Every day will see the cathedral launching a video on their website, YouTube channel and Facebook page, in their new series called ‘Hidden Nature Close-Ups’. These will cover a wide range of subjects and will see Bradford Cathedral’s Director of Education and Visitors, Maggie Myers, revealing where you can find snakes; Ilkley’s famous ‘Cow and Calf’ rocks; and even a Green Man within the building.

Alongside these daily videos there will be special ones exploring William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement; William Scoresby, Arctic explorer and later Vicar of Bradford Parish Church, now the cathedral; and the designs of Louisa Pesel.

For those wanting something more relaxing, there will also be videos filmed in the cathedral grounds at dawn and twilight, capturing the beauty of nature, and a chance for people to walk the updated ‘Tranquillity Trail’, a short circular walk from the cathedral taking in Peel Park and Undercliffe Cemetery, with an online map and guide booklet released soon highlighting some of the things you can see on the walk.

Though Bradford Cathedral is currently on restricted opening times due to the on-going COVID-19 situation, visitors are welcome to come explore Bradford Cathedral Wednesday – Sunday between 2-4pm to see some of the examples highlighted in the videos for themselves. You can find out more about the guidance on visiting the cathedral on their website.

Maggie Myers, Director of Education and Visitors:

"Like everyone else, this year's Heritage Open Days presented us with a real challenge, in terms of how we would participate and make aspects of this beautiful site accessible to visitors in the current circumstances.

“As well as this, the topic of Hidden Nature also initially seemed a bit of a challenge for Bradford Cathedral! However, once we started thinking creatively, the ideas started coming thick and fast. There are lots of "hidden" aspects of nature in and around the Cathedral: from the sounds of nature in our grounds at sunrise and sunset, to the flora and fauna represented in our windows and other parts of the building, as well as the Cathedral's links to key figures in the Arts and Crafts Movement and a famous Arctic explorer, we feel that there's a great deal of Hidden Nature to discover and enjoy online at Bradford Cathedral during Heritage Open Week."

For more information on Bradford Cathedral’s plans for this year’s Heritage Open Days, please visit https://www.bradfordcathedral.org/whats-on/heritage-open-days/ or to find out more about Heritage Open Days in general, including Bradford Cathedral’s activities, please visit https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting/event/hidden-nature-at-bradford-cathedral