Northcliffe Park

Quick description

What’s there?

Northcliffe Park is a picturesque 86-acre space made up of parkland, meadows, Northcliffe Woods, and Norman Rae Playing Fields. The park is the perfect place to escape the hustle and bustle of the city and be immersed in nature and wildlife. Whether it’s bird or bat spotting or walking amongst the diverse range of plant and tree species in the meadows and woodland.

At the same time, the park also is home to many leisure facilities which attract visitors of all ages from across this district. This includes two large play areas, eight tennis courts, bowling greens, a miniature railway and playing fields. The Friends of Northcliffe are the heart and soul of the park, organising various activities and events throughout the year, including nature walks and community festivals and gatherings.

Play areas  

In the corner of the Norman Rae Playing Fields, there are two play areas. Inside the fenced area is a variety of playground equipment such as climbing frames, swings, slides, and tunnels. Beyond this, there are also other play facilities in the open space. 

Tennis courts  

There are eight tennis courts which are currently available on a ‘turn up and play’ basis.  

Bowling greens  

Northcliffe Park is home to the Crown Green Bowling Club. Find out more by visiting: https://northcliffeparkcgbc.org/

Facilities include the main bowling green and pavilion.

Northcliff Railway   

Bradford Model Engineering Society operate two railway tracks in the woodland area of the park. The gauges vary between 3.25 inches (83 mm) and 5 inches (130 mm) on a raised oval track that runs for 440 feet (130 m) and a larger loop that runs on the ground for 2,000 feet (610 m) and takes trains of 5-inch (130 mm) and 7.25-inch (184 mm) gauges. The society is one of the oldest model engineering societies in Britain (founded in 1908) and operates the railways in summer for passengers weather permitting. The society refer to, and label their railway, as Northcliff Railway using one of the older spellings of the name. The entrance to the track is from Cliffe Wood Avenue, off the main Bradford to Keighley Road (A650). 

Outdoor gym equipment  

The neatly compact fitness area offers a space to exercise in the fresh air, surrounded by nature and with no membership required.  

Northcliffe Allotments  

Made up of over 150 plots of various shapes and sizes and spread across two fields. The site is run by Northcliffe Allotment Society which is a Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO). They oversee the site, but also provide members with practical help including tool hire, bulk buys and practical classes and talks. For more information, visit: https://northcliffeallotments.wordpress.com/  

Woodlands  

As well as parkland and meadows, this space also includes Northcliffe Woods on its southern edge and Old Spring Wood to the north. Both woods are classed as semi-natural ancient woodland. 

Norman Rae Playing Fields  

The playing fields are situated on a hillside overlooking Bradford and are surrounded by trees. They are used for events such as charity runs, school athletics, and other community activities. 

Northcliffe Dike  

A small stream known as Northcliffe Dike cuts through the southern part of the park (known as Northclife Woods) and joins up with Red Beck (from Heaton Woods) before flowing into Bradford Beck between Frizinghall and Shipley. The Friends of Northcliffe Woods carried out remediation on the beck and its ponds in 2010 and 2011.  

History

North Clough 

The area was historically known as North Clough (‘clough’ referring to the ravine containing Northcliffe Dike stream), and then North Cliff which over time became Northcliffe.  

History of the land  

Located on the northern edge of the Nottingham-Yorkshire Coalfield, Northcliffe has a long history of agriculture and industry dating back more than 300 years. Beneath the surface are layers of mudstone, shale, coal, fireclay and sandstone. Northcliffe Woods is located in a valley that was formed by glacial melt water some 14,000 years ago, rather than by North Cliff Dike which now runs through the area. Over the past few centuries, these woodlands and meadows have been farmed, while the extraction of timber, coal, stone and fireclay has been done from beneath fields and woods. In addition, there have been numerous mine shafts, drainage tunnels, quarries and fireclay and brick works located in the area. Recent research has revealed more than forty coal shafts and at least ten quarry sites. 

Rosse family 

In 1911, the fifth Earl of Rosse’s family, a major landowner in and around Shipley, decided to sell the families’ properties and concentrate on their lands in Birr, Ireland. This land was divided into development plots and auctioned off, though the plots that included Northcliffe Woods and Northcliffe Park were not sold. Instead, the newly elected Shipley MP, Sir Norman Rae, offered to buy the land and give it to Shipley Town Council, to be used as a public space for the people of Bradford.  

MP Sir Norman Rae  

Sir Norman Rae was a mill owner, with mills in Bradford and Batley (where he was born) and business offices in Australia. 

Remembered as exceptionally generous and passionate about doing good for his local community, after purchasing land from the Rosse family, he immediately donated it to the Town Council to create a space for recreation to benefit the public. This is recorded with a plaque on the entrance gate.  

Once the land was handed over, the Town Council did a lot of work to change the area from a farming and a mining area to make it suitable for use as a park. It was opened in 1920 with a grand ceremony and continued to be developed during the 1920s with Tennis courts, bowling greens, pitch and putt, hockey, football and cricket pitches, along with bandstands for free concerts.  

Second World War  

During the Second World War, crops were grown in the park by Land Army girls for the war effort.  

Northcliffe Heritage Project 

In November 2013 the Friends of Northcliffe (FoN) called a public meeting, which heard from staff from the University of Bradford Archaeological Sciences Department and others outline the potential for a project exploring the archaeology and history of Northcliffe. A group of people came together to take this idea forward and after exploring options decided not to apply for funding but to put out a call for volunteers to undertake survey work. A group of about 30 people responded and with the support of a local archaeologist and local historians, the team were trained in basic survey techniques and set out to map the entire area, recording all features they could find. With assistance from the University of Bradford team various geophysics approaches were used, funded by FoN. Two excavations were carried out, led by knowledgeable volunteers. The main project surveys took place in 2014-16. The results were recorded in a database and draft summaries as areas of the park were surveyed or excavated and historical records interrogated. Public meetings reported back the work to the wider interested public. 

More information on the findings can be found here: http://northcliffeheritage.org.uk/  

Natural history

Over 100 species of flowering plants and ferns have been recorded in the wood. These include well-known spring flowers such as bluebells, wood anemones and ramsoms and some less common species like cuckoo-pint. Autumn is a feast in Northcliffe Woods with the vast amount of fungi to be found on logs and amongst the leave mould.  

Over the past 10-15 years, the Friends of Northcliffe have provided bird and bat boxes in the hope that they will increase the range of suitable nesting sites for many birds already breeding here and provide much-needed summer roosting sites for bats.  

The grassed areas of the park have undergone a change of management in the last few years. The football fields and cricket pitch are still cut, as always. However, the rest of the grassed area is allowed to grow apart from an annual cut in the autumn. This has already resulted in a greater range of meadow flowers to grow and created a better habitat for insects, birds and animals.  

Although humans have heavily influenced the site, there is much wildlife to experience. The meadow provides niches for numerous invertebrates to shelter, feed, and breed. While the flowers provide pollen and nectar, the grasses offer a food source for the caterpillars of many moth and butterfly species.  

Mown grassland areas provide feeding opportunities for starlings, thrushes, and gulls. Mature trees within the woodland offer natural cavities for hole-nesting birds and roosting bats. Jackdaw and tawny owls depend upon such holes for nesting sites. However, you may have noticed a new bird in town, the ring-necked parakeet, now using some of the larger tree holes for nesting.  

The buzz of insects is often heard before seeing any activity when walking near mature ivy on an autumn day. Red admiral butterflies, wasps, hoverflies, and bees lap up the nectar and eat the pollen. Once pollinated, the small black fruits of ivy develop and, in turn, provide valuable winter food to birds such as blackbirds and woodpigeons.  

Resources

Visit the Friends of Bradford District Parks page to find out more about activities and initiatives coordinated by the Friends of Northcliffe.  

What’s on

Visit the things to do area for details of all events.    

Friends of Northcliffe  

The Friends of Northcliffe organise various events throughout the year, including Easter hunts, nature walks, Halloween runs, silent discos, pop-up cinema and orienteering. Events are regularly posted on the Friends Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/FriendsNorthcliffe  

Other prominent events coordinated by the Friends of Northcliffe include: 

Rae Gala  

An annual event celebrating the gift of Northcliffe Park from Sir Norman Rae. Activities include trains, games, food and more.  

The Big Lunch  

The Big Lunch is simply about sharing friendship, food and fun with the local community. Bring a picnic or purchase food from the street food market.  

Kite festival  

An amazing display of kites by the Northern Kite Group.