Time to restore 'enjoyable and fun' 1960s clock tower

For years Shipley's clock tower has remained stoically silent towering above the Bradford market town it once served.

The Festival of Britain-style piece of architecture was originally built in the early 1960s as part of the Arndale Shopping Centre.

Calls for the clock tower to be repaired have now been prompted by the opening of a £4m redevelopment of the market square at the end of last year.

New town centre manager Ian McIver said there is now a plan to restore the six-storey structure to its former glory.

"There's certainly a very strong feeling in the area that it should be working," McIver said.

"We're working very hard as a town council and we think we're on the right path. Watch this space.

"We can't make any guarantees, because we don't have the money to invest in it. But it's certainly a priority."

The concrete-framed tower was the centrepiece of the Arndale Shopping Centre which TV star Bruce Forsyth opened in 1961.

McIver said: "It can be a love or hate thing, the Shipley clock tower. Personally I love it.

"You can argue all day whether back in the 1950s and 60s we should've knocked so much down and put up this type of architecture. But it's here now."

The Arndale Property Trust was formed in 1950 by Arnold Hagenbach and Sam Chippindale in Wakefield, before moving in 1964 to new headquarters in Arndale House, Bradford.

Local authorities would provide land and Arndale would supply the design and management in return for discounted rents.

Shipley was the company's second development, following Jarrow in County Durham.

A total of 20 shopping centres were built in England between 1960 and 1980, mostly in the midlands and north, with three more in Australia.

In January 2024, the Twentieth Century Society - a charity that campaigns to protect Britain's modern architectural and design heritage - applied for a Grade II listing for Shipley's clock tower to Historic England.

Catherine Croft, the charity's director, said: "All the other Festival of Britain towers are Grade II listed.

"It's got a concrete frame, which is why people might think it's Brutalist, but it's more decorative than that.

"It's in pretty good condition. It's enjoyable and fun and celebratory."

Croft said the charity's application was sent to Historic England which, if approved, would be forwarded to the Department for Culture Media and Sport.

"It would be really great to have the decision made as there is a really strong case in this instance," she said.

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