Underground river

John Johnson's 1802 map of Bradford shows the Beck flowing openly through the town, crossed by two bridges: Ive Bridge (later Sun Bridge) at the bottom of Ivegate and Church Bridge at the bottom of Kirkgate below the cathedral. This latter site is probably also the location of the 'broad ford' from which Bradford originally got its name.

By the time of Atkinson's 1825 survey the Beck had already been substantially covered through the town centre, particularly on the western side between Thornton Road, Market Street and City Hall. Later maps indicate that its route through the town was almost completely covered by 1850.

There is always a mystique and fascination about tunnels, even where they run as close to the road surface as this one. Only in its final stretches along Canal Road does the tunnel run deeper than 10 or 12 feet. Its different sections were built at different times, and some sections have been renewed, but the brick arches shown in the above picture (which cover the double channel of the main Beck at its confluence with Bowling Beck, more or less underneath Market Street) seem to date from an early period of construction.

It would be fascinating to discover who initiated the culverting, and whether later covering-over was done in a piecemeal fashion, or in accordance with some general plan. In the period of Bradford's hectic industrialization the Beck was the responsibility of riparian landowners (and indeed still is) so in the century before planning constraints no 'permission' to tunnel the river would necessarily have been required. A number of industrial premises were built directly over the Beck (one reason for the disastrous explosion of 1911) and this policy was taken up by town centre development as well.

There must exist company archives showing plans for alterations to the Beck, and their unearthing would be an interesting piece of research.

My underground expeditions were made possible by the Council Drainage Department, and several trips were postponed due to wet weather. In such conditions the Beck runs too high for safe passage, as there is no walkway. And the threat of rain is another hazard, as water levels can rise extremely fast. Breathing apparatus is required because of the danger of gas, and for the same reason lighting has to be triple-insulated and intrinsically safe to guard against sparks.