Lister Park

About the park

It is situated about a mile outside the city centre on Manningham Lane, the main road between Bradford and Shipley. It is one of the city's largest parks and was purchased by the City of Bradford for half its commercial value from Samuel Cunliffe Lister, who built Lister's Mill.

An open air swimming pool, the Lister Park Lido was added to the park in 1915. Although it was very popular in its early years, by the 1930s the public were losing interest in the facility which no longer met the standards of hygiene they expected. In response to proposals made by the baths committee, the council carried out a modernisation scheme in 1937 which involved the installation of a filtration, sterilisation and heating plant. A cafe was also added. The Lido was reopened in May 1939. Popularity of the Lido waned over time and by 1982 repairs to the value of £60,000 were needed. The Lido closed in 1983 and was demolished in 1991.

The park has been successfully renovated in recent years. The lake has been re-opened for boats and a Mughal Water Garden constructed. There are also tennis and basketball courts, bowling greens and a children's playground. Bradford parkrun, a free, weekly, 5 km, hosted by local volunteers, is held in the park at 9 am every Saturday.

The park's original botanical garden was built by the Calverley antiquarian Samuel Margerison, who had a flair for garden design.

Lister Park contains the Cartwright Hall art gallery, where permanent and temporary exhibitions of modern and traditional art can be seen.

It was voted Britain's Best Park for 2006, and nominated for the Best Park In Europe 2006.

Image:Lister Park Lake Bradford.jpg|Boating lake in the park. Image:Titus Salt statue Lister Park.jpg|Statue of Titus Salt, moved to the park from the town hall in 1896. Image:Prince of Wales Gates Lister Park.jpg|Prince of Wales gates, erected 1904.

References

References

1. "9. Lister Park". Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
2. "Lister Park - Park - Bradford-West Yorkshire". Visit Bradford.
3. "Heyday of Lister Park Lido". Bradford Telegraph and Argus.
4. "Bradford Parks & Landscape Service - Lister Park".
5. (2019-04-11). "SAMUEL MARGERISON: CALVERLEY'S FIRST HISTORIAN".
6. (4 August 2006). "City park voted best in Britain". BBC.