Bird's eye view

There are a few points around the Aire valley where you can get a good view down onto Saltaire - especially in winter when the trees are bare.  This is taken from the aptly named High Bank Lane.  The landmarks, from left to right, are: the tower of Saltaire URC, St Peter's Church, the Italianate tower of Saltaire's New Mill and the long bulk of Salts Mill with its chimney to the right.  You get a good impression of the size of Salts Mill, compared with other things around.  High up on the far hillside you can see the village of Baildon.

A bridge too far

I was thinking that I've never added a picture to Louis la Vache's 'Sunday Bridges' before - and then thinking that's probably because I don't have that many pictures of bridges - and then thinking that's probably because there aren't many bridges round here... and those that exist are singularly boring and uninspiring.  This footbridge in itself is nothing much.  Kind of standard issue "we need a cheap, functional way of getting from one side of this river/canal/road/ravine to the other" stuff.  There are no doubt many others constructed to an identical design, all over the UK.  This one is called Buck Mill Bridge, crossing the River Aire near Tong Park, Baildon on the path to Buck Woods.  What I did like about it this particular day was the shadows and the way it seems to go on forever.  An 'Alice in Wonderland' kind of bridge!

To see more bridges from around the world, please click here.

Pot-pourri

This small border is a riot of colourful summer flowers. I came across it near Midgley Farm on Thomson's Lane, on the way to a little hamlet called Baildon Green. This area has several old buildings dating back to the 17th century, that were once farms and handloom weavers' cottages. In the 19th century the area had a small textile mill (Clough's) and stone quarries. Some of the land was eventually bought by Sir Titus Salt. After he built Salts Mill and started to build Saltaire around the mill, he continued to acquire large tracts of land in the locality. One of his sons, Edward, had a big house, Ferniehurst, further along the road, which is now demolished.

(I thought the flowers might cheer us up after England's World Cup disaster yesterday! I'm supporting Ghana now - I got that team in our office draw!)

St James' Church, Baildon

I left the canal towpath at Buck Hill and walked down the hillside, across the River Aire by a footbridge and up the other side of the valley into Baildon. St James' Church is on the edge of the sprawling housing development that is Baildon these days. The attractive little church has an interesting history....

It was built in 1892 in Great Warley, Essex by the rector, the Rev Bailey, at his own expense. When he retired, he arranged to have it moved to his birthplace of Baildon - but sadly did not live to see it erected there in 1905. The church is linked to the Parish Church of St John the Evangelist in Baildon. It is a wooden building with a pantiled roof and, over time, the wood began to deteriorate. The only way the congregation could afford its thorough restoration (it is a Grade II listed building) was to move it again, to a corner of the ground it originally occupied and sell off some of the land for housing. It has been restored using long-lasting cedar wood (no moths in there then!), improved and brightened inside, with a new floor and eco-friendly heating. It now sits in an attractive 'Biblical' garden.

During the dismantling and restoration process, Denso Marston Ltd (whose factory, making cooling systems for cars and trucks, is across the road) once again came to the rescue (see Monday's post) and allowed the congregation to worship in their boardroom. Hooray for a community-minded company!

For further information on the church's history, and on other historic buildings in Baildon, see this link.

Saltaire winter scene

(This picture is definitely better viewed large.)

Although I like to get the best possible photograph in camera, I still enjoy seeing what I can do on the computer. There's photography and then there's Photoshop - almost like two separate hobbbies. In this case I thought a bit of artistic treatment (on what was originally rather a dull photo) might be fun. The result is not a very natural picture but I quite like it nevertheless. It would be improved with a bit more foreground interest, but there was nothing around. The horse was more interested in the hay over the far side of the field than in providing me with some subject matter.

It's taken from the bridge over the railway line, looking east towards Saltaire which can be seen on the right. The snow-covered canal winds its way through the middle and, to the left of that, you can see the white cricket pavilion belonging to Salts Sports Club. The village in the background is Baildon.