The memorial
At the time of the fire Bradford City's main stand was a wooden one that had been built in 1911. The steps had open risers and over the years much rubbish had accumulated underneath the stand. Two safety reports had criticised the condition of the stands.
The club made plans to replace the stand, and this actually coincided with their best season since 1937 and in their penultimate game of the season had accumulated enough points to gain promotion to the 2nd Division.
Their last game of the season was intended to be a celebration and before the game Bradford-born captain Peter Jackson was presented with the league trophy.
Sadly the celebrations turned into disaster and 40 minutes after the start of the match a fire did start underneath the seats and the fire spread incredibly rapidly and engulfed the whole of the stand including the roof.
54 Bradford supporters died and two supporters of the visiting team, Lincoln. In addition 265 supporters were injured.
Further details of both the club and the disaster can be found on this Wikipedia web page.
link
Present at the ground were dignitaries from Bradford’s twin city, Hamm in Germany. As a result of this the news reached Germany and a memorial was presented to Bradford and placed outside the City Hall.
In 2010 on the 25th anniversary of the fire Bradford renamed this road Hamm Strasse in honour of the twin town and this memorial stone was erected at the corner of Hamm Strasse and Manningham Lane.
Hamm Strasse
This road has been named after the German town of Hamm
As a mark of the City’s gratitude to the citizens of Hamm
For the compassion they showed following the 1985
Bradford City Football Club Fire Disaster
The memorial also has the Lincoln City Football club coat of arms, Bradford Metropolitan Borough Coat of Arms and Hamm’s coat of arms.
The Bradford Coat of Arms
Metropolitan boroughs were introduced in 1974, as part of a reform of local council authorities. In this development various local councils were amalgamated into single large councils for more efficient administration purposes. Bradford itself is still a city.
The coat of arms is described below.
A shield has a mural crown, symbol of local government; on top which itself has boar’s head on top. On the shield are 2 hunting horns and a woollen fleece. In the middle is a heraldic fountain, representing a spring which was on the site of what is now Bradford Cathedral. Supporting the shield are an Angora Goat and a stag. The goat and stag are standing on fields.
The goat and stag are wearing collars with white roses on them, and the shield is surrounded by another 11 white roses.
White roses are a symbol of the County of Yorkshire, and the 11 on the shield represent the 11 local councils merged into the Bradford Metropolitan Area.
The green fields represent the rural nature of the area outside Bradford, and the fact there are 2 nearby National Parks.
The Bradford City coat of arms originally had a white Angora Goat and a black ram to represent the wool trade. The black ram was replaced by a stag to reflect the importance of Denholme and Keighley from their heraldry. Denholme and Keighley were 2 of the larger councils in the merger with Bradford.
The boar’s head and hunting horns refer to the legend dating back the 14th Century. A dangerous boar was terrorising the local populace of Cliffe Wood. A reward of a piece of land was offered by John of Gaunt, the Earl of Lancaster, to anyone who killed the boar.
The deed was done by a lone hunter but the boar was too heavy to carry. He cut out the tongue as proof of what he had done. However someone else found the body, cut off the head and took that as proof of his kill. The 2nd hunter actually tried to claim the land first, but the arrival of the original hunter with the tongue ensured that the rightful person got the prize.
However in order to keep the land It is said that it was necessary to blow a hunting horn in the market on St. Martin’s day. It seems unlikely that this alone would secure a piece of land. A more likely story is that at that time travel was dangerous and people would offer to provide protection to travellers from outside the area. This service was announced by the blowing of the horn. In the case of Bradford the specific requirement was to provide an escort to John of Gaunt whilst travelling to the castle at Ripon.
The inscription at the bottom of the shield, ‘Progress Industry Humanity’ reflecting Bradford’s industrial heritage, and it’s attempts to progress into the future. Humanity reflects that Bradford has declared itself a City of Peace in 1997, its centennial year.