City Park
The plaque is near to an area with a mirror pool with a fountain of 100 separate jets, the central one which when turned to its maximum can reach 100 metres, the highest in the UK.
The City Park was the final part of a large regeneration scheme for the city centre that first started in 2003. The City Park was finally completed in 2012.
Around the area of the pool area a number of cafes, restaurants and pubs.
The plaque also has a quote from the Bradford author and playwright about the delights of fountains. By coincidence a statue of him had been erected across the road in 1986. It was erected to face the City Hall, but now also faces the magnificent new fountain and mirror pool.
The Opening Ceremony
"Bradford’s six-acre award-winning City Park has been officially opened by the Duke of Gloucester with the unveiling of a plaque containing a quote about enchanting fountains from one of the city’s most famous sons J B Priestley.
The Duke, a cousin of the Queen, took in the park and the mirror pool and all its 100 fountains from the pavilion roof, before being shown the underground plant room from where the water and lights are controlled, followed by a video of the construction work.
The Duke met members of City Park's design, contractor and operational teams before he unveiled the plaque bearing the piece by Priestley, entitled Fountains.
The Lord Mayor, Coun Dale Smith, said: "It’s great to see a project come to fruition and to have the final seal of approval that the centre of Bradford has been transformed.”
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Prince Richard, The Duke of Gloucester
Prince Richard is the Queen’s cousin and grandson of George V. He is the second son of Prince Henry, the first Duke of Gloucester and his wife, Princess Alice, former Lady Alice Christabel Montagu-Douglas-Scott, third daughter of the seventh Duke of Buccleuch and ninth Duke of Queensberry.
Princess Alice recorded in her memoir a visit she made to a fortune teller – before her marriage – where she was told she would marry above her station. As the daughter of a Duke she thought this was unlikely. However, she went on to marry George V’s third son and became a member of the British royal family which was a marriage above her station and affected her son’s future life in a number of ways.
In 1936 the death of George V and the abdication of Edward VIII left Prince Henry third in line to the throne after the Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret Rose. He also served as regent designate until the then Princess Elizabeth came of age. Prince Henry’s role during the Queen’s minority meant the end of his military career and undertaking full-time royal duties.
Prince Richard was born on 26 August 1944 and spent his early years in Australia where Prince Henry was served as Governor-General from 1945-1947. After the family had returned to the UK, Prince Richard was educated firstly at home, before going to school at Wellesley House, Broadstairs and finally Eton.
Much like his cousin the Queen, Prince Richard never expected the role that fell to him – heir to his father’s title and responsibility for the family estate at Barnwell Manor in Northamptonshire where his parents farmed. That was to be his elder brother Prince William’s role and in 1963 Prince Richard went to Cambridge and completed a Masters Degree in Arts and a Diploma in Architecture, intending to make architecture his profession.
In 1970, Prince Richard became a partner of the then architectural firm Hunt Thompson Associates in London.
Fate took a hand in 1972 when Prince Richard’s elder brother Prince William, who was unmarried, was killed in a flying accident. He had been close to the Prince of Wales who named his son, Prince William now the Duke of Cambridge, for him.
By then their father, Prince Henry had suffered two debilitating strokes and was being nursed by Princess Alice. It fell to Prince Richard to manage the Barnwell estate, so his fledgling career in architecture was over. In the next few years, he produced three books of architectural photographs. In 1970, On Public View with Paul William White, a selection of London’s open-air statues. In 1973, he published The Face of London and Oxford and Cambridge in 1980.
After Prince Henry’s death in 1974 Prince Richard succeeded to the title of Duke of Gloucester. He was already carrying out royal engagements and had taken on a number of royal patronages and is now associated with over 150 charities and organisations.
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The plaque
'FOUNTAINS. I doubt if I ever saw one, even the smallest
without some tingling delight. They enchant me in the daytime, when the sunlight
ennobles their jets and sprays and turns their scattered drops into diamonds.
They enchant me after dark when coloured lights are played on them,
and the night rains emeralds, rubies, sapphires, and best of all,
when the last colour is whisked away, and there they are in dazzling white glory!'
(J.B. Priestley - from his book 'Delight', first published 1949)
Opened by
HRH The Duke of Gloucester KG GCVO
on the 23rd October 2012