Saltaire Festival 2019
Many of Saltaire's houses don't have front gardens but Viv's is one of the larger houses on Albert Road, built, they say, for the more significant members of Victorian Saltaire's community: senior managers at the Mill, teachers, accountants and lawyers.
Someone had decided to sit and rest on their bench... It would be too impolite to call this lady a scarecrow. She was beautifully made with felted wool features. (Great hair!) There were some baby succulents for sale too, so sweet, and a selection of tiny, colourful, crocheted hanging baskets. And, yes, more blue and white pottery and pretty fabrics.
Also on display was this pair of worn leather clogs, with heavy wooden soles, that were traditionally worn by mill workers. This pair had rubber soles over the wood. They found them under the floorboards of their house, so it is possible they belonged to a previous occupant of the house who worked at Salts Mill. If only objects could talk, what stories they'd tell!
In East Anglia shoes have frequently been discovered hidden in old buildings. Nobody really knows why, but most historians think they were supposed to bring good luck or else protect against witchcraft. I don't know how widespread this custom is.
ReplyDeleteThe old shoes are quite a sight to see.
ReplyDeleteBoatmens clogs had a metal rail which was nailed all around beneath the wooden sole. The reason is that wet rubber as shown would have been too slippery on the barges wooden planked decks. The sole rails certainly made a clatter on the cobbled streets!
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