I ♥ Saltaire

Part of Salts Mill, reflected in the window of the Saltaire Dining Room opposite.  The Dining Room now belongs to Shipley College.  I think the heart-themed window display is the work of their design students.  (It seemed an appropriate motif to acknowledge Royal Wedding Day here).  For more information about the original use of the Dining Room, please see this earlier post.

This is my entry for Weekend Reflections, hosted by James at Newtown Area Photo. Please click here to see more reflection-themed photos from around the world.

Blue window reprise

I have posted this on my blog before, in the very early days, but it's one of my favourite photos of Saltaire URC.   The famous Victorian church is much photographed and it's hard to find a new angle on it.  Looking upwards above the entrance door, there is this little blue glass window and you can see some of the detail under the canopy, which has undergone extensive restoration since I took the photo.

Picture window

I regularly pass by this house in Saltaire.  It is now an office and they leave the lights on in just one room at night.  The room has a beautiful turquoise wall and the whole window glows a beautiful blue at night.  (The wall used to be an orangey-coral and that gave a lovely warm glow, but I do rather like the blue.)  I've faffed about with this photo a bit in Photoshop, just to make it a bit more arty.  I can't now remember every step I took but it included getting rid of some tree branches that overlapped the window and spoiled the symmetry, tweaking the hue and saturation a bit and adding a soupçon of poster edges.

One thing that T Becque and I seem to have in common is that we're drawn to windows and doors and generally to shapes in buildings.  She makes some wonderful images in her part of the world, Tucson, Arizona, including some great pictures with a Holga camera.  If you don't know her blog Thoughts in Images, go there now!!

Fifth Advent Window

"On the fifth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: Five go-old rings!"

Well... we won't tell them that the old traditional folk song refers to the twelve days after Christmas, from Christmas to Epiphany, not Advent.  Nevertheless, the fifth window that was unveiled in Saltaire's 'Living Advent Calendar' has this simple but attractive design of five gold rings, an angel and little sparkling white lights.  It is one of the few windows (in my opinion) that look equally attractive by day as by night.  It can be seen at 1 Lockwood Street. (Most of the streets in Saltaire are named after members of Sir Titus Salt's family, but Lockwood Street and its neighbour Mawson Street honour the architects who designed Saltaire in the 19th century.)

I may yet feature a few more of these decorated windows (though I need to get out and photograph some first - and it's really too cold at night to venture out with my precious camera).  If you want to see them all on one page, then do look at the dedicated webpage.

Lion window

Some of you want more of these 'Living Advent Calendar' windows!  Each year different people (to a large extent anyway) participate, which is why it's such fun hunting for the windows.  You never know where the next one will appear.

The window at 68 Victoria Road this year shows this striking portrait of one of the stone lions that sits just outside the Victoria Hall, guarding the centre of Saltaire.  There are four lions - and I think this is the one called 'Determination'.  I showed photos of all four of them in a post in the early days of my blog (see here).  I am amazed at the skill and imagination shown by those who decorate these windows.  I'd never have thought of doing that.

Window number 9

Another of Saltaire's 'Living Advent Calendar' windows, number 9, is at the Methodist Church.  It was designed and painted by members of Saltaire Methodist Art Group, a thriving group that meets on Wednesday mornings in the Methodist Church Hall.  You can't really tell from my photo, which was taken at night with the windows lit from within, but the side panels have little squares showing very intricate Celtic patterns.

Advent calendar

Five years ago, a couple living in Saltaire had the idea of getting people to work together to make a 'Living Advent Calendar' throughout the village.  The initiative proved very popular and has now become a tradition. (And isn't it good that new traditions continue to be invented?) So each year, 24 windows in 24 houses or businesses scattered around the village come to life with a festive scene.  One is 'opened' each day from 1st to 24th December.  There is a map but it's rather fun just to wander round the village and see how many you can spot.

I loved the one above, number 7 at 20 Jane Street.  It's a glorious blue and I liked the idea of a star and an angel hovering over Saltaire.  If you look carefully at the base of the window, you can see a silhouette of Salts Mill with its chimney and twin towers and, I think, the church on the right.

Windows

As I descended from Ilkley Moor back down into the town, I noticed the backs of these lovely old stone houses had a fascinating mixture of windows.   Given half a chance, I'd love to relocate to Ilkley - but property there commands a hefty price tag, especially these big Victorian and Edwardian properties on the edge of the Moor, which were built when the town was a popular spa.  At the end of this row is the house, now called Hillside, where Charles Darwin stayed in 1859, at the time of the publication of his book 'Origin of the Species'.

He wrote to his son William: "The House is at the foot of a rocky, turfy rather steep half-mountain. It would be nice with fine weather; but now looks dismal. There are nice excursions & fine walks for those that can walk. The Water Cure has done me much good; but I fell down on Sunday morning & sprained my ancle, & have not been able to walk since & this has greatly interfered with the treatment…".

Sunset reflected

Another lovely sunset, this time reflected in the windows of one of the big semi-detached houses on Albert Road, Saltaire.  These houses were completed in 1868 and marked the final phase of the building of Sir Titus Salt's model village.  At that time, this road was the western boundary of the village and enjoyed an open outlook over the fields.  Since then a newer estate has been built opposite so they don't enjoy such lovely views, but it's still a good place to see the sun set.  For more Weekend Reflections, courtesy of James at Newtown Area Photo, click here.

(How annoying - Blogger has bullied me into using the new post editor and I can now only get the font size bigger or smaller than the old post editor made it.  I don't like either.  I liked it how it was before! Boo!)
PS Thanks to all those who have given me helpful hints in comments and emails on altering the font size.  I have experimented as suggested and changing the size in Design 'advanced' does of course change the font size.  But there is still a difference in size between posts composed using the old post editor (yesterday) and those composed using the new one (today's) even though both were composed with the font set to 12px.  I am getting used to the difference - it's only my personal preference, and a bit of a perfectionist streak!!

Rooftops

This is the view from the window of the room in Shipley College where my Photography course was taught. (The course has ended now, sadly. I shall miss it, as I really enjoyed learning.) Shipley College - a Further Education College for adults - uses various buildings in Saltaire village, including the Exhibition Building and the old Dining Hall. My course took place in what used to be the village's Factory School. It is situated right in the village centre opposite the Victoria Hall, and this photo is looking north across the rooftops and down towards the United Reformed Church, whose tower you can see. The roofs may not have quite the beauty of those old red-tiled sun-baked houses you see across Europe - but the blue slate and honey-coloured local stone gives it all a certain charm. Wherever you stand in Saltaire, you can not only see buildings but also a swooping view up towards Shipley Glen and Baildon Moor. It's a refreshing reminder of why Sir Titus Salt chose this greenfield site outside the city, to build his mill and village.

Windows & taxes

The evening sunshine on the south face of Salts Mill, Saltaire makes the honey-coloured stone really glow.

If you look closely, on the left you can see some scaffolding - proof that maintenance work and development of the building continues even now. Keeping such a huge building in good order must be a never-ending task. I wonder if anyone has ever counted the number of windows it has? And who cleans them all?

Salts Mill was opened in 1853. Was it pure coincidence that the Window Tax in England was repealed in 1851? The Window Tax was introduced by William III in 1696 (apparently under the 'Act of Making Good the Deficiency of the Clipped Money' - which must be the most fun title for an Act of Parliament ever dreamed up!) It was charged according to the number of windows your house had. There are still properties in some areas where you can see the bricked-up windows that were a way of avoiding the tax. I don't think the tax was imposed upon buildings other than dwellings - but I suppose by 1853 windows would have become very desirable again. I think the real reason for all the windows in the Mill was that the worsted-making processes demanded very good light. The quality of the light is very noticeable inside the building.

And, whilst this has largely been an 'election-free' blog, today is Polling Day, when things in UK might change - for better or worse. Though as Alan said recently on his brilliant 'News from Nowhere': "plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose". Whoever leads the country, I reckon they might need another 'Act of Making Good the Deficiency of the Clipped Money'!

Stained glass

St Peter's Church, Shipley has several stained glass windows that I think are really beautiful. The 19th century in England saw a revival in the art of stained glass and by the time St Peter's Church was built there were many firms making richly coloured and highly decorative windows. Much of the fine detail - faces and pattern - is painted onto the glass. The window above is in the Hope Chapel (named after the first vicar of the church, Rev Frederick Beresford Hope) and depicts the Nativity scene, with the Wise men offering their gifts to the infant Jesus. There is also a large and splendid multi-panelled East Window showing Christ on the Cross, his Ascension to heaven and a centre panel of Christ the King (see yesterday's photo).

At the other end of the church are three smaller windows, one of which has two panels showing St Joseph and St Mary, Jesus' parents. Detail from the panels is shown below. St. Mary holds lilies, a symbol of purity and a flower often associated with the Virgin Mary and the Annunciation.


Don't they all have lovely faces? I haven't been able to find out who made the stained glass, but it seems that the windows were added to the church in stages, as people donated them in memory of loved ones. What a wonderful memorial to have.

Alhambra reflections

Almost next door to The Sir Titus Salt pub I featured yesterday, in the centre of Bradford, is what I consider to be one of the most interesting buildings in Bradford - The Alhambra Theatre. Built in 1914 at a cost of £20,000, the name comes from the Arabic "Kal-El-At-Ambra" meaning red-domed castle.

It was the brainchild of Francis Laidler, an impresario who became famous for producing pantomime. Conceived as a Variety Theatre, a 'Palace of Pleasure' for the whole family (moving on from the earlier, earthier Music Hall style of show) the Alhambra eventually became (still is) one of the premier venues for pantomime in the UK. (Pantomime is a particular form of musical comedy theatre with slapstick, audience participation, traditional storylines and a host of in-jokes and sexual innuendo. There is always a "dame" - a man dressed as a woman, and the "principal boy" is always an attractive young woman, playing the male romantic lead.)

The theatre was enlarged and restored in 1986 - one of the good decisions Bradford Council took, despite its reputation for razing Bradford's finest old buildings to the ground! It is now able to host the biggest shows, direct from London's West End. An evening at the Alhambra is always a treat; the inside of the building is magnificently restored and the auditorium itself is stunning. (Click on the Alhambra link above to see photos on its website.)

My photo shows the theatre reflected in the former city police HQ opposite - another building which will shortly be demolished, to make way for a new park and lake in the city centre (!).