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Tuesday 25 January 2011

Heritage Trail 21 - Victoria Road shops


'Continue along Victoria Road, past the row of shops, to complete your tour where it began...'  This is another little row of shops where it would be interesting to document the changing history. When the parade was first built around 1854, the shops would have been useful outlets like general grocers, greengrocers, butchers and bakers.  There is still a bakery but the rest are stores leaning more towards the 'luxury' and tourist trade than anything - ethical clothing, an oriental interiors shop and a jewellers among them.  If you want food and general goods then you have to trek up to Gordon Terrace or into Shipley, where a large Asda supermarket provides for most needs.  The newsagent (useful if you wanted a paper to read on the train) has recently become a hairdresser.   I thought the other day that ArtParade, the art gallery that is on the corner by the station, had closed down - it was emptied of goods, but someone told me they were just redecorating.  Magic Number 3 is emptyish too - hopefully also simply undergoing a revamp.  These are lovely shops. We need them. We need more (rich) tourists too!  Saltaire's parade also contains the bar 'Don't tell Titus..' which refers to the fact (as I have said several times before) that the village's founder Sir Titus Salt would not allow the sale of alcohol in Saltaire.  It was many years before the rule was relaxed.

[No 4 on the street plan]

14 comments:

  1. Sad to see that the decline in the local shop seems to have spread even to Saltaire. I seem to remember buying parkin at the bakers there.

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  2. I'm sometimes surprised by the kind of shops that can be found in such places.. Do you really need an oriental interiors shop?..
    I like very much that name, "Don't tell Titus"!Quite funny!

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  3. This is a fascinating walk you're taking us on. I've missed a few of your entries lately, but I really like the bw and seeing all the landmarks.
    There may be a chance that I could be in your area when I go to Europe, if that does happen I will absolutely let you know!

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  4. Either Saltaire spent a lot of money cleaning their stone frontages, or they never did get the northern black look so typical of many of the other industrial towns.

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  5. Hi Jenny! I've been out all day, so am reading this very much later than usual. How very clever of you to have named one of the shops, "@jennyfreckles2011" :) And, who knows, if you keep producing these wonderful images, you just might open your own gallery one day!

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  6. I see you have your own shop on Victoria Road! LOL. That's clever, and another beautiful photo.

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  7. Great timeless shot. Perfect in B&W

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  8. John - much of the stone has been cleaned of the industrial grime. Some of the houses still look pretty black but all the public buildings have been cleaned at some point in the past.

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  9. Yes, I'd love to check out the jennyfreckles shop!

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  10. I like your composition here, showing the buildings on a diagonal. And again, the B&W is perfect.

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  11. After I visit the bakery, I'm heading next door to the jennyfreckles shop for sure! ~Lili

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  12. I like the windows with the black trim, it really stands out. Nice shot!

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  13. It is a shame that the little grocery shops disappear, It looks a good site for boutique shops for tourists.

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  14. Hi Jenny! Missed your daily post, yesterday...hope everything is OK?

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