Victoria Lodge was not the only body to celebrate their centenary in 1997. Bradford was given its Charter as a City in July 1897, just 6 weeks before Victoria Lodge was consecrated, and in 100 years Bradford City has seen many changes, so in turn their effects have been reflected in Bradford Freemasonry.
The first motor car arrived in 1896, the electric tram ran up Bolton Road in 1898 and the City was extended to include Eccleshill, Idle, Bierley, Thornton and Tong. The foundation stone of the Cartwright Hall in Lister Park was laid in 1900. During the next three years, the Town Hall was extended, the King's and Queen's Halls were built, Baildon Moor and Shipley Glen memorial rights were purchased by the Corporation. In 1907 the chief citizen of Bradford was raised to the title of Lord Mayor. The population at the turn of the century was just short of 300,000.
The
wool trade, businesses and factories associated with the textile industry prospered during
the 1914-18 period with large mills being built and more and more chimneys pouring their
smoke and pollution into the city. The boom of this era was followed by a slump in
1921 when over 60,000 textile workers were unemployed. Over the next nine years
Bradford slowly recovered and continued to expand until it was to suffer another setback
with the General Strike of 1930.
Prior to the Second World War, Britannia House was built as well as the Co-operative stores, the Girls' Grammar School, the Royal Infirmary and the Boys' Grammar School, which was not completed until after the war. Since the war, Bradford has seen many changes. One of the largest is that we can now see Bradford! With the loss of the mill chimneys and the introduction of domestic smoke control, our city is a lot healthier place to live. Steady growth in population peaked in the 70's at half a million and has remained at that level. Old mills and many of the traditional stone buildings have been demolished to be replaced by new roads and concrete and steel structures, which may be more functional but not as pleasing to the eye.
Bradford was founded on "hard graft" and the members of the Bradford Lodges were representative of this breed of man that the environment produced; hard-working, honest, trustworthy and down to earth. May it continue ever to be so.