Bradford is one of the ten largest cities in Britain with a population of over 450,000 people. Originally founded by the Saxons, the name is a corruption of "Broad Ford", reflecting the watercourse which ran through the fledgling town.Water would continue to be of vital importance to the growing city, providing one of the raw materials needed for the wool trade as well as, via the canal, a way of transporting new goods off to market.At the beginning of the 19th century Bradford had grown to be a rural market town of 16,000 people centre around spinning and cloth weaving. The following 100 years saw massive expansion of these humble beginnings into comprehensive industry and Bradford become the wool capital of the world. By 1850 the population had grown to 100,000 and there were around 40 mills in the city producing cloth. On the 9th of June 1897 the town became a city.I love Visit Bradford. http://wikitravel.org/en/Bradford