja ein wunderbarer Rundgang auch sehr interessant 😊. Ich bedanke mich, das ich dich begleiten durfte. Nun wünsche ich dir und deiner Familie noch ein schönes Osterfest. Thank you ❣️. Darren 👋🏻👋🏻

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

You too Christel

@christelbraune4530

4 ай бұрын

Wow 😂 thank you ❣️ ​@@carlharris2808

It feels like Bradford was seen as expendable because Leeds is so close. Successive governments basically were not going to allow both cities to have equal amenities based purely on cost. Even Leeds is hard done by when compared to Manchester. We live in a sad world, unfortunately.

My Dad used to take me onto the Station in the mid 60's up until it closed. I still have a couple of Bradford Exchange platform tickets from the machine.

I'm not a train fan but love the history with you Martin and Paul whitewick the massive changes and finding bits they missed to destroy 👍

Thank you for today’s video, with your literal views of your opinion. The truth can make up a view into the past. Happy Easter to you and your family, Darren. See you on the next. Cheers mate! 🇬🇧👍🙂🇺🇸

I am old enough and lucky enough to remember catching a train from this station. It was a huge building and very ornate. Absolute disgrace, almost vandalism what happened to it.

So many changes. So many things lost. Fade in and out photos great. You are keeping history alive Darren with all your documentaries. Well done. Look forward to your next video. Thank you.😊

So much history destroyed,what a shame the 2 stations never connected,Cheers Darren.😂

Your best video so far. Really it and found it very informative especially using now and then photos 👍👍👍👍

Destroying the original station was an absolute crime. It makes no sense at all. The Victorians built a station befitting the city, and all it needed in the 60's was restoration, preservation and a bit of updating. Millions wasted on that apology for a station that sits beyond the bridge. I really can't imagine the mentality of those who committed this vandalism of our industrial and cultural heritage. Great fade in/out with old and current images. Just looking at more pictures and reading some articles bemoaning what happened. Thanks for making this.

Very sad decline, from a great ‘statement’ building ( the statement being “we are important and prosperous”) to a very different statement building (the statement being “we admit we are just a shadow of our former self”).

What a fantastic video….. full of information and history right in the centre of town. Great to see more photo fades… they truly are amazing and so well edited, thank you

Thanks for an amazing video. The photo-fades work brilliantly.

good stuff. Having stayed in that Premier Inn a few times and used the current station also. I never realised that the Exchange station went that far past the current station.

Thanks for this. When I used to visit Bradford in the late 90s there was an 'Exchange' sign somewhere around those steps but it looks as if it is long gone. The new shipping centre looks interesting!

Loved the photo fades Darren. Such a shame the old station didn't survive. At least you still have trains serving the city. I wish we had better passenger service here in Canada (as it was until the early 1960's, when it almost disappeared). Really enjoyed the video, thanks for sharing it. Cheers!

That was gteat! I never knew that station existed and I've lived here 54 years! - Cheers! :)

Just shows how much of a massive mistake it was to bulldoze such grand stations into a simplified and cramped monstrosity. Loved the video, it was quite refreshing and surprising as ive seensome but not all these pics before, and loved your little sense of humour here, too. Happy Easter!👏♥️🐇🐣🍫😂

Thank you so much for your video. Great memories of Bradford where I was born and raised. They have demolished so many old buildings which can never be replaced. So sad. Bradford could have been a great city but no one seemed to have a forward vision. Unfortunately it would take a lot of investment now. Always look forward to your videos. Thank you again.

Wow never knew about that station - loved the fades - I used to get the 72 bus past there every day before the Broadway and never knew those old walls and steps were part of an old station - shame they didn't link the two when there was the massive hole in the ground before the Broadway

Wow I’ve been waiting for you to do this, I wasn’t disappointed. Brilliant Darren loved the fade ins, and the remaining bits of the brilliant Exchange Station yet another railway travesty. Such a shame what made them think of getting rid of the station. My Great Uncle Walter Dutton worked at Adolfus street, for many years. Yes you are right a glorified bus shelter to replace that great Station 🤦🏼‍♀️ I worked for a firm based in Bradford from 2006 to 2015 I have seen the Exchange sign above the steps still in place during that time, when I was training at our head office or at the staff dos at the Midland Hotel, sounds like that place has gone to the dogs too 😔

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Glad you enjoyed it

I grew up on Parkside at the top of west bowling, we used to go down the banking to the railway tunnel under parkside road

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

I remember sliding down that banking to the tunnel from parkside as a kid.

@louisereuben5740

4 ай бұрын

Which schools did you go to? I was St matthews, woodroyd, fairfax lol

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

@@louisereuben5740 I didn't live in that area. It was when visiting my cousin's.

Really interesting and well explained. Great photo fades, thanks.

Fascinating to see the old and the new fades , that you do so well . Really helps to envisage what was and what is , especially if you don't remember or know the the old . Clearly not for the better , but money talks !! Hope you are having a good Easter Darren .

Another smashing video thank you. I've taken the plunge and ordered an osmo pocket 3, it's obvious from your videos that it produces stunning video. I love your photo fades, they must take you ages. Thank you!

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

See the Alton towers video I filmed. Shows it off on there

The canopy was there in early 1972. I left from Bradford Exchange for recruitment interviews in the RN Careers Office in Leeds in April. When I joined up September 1972 I left from our wonderful (sarcasm) new Interchange. Totally different experience.

Great video as always Darren

Brilliantly done. Thank you very much. The old station was impressive but outlived its usefulness when the woollen industry collapsed. The Interchange is pathetic but is all you can expect when one of Britain’s biggest cities is stuck at the end of a branch line.

@rikkilamb

4 ай бұрын

It's not stuck on the end of a branch line at all, that's just utter rubbish. It is a through station, with services passing through each way. The only trains terminating at those to Huddersfield and London KX.

Hi Darren, Enjoyed seeing those fantastic photo fades👌👌 Just been looking at railmaps on line it does look like they should have joined the two lines, they really weren't too far away. Great video, well done. All the best!!

@srfurley

4 ай бұрын

They were even closure, both lines were cut back to the new station sites. However, Exchange was considerably higher than Forster Square and a connecting line would have been very steep, which would have been a problem, particularly in steam days. Not such a problem with electrics, but of course Interchange still isn’t electrified to this day.

Fascinating as always.... the fades make everything look so unreal, I mean how could they have destroyed all those buildings and put up whats there now?

Great video Darren 👍🏻 Always love the photo fades. Thanks for showing 👍🏻😀

Exchange Station was enormous. It was also dirty, but at the time you could have said the same about Kings Cross or St Pancras, and as for Manchester Victoria... well what a hell hole. But Man Vic is still there, changed certainly but still a major transport interchange. You could get anywhere from Bradford Exchange. I can remember going from there to Liverpool, Dublin (via Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire), Oxford, Kings Cross (of course), Plymouth, Great Yarmouth, Edinburgh... I'm sure there are a lot of other places I've forgotten. Forster Square was a big station too. There was a big sign 'Come to Worthing' so presumably you could get a train there. I remember when I was very young and we were at Forster Square my Uncle Harry pointed at a train at the end of the concourse, 'thats the London Express' and I was absolutely captivated. I must have been about 5. Trains from Forster Square went to St Pancras. It was also the place to go for a train if you wanted to go to Carlisle or Glasgow. In those days, if you lived in Bradford the world was your lobster if you relied on trains to get around.

Hi! Happy Easter! It looks so different! So much better back then. Brilliant video!

The donut break made me laugh

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Had to be done

A most Excellent video covering lost railways, those fades really help to get a sense of geograpical orientation.. Really useful 😀 thankyou so much for producing this video ❤ A few months back i asked about a video on the old Liverpool central upper level.. Now more poiniant as there are plans for remodeling with new routed lines from Manchester / Warrington lower level into Liverpool Central. HS2 money.

I was brought up few miles away from here, as a teen I went on many 'Day Rovers' on the trains, and I loved the Bradford interchange. I never even knew this old station existed so I thankyou for sharing this with us and doing such a great job of it.

They missed the boat on linking the 2 stations together, I don't know the difference in height between them, unless they tunnel through, but it's probably not possible, even with TBMs.

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

If they sloped differently from further back, could easily be done without tunnelling

Love your videos mate. I know it’s non of my business but don’t lower yourself to audit videos, seriously you’re better than that.

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

I won't don't worry. I was just joking

@OMSGA

4 ай бұрын

@@AdventureMe thank goodness for that 😂

Once the Exchange was torn down, that was the beginning of the end as far as Bradford is concerned.

they was plans in the late 1800s to build a viaduct across bradford to link both stations up. Its online if ye search for it. It was going to split off at low moor go through a tunnel to come out just up from bradford exchange and across a viaduct into Foster Square

Great video, showing what was then, overlaid what is now. Takes skill does that

Very interesting piece of railway history. Looks like they shrunk the railway terminus in line with Brandford's shrinking industries - and missed an opportunity to link the two stations and make a real railway and bus interchange.

Brilliant video. I lived in Bradford and can remember the station but only it’s latter days, back in the early 80’s I used to have a Saturday job at boots and for lunch, would call at Wimpys for a burger and go up those stairs to eat it and look back into Bradford. That’s was in the days when the Arndale was new. I knew the train station was there but never realised it’s alignment to the interchange platforms. Thanks for the memories.

Thank u for another fantastic bideo.another great building sad loss bradford. So sad. What great building we had.

Hi Darren, once again an excellent film of bygone Bradford

As a bradfordian of 50 years id love to see a video about foster square one of its original outer walls is still in place i can still remember entering the station with that railway smell engorging my nose catching a class 101 to visit Keighley and thanks for this video the photo fades where great

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Already filmed. Will be released soon.

That view towards the Broadway car park is so strange to look at for me!.The last time I walked down it ,there was a bar and a night club, and a kebab shop where the car park entrance is now!

Another top-quality video. I love the photo-fades and how you tell the history of Bradford and its once amazing architecture. I'd love to see things restored and improved, but with so many things in dire need of funding and Bradford being nowhere near to the decision makers or the funding in London, I fear that Bradford will remain stuck with the mediocrity that it currently has.

Fantastic video. Even for those familiar with the Exchange Station it is difficult to comprehend how it all fitted into that space between the road, the hotel and the Telegraph and Argus building. Fade ins superb as ever.

We used to get day rovers and head out from Bradford interchange a lot. Its been a long while since i was back there. I didnt know the whole roof had gone over the bus depot. Caught many a train to leeds and buses to Otley. Another great video. Love the photo fades.

Another Darren masterpiece! Well done brother 👍👏👏👏👏

Yes, yet another sad loss to Bradford, great video & love the fadeouts❤look forward to the Forster Square video..😊

Hello Darren how are you happy Easter to you and your family hope that you have a good one love your vidio very interested of the main railway station best wishes take care stay safe xx ❤😅😅

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Thank you! You too!

Amazing video. I went to Bradford Uni for a total of three years and now work for Yorkshire Water so used to drop my samples off at the old George Street labs, which have now been demolished. I had no idea there used to be an enormous railway station in the area of the court buildings. I've been past there and used the Interchange so many times too.

What a loss for Bradford, Excellent video as always Darren 🙏🏻

Fantastic, best photo fades yet. Looking forward to the next one.

Fabulous presentation many thanks, as much as I enjoyed seeing it all, equally huge pangs of sadness of course. A lot of other folk have already said it all, so I won’t repeat. But what a terrible shame. Love the fade ins of the original views. Great work. Huge thanks.

When are you coming to Sheffield to do a series on something? It's not that bad! Love these History explores!! Best channel for it. Brilliant photo fades Darren.

Once again another great video. As I understand it the large buffers at the end of the new platforms are the original ones from the Exchange station so a part of the old station lives on.

Great work - thanks!

It's so desperately sad what we have allowed to happen to this country and how much we have lost. We need to wake up and stand up against governments and councils which show such disregard for our once imposing towns and cities. They belong to us, after all. Fine, impressive buildings replaced, as you say, by a 'bus stop'. That sums up this country....

@EgoShredder

4 ай бұрын

Sadly its a global plan for all nations and if I attempt to type the name of it here, KZread instantly deletes my comment and yet it is an official plan and our governments even wear broches of the United Nations logo on their suits when giving speeches about it.

I remember Bradford interchange from the 80s. When I visited Bradford in the 2000s I was gob smacked at the change. I remember the toilets on the left. The cafe sort of under the train station. Sweet shop as you walked in to the right. Steps to the left to take you up to train station part. I'm sure there was a bar in that part too? All them "columns fitted with seats. Mortified!!

Good stuff again Darren

Fascinating video once again of our railway history lost forever. The new station there is nothing but a remanent of the old. Great fade in/out shots as ever Darren👏🏻

Really enjoyed the vid.

What a fantastic insight into old Bradford. Many thanks Mate.

great work,thanks

Another excellent railway video D👍, love the fades. As a kid in early 80s, we'd come from New Pudsey to the interchange, I used to love seeing the Blue Diesels parked at the sides, and the original liveries Blue HST 125s 😊. Smell of oil and grease.😊. Better than going on the bus!!! Keep up the brilliant work 👏 😊. Cheers Grant.

Love your videos. I particularly like your photo-fades showing how it was. I haven't been into Bradford city centre for over 40 years, so with all the changes it's hard to visualise what was there when I was! I remember going out of the station via the big entrance, down the curving slope. That's my abiding memory of it - and how big and dirty it was. When I was little we used to visit Temple Newsam on Bank Holidays occasionally. We would always be told 'we're going to Leeds on the diesel', so that must have been a bit of a novelty at the time (late 50s/early 60s). The other thing I vividly remember, not just over the station, is the sound and sight of the starlings at dusk. They swarmed over the city, must have been thousands of them and the sound was amazing, so loud! I don't know if this still happens. Looking forward to your videos of the other stations. Thanks again.

Some great fading there! Great work as ever. Thank you so much for what you do x

As always superbly executed photo fades - even better than usual as they were colour to colour. Thanks Darren

@AdventureMe

4 ай бұрын

Many thanks!

Great video. The interchange has retained one of the original buffer stops from Exchange station. You got a shot of them towards the latter part of your video. Such a pity the two stations were never joined.