From our March 2021 issue:
Maggie Poppa talks to a gold medal-laden Paralympian
Born in Halifax in 1992, Hannah Cockroft was in trouble health-wise from day one.
Within 24 hours of being born she suffered two heart attacks that resulted in brain damage and subsequent weaknesses in her lower body.
But Hannah was fortunate in that her parents, Graham and Rachel, listened to her doctors, who told them Hannah probably would not walk or do other things, and they decided to see what allowing her to lead a normal life would bring.
“My parents were so amazing. They both had jobs – Dad was a sheet metal worker and Mum was a school support assistant, but they spent so much time encouraging me. They never saw a reason for me not to be able to do anything.”
OPENING a stand at Valley Parade, unveiling a plaque at the city s police headquarters, The Queen has a long and distinguished relationship with Bradford. Her Majesty celebrates her 95th birthday today, her first as a widow following the Duke of Edinburgh’s death earlier this month. Today is The Queen’s 95th birthday. HM was born on 21 April 1926 at 17 Bruton Street in London, the first child of The Duke and Duchess of York. This year The Queen remains at Windsor Castle during a period of Royal Mourning following the death of The Duke of Edinburgh. pic.twitter.com/kOeH399Ndp The Royal Family (@RoyalFamily) April 21, 2021
1949 Prince Philip opened the Bradford Grammar School and was presented with a shawl for the then baby Prince Charles.
1954 On Thursday, October 28, 1954, nearly 18 months after her Coronation at Westminster Abbey, Queen Elizabeth II made a five-and-a-half hour state visit to Bradford with her husband, the Duke of Edinburgh. It was part of a nationwide tour, and followed state visits lasting nearly six months to 11 Empire and Commonwealth countries. After lunch, the royal party was driven to the cricket ground at Bradford (Park Avenue) to be sung to by 30,000 school children. The final stop of the royal visit was Perseverance Mills, Dudley Hill, where several hundred millworkers welcomed the Queen and Duke.