The tallest city fountain in Britain
A thirty-metre column of water rising from a basin barely twenty-five centimetres deep.
The tallest fountain in any British city stands in the middle of Bradford, firing a column of water some thirty metres into the air from a basin barely twenty-five centimetres deep. Around it play more than a hundred smaller jets. This is the Mirror Pool, the largest urban water feature in the country, opened on 24 March 2012 as the centrepiece of a long city-centre regeneration and named the best public place in Britain and Ireland by the Academy of Urbanism the same year. The surprise for first-timers is that City Park is not a park at all: it is a stone-paved plaza wrapped around the Victorian City Hall with its Florentine-style tower, and the water is what gives it a soul. The pool keeps a daily rhythm worth knowing before you go. It is drained overnight; in the morning it breathes out a low mist before filling; by afternoon it is a true mirror, holding City Hall and the Yorkshire sky; at dusk the jets are lit with lasers and coloured light to music. The fountains usually run from 08:30 to 20:00, but the council switches them off without notice in high wind, when there is a risk of ice, for maintenance and while events are being set up, and an empty basin is simply a big empty square. For the light show, spring and September evenings are the better bet: in midsummer the sun does not set until after nine, well past the fountains' switch-off time. Children love it more than anyone. At the pavilion end, forty low play fountains are built for running through, and on a warm afternoon in the school holidays dozens of soaked kids charge about while parents take the stone steps. Bring a towel and a change of clothes; the water is cold even in July. The raised Y-shaped walkway crosses the pool dry-footed and takes a pushchair, the whole plaza is level with hardly a step, and there is free Wi-Fi and plenty of seating. Give it half an hour to an hour, and treat it as a stop between things rather than a destination: the free National Science and Media Museum sits on the edge of the square, the Broadway shopping centre is a few minutes away, and Bradford Live occupies the restored 1930 Odeon across the square. Bradford Interchange is about five minutes' walk, Forster Square under ten, and if you are driving the Broadway car park is the nearest. Some of the terrace restaurants on Centenary Square are bar-led and serve alcohol, so choose with care if you are with the family.
A thirty-metre column of water rising from a basin barely twenty-five centimetres deep.
Low play jets at the pavilion end built for children to dash through; bring a towel and a change of clothes.
In the afternoon the Victorian City Hall reflects in the water; at dusk the jets are lit with lasers to music.
Centenary Square, Bradford BD1 1HY
Not on its own. It is a square you see in half an hour. Combine it with the free National Science and Media Museum on its edge and UNESCO-listed Saltaire about fifteen minutes away by train from Forster Square, and half a day in Bradford makes sense, especially with children in summer.
No guarantee. The pool is drained in high wind, when there is a risk of ice and on event days, and in winter it can sit empty for stretches. Afternoons are your best chance of seeing it full; check the council's Facebook or X pages before setting off.