Our first project of level 3 extended is based around crime in Bradford in 1900’s and 1800’s. It is being orchestrated by ‘The Bradford Police Museum’. The Bradford Police museum is known for doing their walk-in tours, their tours consist of the court house, the cells and their gallery! The Bradford Police Museum focus on crime mainly within Bradford like things such as the Yorkshire ripper! British Classics such as Eastenders and Peaky Blinders both had scenes filmed within the Bradford police museum! It was a police station between 1874 and 1974. Most of the prisoners held within the prison at these times were falsely accused of committing the crimes people had thought they committed which ended up in a lot of innocent people, including children, being hung!
Differences between Bradford then and now
A lot of crimes committed back in 1800’s had very very harsh punishments that consisted of having your hands chopped off or even being publicly hung. However, now you get a few years in prison.
Crimes back then were as little as stealing a loaf of bread, that was the type of crime that would get you hung. Or owning a black cat, they would accuse you of being a witch and could get hung or burned alive. Whereas now, Most places would let you off for stealing and witches are not believed in.
Another difference between Bradford then and now is the jobs, jobs back then were things like working in factories from the age of 3 and upwards chimney sweeping which was mainly for lower class children. When working within these industries back in them times, many people died as a result of not knowing how to work things properly. They also got paid way less than people do now. Now there are a lot more job opportunities for people to work and they have a proper salary to get them through their day to day lives.
The crime rates in Bradford over time have gone up as the population has also increased. Bradford now is known as the most ‘dangerous city in west Yorkshire’ due to crime rates skyrocketing between 1980 and 2024. Stealing was a very big crime back then as to what it is right now as it isn’t considered as big as an issue anymore due to bigger issues such as murder and sexual assault being prioritized.
For my monologue, there wasn’t a lot i could do for my research as my character was just a background character. So instead i looked into different plot twists in shows and books. This helped me create a plot twist in my story. My character was an executioner who was killing 2 gay men but it turned out he was killing someone he had an affair with
Context
The scene i chose to do is a true story base. From the 1800’s. It was believed back then only a man and a woman could have romantic affairs and if you went against that, you were killed. So i focused my monologue on both sides of peoples thoughts. People who looked down on the affairs and people partaking in the affairs.