Saltaire and Bradford City of Film included in unique UK UNESCO sites on new illustrated map

A new map, has been launched that includes all 58 UK UNESCO sites for the first time. Illustrated by artist Tom Woolley, who studied at the University of Bradford, the map aims to encourage people to discover new sites and destinations across the UK.

Ignite your summer adventures and discover Saltaire World Heritage Site and Bradford UNESCO City of Film, alongside 57 other unique UNESCO sites in the UK and crown dependencies thanks to a newly illustrated map, now available to download for free from the UK National Commission for UNESCO.

From expansive mountain ranges and stunning coastlines to vibrant cities and rural landscapes – the UK’s UNESCO sites are destinations of world-class natural and cultural heritage. For the first time a map, designed by the creative cartographer Tom Woolley, brings together all of the Biosphere Reserves, Creative Cities, Global Geoparks and World Heritage Sites across the British Isles that are waiting to be discovered.

Visitors to the UNESCO sites can immerse themselves in spectacular vistas, dive into literary or film heritage, scale mountains, uncover legends and folklore or find out about local heritage.

The new map, released online this week, includes 29 World Heritage Sites, 13 Creative Cities, nine Global Geoparks and seven Biosphere Reserves that cover 13% of the UK’s landmass. Most of the sites are free to enter and conveniently accessible by public transport offering the public new experiences to discover UNESCO sites in the UK and mark this summer with a visit to one of the world’s most special places.

Saltaire has lots to offer over the coming months including a week of fantastic arts and culture for Saltaire Festival 9-17 September, David Hockney’s longest work A Year in Normandy on display at Salts Mill, there will also be a series of Bandstand Concerts in Roberts Park, Saltaire Makers Fair, Wurlitzer performances, the Yorkshire Belly Dancing Festival and the ever popular Saltaire Living Advent Calendar which kicks off the Christmas season. Exciting developments for 2024 will see The Peace Museum, the only UK museum dedicated to the history and stories of peace, peacemakers and peace movements, moving in to Salts Mill.

Bradford UNESCO City of Film also has an exciting year to look forward to with the return of the fabulous Bradford Family Film Festival showing family friendly films live on the Big Screen in City Park every Wednesday throughout August and at locations across the Bradford district. Catch up on TV with films and television shows such as Malpractice (ITV), Better (BBC), Bank of Dave (Netflix), The Crown (Netflix) and Emmerdale (ITV) which have all featured scenes from the Bradford district.

Other shows coming up include, Neflix’s Bodies and the Amazon Prime feature film, Upgraded. To find out more about the district’s film heritage and what films and television shows have filmed across the Bradford district, visit www.bradfordfilmheritage.com. In September Bradford City Hall celebrates 150 years and it’s holding an Open Weekend on 9 and 10 September and people will be able to look round and see where scenes from Peaky Blinders, Emmerdale, The Duke, Official Secrets and Victoria among others were filmed.

James Bridge, Chief Executive and Secretary-General of the UK National Commission for UNESCO said: “This new UNESCO in the UK map will inspire people for places to visit. It shows at a glance the breadth of amazing natural, cultural and built heritage designated by UNESCO as internationally significant in the UK. This great map highlights places to explore, on your doorstep and further afield, both the famous and those to discover for the first time.”

Stuart McLeod, Director of England – London & South at The National Lottery Heritage Fund, said: “We are delighted to support this project which, thanks to money raised by National Lottery players, will help to inspire more people to visit the fantastic UNESCO sites across the UK. Heritage has a huge role to play in bringing people together and any way that we can enable and inspire this to happen is hugely positive.”

The map was produced by the UK National Commission for UNESCO as part of its Local to Global project, made possible with the GREAT Campaign and The National Lottery Heritage Fund, with thanks to National Lottery players. Local to Global aims to develop a resilient network for UNESCO Designated Sites in the UK.

The map can be downloaded from: https://unesco.org.uk/our-sites