Heritage Trail 7 - Saltaire's Mills

'Look towards the mill chimneys - can you feel a breeze behind you?'  (Hope you're well wrapped up on this wintery walk!)  Sir Titus Salt deliberately built his mills on the eastern side of the village.  He was concerned about the harmful effects of smoke produced by factories and located his mills where the prevailing westerly wind would blow the smoke away from the village. (I know this first-hand - my workplace is directly east of the mills and sometimes the wind funnelled along the valley is so fierce that you can barely stand up.)

Salts Mill is on the right of the photo (its huge chimney is hidden) and the building on the left is the New Mill, built a few years later, with its ornate Italianate chimney.  The Victoria Road bridge goes over the canal and at one time went straight over the river into the park.  Since the river bridge was demolished, the road ends rather abruptly in the wall you can see. (The old film clip I mentioned yesterday has footage of people walking across the original bridge, with the mills in the background - at 2.34 in the film.)

I took all these photos on such a dull winter day - they're not the best in that sense but, in a way, I like the dark feel.  And I am really enjoying showing you round my hometown.  Some of you have commented that you are beginning to recognise parts and 'know where you are'.   That really pleases me - and I hope it doesn't make my blog boring.  There are only so many photos you can take in a square mile or so, but I keep endeavouring to find new angles.

[On the street plan the photo is taken from near the green man. The New Mill is No 16 and Salts Mill is No 1]

Skywatch - Mackerel sky

The striking chimney of Saltaire's New Mill (see also yesterday's photo) and one of the old lamp-posts (once gas, now electric) outlined against a 'mackerel sky'.  These clouds, properly termed altocumulus or cirrocumulus, are known as a mackerel sky as they resemble the scales of the fish. There is much folklore attached to them, rooted in fact, as they often herald a bout of wet weather on the way in 6 or 8 hours.  I have a particular fondness for them.  My old geography teacher - an inspirational man - once enthusiastically dragged me outside on the way out of the school morning assembly to show me just such a sky and teach me about it.  I've never forgotten that special little lesson.

"Mackerel sky - never long wet, never long dry."

This is a Skywatch Friday entry - for more please click the link.

The New Mill

Another view of one of Saltaire's major buildings, the New Mill - framed by the trees and flowerbeds of Roberts Park.  Completed in 1868, on the other side of the canal from the original Salts Mill, it was built to increase the wool spinning capacity at a time when the business was expanding. This block is now used as administrative offices for the NHS (Health Service). The site was developed further in 1907-09 when another five storey mill was erected behind this one.

Sir Titus Salt again commissioned Lockwood and Mawson, the architects behind the rest of Saltaire, who continued with the then-fashionable Italianate style evident in the rest of the village.  Sir T insisted that the building should be worthy of its prominent position beside the main throughfare, Victoria Road, and opposite Saltaire's beautiful church.  The chimney is particularly memorable, being modelled on the campanile of the church of Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari in Venice.

(For different views of the building, please click the New Mill label.)

Jerusalem

This is another view that I see as I walk to work. It's the chimney of Victoria Mills, once a textile mill, recently converted into apartments. It's half a mile along the Aire valley from Salts Mill and was built about 20 years later, in the 1870s, by Henry Mason. It wasn't nearly as big as Salts Mill but in its heyday it was still one of the 'big four' significant mills in Bradford in terms of manufacturing worsted cloth. It does, however, retain one feature that Salts has lost - the ornate top of the chimney stack.

I love the juxtaposition of the old industrial buildings against the soft green backdrop of Baildon Moor - so typical of West Yorkshire as a whole, where the mills nestle in the valley bottoms and the fields and moors soar over them.... immortalised of course in William Blake's famous poem, now the epic anthem "Jerusalem".

And did those feet in ancient time walk upon England's mountains green? And was the holy Lamb of God on England's pleasant pastures seen? And did the Countenance Divine shine forth upon our clouded hills? And was Jerusalem builded here, among these dark Satanic Mills?

(This quotation once memorably won a newspaper competition - "Questions to which the answer is NO"!)

Berry red

Maybe it's just my imagination but there seem to be even more Rowan berries than usual on the trees this year - and so bright. I've said before that the Rowan or Mountain Ash is one of my favourite trees (such good value - white blossom, red berries, super autumn leaf colours). I'm lucky to pass several on my usual walk to work and the combination of red and green with a blue sky never fails to cheer me. This view is looking back towards Salts Mill and Saltaire, more or less along the line of the railway from Shipley. Is it any wonder that I dawdle and stop to take photos.... luckily, we work flexi-time so I can't be late!

Coming up roses

This is a variation on one of the most iconic images of Saltaire - the vast south face of Salts Mill, with its 150ft high chimney and decorative twin lantern towers. The railway line runs alongside. (You can just make out one of the overhead gantrys for the power cables). The newly-built Victorian railway was of course one of the reasons Titus Salt built the Mill in this position. He purchased the land in 1850. By 1853 the huge mill was up and running, bringing together on one site all the processes involved in turning raw wool into fine worsted cloth. (To find out what they are, please look at my posts for March 7th -16th 2010).

By the side of the railway line, there are areas of allotment gardens. Because Saltaire's village houses only have tiny gardens, quite a lot of space in the village was eventually given over to allotments in order that residents could grow their own veg and fruit - an activity once again becoming very trendy! At this time of year the shrubs and rose bushes provide a pretty frame for the Mill. I have noticed that the roses habitually have their 'faces' turned towards the Mill, as if themselves enjoying the view.

By the way, I have heard that, owing to staffing constraints at Shipley College, the Saltaire Archive will NOT now be open to the public in August this year. (Boo!)

Shipley Wharf

Another view of Shipley Wharf, which is along the Leeds-Liverpool Canal about half a mile east of Saltaire. You can see Salts Mill chimney in the distance - the one at the far right side.

Shipley Wharf is home to Apollo Canal Cruises and Dream Achievers, who run pleasure cruises along the canal, so there are always several boats moored here. "The Cut Waterside Restaurant" is tucked in behind the boats - you can dine at tables on a covered terrace, with a pretty view of the canal. I've never tried it but it has some recent very good reviews. (Its own website currently seems to be undergoing a remake and is unavailable.)

Landmark

Such a beautiful summer morning in Saltaire yesterday... I started taking photos on my way to work and didn't want to stop and go inside! The light had that limpid quality that I remember from holidays in hotter climes, and the gentle warmth of the morning promised a wonderful day to come - and it didn't disappoint. The air was particularly clear and I liked the early sunshine on Salts Mill chimney. It really is a landmark, standing like a sentinel, watching over the village and mill. It's a shame that its ornate top piece had to be demolished some time ago, as it was unsafe. The verdant trees make this plain little alleyway look like a country lane.

History in stone

Salts Mill Chimney, Saltaire

I'm having to do a portfolio of twelve photographs for my Photography coursework, demonstrating some of the Photoshop techniques we've been learning. I started this particular project with a very unpromising picture of Salts Mill chimney, taken with my compact camera, set - for some unaccountable reason - with the white balance to tungsten... I'm not the most technically minded person! Anyway, after much playing I ended up with this, which I do quite like. I'm not generally a fan of heavily doctored images but on occasion they can 'tell a story'. I think the backdrop of stone here and the sepia toning allude to Saltaire's history and character.

For more conventional photos of the chimney, see here and here.

Snowdrops

Phew, after all that history and industry, let's escape outside. Despite it being the middle of March, however, this hardly qualifies as a 'Springtime in Saltaire' scene. The sun has little warmth as yet and the trees are not yet properly in bud. But the snowdrops are an early herald, promising better things to come. The main advantage of winter is that you see far more through the leafless trees. I think this is an attractive vista. I was standing in the grounds of Saltaire United Reformed Church, looking down to the canal and across to the New Mill with its ornate chimney. The building you see behind the tree's trunk is the back of the Stables, which is now a private residence.

Sepia Skyline

The different heights of the roofs and the ornate chimney stacks of many of the properties in Saltaire make an interesting skyline. This shows the roofline of the shops on Victoria Road, more or less opposite Salts Mill itself. The shop with the rounded corner is ArtParade - see my post of 16 September for a full view of the frontage.

I pay homage to Sepia Saturday - but this doesn't count, as it's not an old photograph. I thought it deserved a sepia tone, nevertheless - and I don't think the view has changed much in 150 years!

PS Alan reckons it counts, so I'm in. Do pop over to the Sepia Saturday blog and have a look at the others.

Winter morning sun on Salts Mill

Am idly wondering what it would be like to live in a part of the world where every day it's the same weather and temperature. I wonder if I'd like it less or more than waking up everyday guessing if it's going to be wet or dry, mild or chilly?

Yesterday was a chilly but bright one, making a change from the grey, damp mist. At this time of year, when the sun is rising, it strikes Salts Mill and makes the stone look almost rose-coloured. This is the view from the railway bridge on my walk to work - I count myself fortunate!