Bradford can breathe again!

American author Bill Bryson, who savaged the city in his book, Notes From a Small Island, has taken a kinder view in the TV adaptation which on Sunday visits Saltaire.

There had been fears that Bryson would take the same sort of scathing line that he adopted in his book, where he famously declared that: "Bradford's role in life is to make every place else in the world look better in comparison, and it does it very well."

He caused widespread upset when he added: "Nowhere on this trip would I see a city palpably more forlorn," and referred to "shop windows covered with tattered posters for pop concerts in other, more vibrant communities, like Huddersfield or Pudsey".

The writer has since softened his line, admitting on a later visit that it has "a lot of wonderful restaurants and pubs, little things I didn't appreciate when I lived here"- a reference to the years he spent in the Yorkshire Dales. He was back in the district last summer, filming in Saltaire for the adaptation of the book.

Viewers watching the results on ITV on Sunday at 7pm will see a respectful five-minute tour of the village which Bryson describes as "a model community, now a quiet suburb of Bradford". Accompanied by Clive Woods, chairman of Saltaire Village Society, he tours the streets, visits Victoria Hall and the United Reformed Church.

"It was a relief that the televised version doesn't have a quick and easy go at Bradford once again," said Bradford University's head of public relations Sue Coffey, founder of the Bradford PR Group which works to promote the district's achievements.

After seeing a preview, she said: "He has been back here since he wrote Notes and has admitted that things have improved dramatically."

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