Shout for joy

I know Saltaire so well and yet I still find myself stopping in my tracks sometimes, as I notice something 'new'. On this occasion it was suddenly seeing the vibrant yellow leaves of a tree, standing out above the rooftops of the village. The tree must always be there but its bright autumn colour on an otherwise dull day made it stand out like a shout of joy.

A little exploration revealed the tree to be one of the few remaining tall trees in the village centre, tucked away in the garden of the old school building, now part of Shipley college.

The gardening village

There must be some keen gardeners living in Saltaire, despite the fact that most of the village houses have minute gardens. The community gardens initiative: 'Veg on the Edge' that was begun in 2014 (see HERE) seems to be going from strength to strength. As well as the original raised beds installed in the Caroline Street car park (above), they now have plots beside the railway station platform, in the Wash House garden, outside the college's Exhibition Building and at the bottom of Baker Street. Veg, fruit and herbs are grown by volunteers and the idea is that anyone can help themselves to a few bits, once the produce looks ready to harvest. I've never taken any... it seems all wrong to take advantage of someone else's hard work and, having no 'green fingers', I'm not going to get involved in the cultivation. But they seem keen to get people to use the stuff, as they had an article in the local magazine urging folks to make the most of it. 

There are allotments beside Salts Mill and in a large area at the back of the church, rented out to local people, and they seem well used and productive. There is also a thriving horticultural department at Shipley College. They have greenhouses in the college grounds and a large area of gardens on Caroline Street (below). At this time of year, with the beds dug over and still bare, it all looks neat and has an air of anticipation. (They seem to rip things up quite frequently. I suppose each cohort of students has to start from scratch.) Soon there'll be an explosion of growth as the weather warms up. 

Deeds or Words

I've mentioned before on this blog that it is 100 years this year since women, over 30 and who owned property, were granted the right to vote in parliamentary elections in Great Britain. (It wasn't until 1928 that women gained electoral equality.) There's been an interesting exhibition in Shipley College, showing letters, papers and ephemera recently acquired by the Saltaire Archive that had belonged to Isabel Salt. 

Isabel was the daughter of Titus Salt Jnr (and therefore granddaughter of Sir Titus Salt). She was well-educated, well-travelled and was a noted Suffragist. I had not fully appreciated that there were two strands in the battle for women's suffrage. There were the Suffragettes, women like Emmeline

Pankhurst, who engaged in direct action and civil disobedience in their fight for women's rights. There were also the Suffragists, women who campaigned and were vocal in their call for women's right to vote but who disagreed with the militant methods of the Suffragettes.

We're familiar with the purple, green and white colours of the Suffragettes. I hadn't realised that the Suffragists wore red, green and white. There were newspaper clippings in the archive that showed that Isabel, after speaking at a meeting, was described in a newspaper as a Suffragette and wrote a polite but robust denial, claiming herself to be a Suffragist. 

The exhibition was accompanied by a short, original drama, describing the various positions held by Thomas, a soldier (soldiers were not allowed to vote); Isabel Salt, a Suffragist; Maggie, Thomas's sister and a Suffragette; Rev. Oates, a man 'sitting on the fence'; and Mr Henry Beecher, a Conservative MP and prominently opposed to women's suffrage. I believe the actors were members of Bingley Little Theatre, though there didn't seem to be any note of their names anywhere. 

The displays at the exhibition included, with my permission, three of my photos (blushes...) that I took at the Women's March in May. (See HERE) So that was gratifying! 

Snowy Saltaire

More snow photos... but no apologies. It's not every year that we get so much down here in the bottom of the valley, though it didn't last more than half a day before it melted in the rain. So pretty though, and it completely transforms the familiar views around the village. Above is Albert Terrace, the cobbled street, brightened and lightened by the snow.

The corner of Amelia Street, where it joins Albert Terrace, has an even more timeless air in this weather. Amelia was Sir Titus Salt's eldest daughter, who acted as his personal secretary until she married in 1873.  

The lion statues all had a little covering of snow, making them stand out against the backdrop. The building above is the old school, now part of Shipley College.

Pear tree...

... minus partridge but you can't have everything. This caught my eye. It's only a young tree. In fact, I saw it being planted just a couple of years ago (see HERE) in the gardens belonging to Shipley College's horticultural department. It is now proudly displaying a very respectable crop of fruit. The golden pears really glowed in the sunshine amongst the leaves that are now turning a deep russet red. I've enhanced the effect a bit to bring out the richness of the colours.

But remember your Shakespeare:  'All that glisters is not gold.'

Saltaire's tunnels

Back when I first started this blog in 2009, I posted the photo on the right (see HERE for post) with the title 'Mystery...' The question concerned the green arched door and what it was for. The answer is that it is the entrance to a tunnel that goes under Victoria Road. It connects Salts Mill with the Dining Hall (seen above the door) that Sir Titus Salt had built so that his workers could get good meals.

The door has remained firmly closed for all these years, until this year's Saltaire Festival, which is on at the moment. The Festival always coincides with a weekend of Heritage Open Days across Britain, when interesting buildings that are normally closed to the public are opened for viewing. This year, for the first time, Saltaire History Society in collaboration with Shipley College, who now manage the Dining Hall building, opened the tunnel, together with another that runs between the college buildings higher up Victoria Road, so that people could see inside.

There was a huge amount of interest, so that the planned tours were all booked up by about 10.30am and lots of people were, I think, disappointed that they couldn't get in. I did manage to join the Dining Hall tour and it was very interesting, although I was disappointed to realise that the tunnel is now bricked up and access does not now extend all the way through to the Dining Hall building.

Trains, cars and hot dinners

I've shown variations of this picture before, but the scene still pleases me. It is a high viewpoint you can only get on the rare occasions that the top floor of Salts Mill is opened to the public. The grimy windows only add to its appeal, I think. The window overlooks Saltaire station; a train to Leeds is just drawing up to the platform. The building across the road is now part of Shipley College and was the Dining Hall in Victorian Saltaire, built to supply the mill workers with nutritious hot meals. There is a tunnel under the road, connecting the Mill to the Dining Hall.

I notice that part of Victoria Road has recently been marked out as bays for 'Car Club only'. I was not aware that there was a Car Club in the area, though they have been talking about it for years. For many years I didn't have a car and longed for the facility to be available locally, just for those occasions when I really needed a vehicle for a short time. Now I have a car... so I don't need the Car Club. Typical!

(Photo taken a few weeks ago before the trees started to look very autumnal.)

The Jonathan Silver Building

The new extension to Shipley College was opened in September last year by Mrs Maggie Silver. You may recall my posts about it before the work started (here) and as the build was in progress (here). It was designed by local architects Rance, Booth, Smith and incorporates modern eco-technology.  I can't say I'm hugely impressed with its appearance. There's nothing wrong with it and the colours vaguely marry into the surroundings but it isn't terribly exciting. Maybe it will look better when softened by some planting at the front. To the rear are some large, modern greenhouses, since the building caters for horticultural students and those with learning difficulties and disabilities.

It is, however, really good that it has been named after the late Jonathan Silver, one of the most influential men in the history of Saltaire after Sir Titus Salt himself. Jonathan was the entrepreneur who, aged 37, took the gamble to buy the closed and deteriorating Salts Mill in 1987, and transformed it into a successful retail, cultural and business hub. In doing so, he transformed Saltaire too. There is no other memorial to him in the area, although his widow, Maggie, donated a set of church bells to the United Reformed Church on the 150th anniversary of Sir Titus's birth, to replace those removed and made into ammunition during WW1.

Embellishments

You only have to look at this photo to realise how much money was spent and how much thought was expended in the original design of Saltaire. Taken from the rear of what was originally the Factory schools (now part of Shipley college), it shows - from left to right - the chimney of Salts Mill, now plain but originally crowned with an elaborate top, the school bell tower and the Saltaire Institute (now Victoria Hall) tower, interspersed with the ornate ventilation cowls that top the school building. Add to those edifices the distinctive rounded windows and the overhanging roof with its little stone props and you can see why the buildings are 'listed' and treasured as fine examples of Victorian design and craftsmanship.

Pip Hall

Saltaire Arts Trail 2015 - I had the privilege of watching Pip Hall at work, one of several artists and craftspeople giving demonstrations of their skill. I have long admired her carving and have visited some of the sites of the Stanza Stones, a project on which she collaborated with the poet Simon Armitage, hand- carving his poems into rocks on the high Pennine moorland watershed. (See left and link here.) I'm not sure exactly why I feel drawn to rock, but I do. I have a line of sea-smoothed pebbles along a shelf in my sitting room and I love them.
Pip teaches short workshops in basic technique - another thing I'd love to try!

Matchfit garden

Here's one of the gardens completed as part of the Matchfit competition - see yesterday.
Turf - check
Tree - check
Shaped and planted border - check
Surprise element - check. This one had a rather elegant dragonfly willow sculpture.

The other gardens looked pretty similar in design and execution, though some of the turf looked more expertly laid than others. The only difference was the surprise element - one had a piece of old tree root, one a plant pot spilling stones and I couldn't see what the fourth plot had... maybe they'd taken it away. Anyway, it seemed like a nice wholesome exercise and hopefully the four little trees will be allowed to remain there and grow.

Are you Matchfit?

I have often said there is rarely a dull moment in Saltaire and that was proven again the other day. I had to pop home at lunchtime to speak to my decorator. (Yes, I'm having lots of work done in the house. It will be nice when finished, though the mess on the way is testing.) I took the scenic route round through Salts Mill yard.  There were lots of people peering over the wall into the allotments and lots of flags too. Your roving reporter is always keen to find out what's going on so I asked someone with a clipboard, who looked as though he might know!

The answer was that this was a competition, under the banner 'Are you Matchfit?'  Shipley College was hosting the final of the Horticultural Skills element. Teams of students from various colleges' horticulture training departments were given a plot of land 4m x 3m and, in four hours, working to a drawing and specification, had to:
lay turf, plant a tree, cut and plant a border, choosing from an array of plants supplied - and add a surprise element of their own.

It was a beautiful day for it and they were all beavering away. I'll have to go back and take a photo of the finished results. (Hopefully they will leave them, at least for a while).

I have looked up the 'Matchfit Skills' website - and there are lots of similar vocational competitions being held throughout Yorkshire and Humberside in various disciplines: Business and IT; Construction; Cultural and Creative Arts; Engineering; Hair and Beauty; Health, Social and Child Care; Hospitality and Catering; Science; Sport and Public Services. They are aimed at inspiring and stretching the students studying vocational courses in our Further Education colleges. I'm sure these folk would be able to take pride in what they were achieving.

New build

Another controversial development is rapidly rising up in the centre of Saltaire. It is the extension to Shipley College, a purpose-built teaching block for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. At the moment it does seem a bit overwhelming. When the scaffold is down and the building rendered and finished it will, I'm sure, look good. I guess everyone will get used to it after a time. The village is not an historic monument to be preserved in aspic but a living and developing community. The College is a vital part of the equation and, occupying as it does some of the most significant of the historic Victorian buildings, it plays a crucial role in maintaining them in good order. Not to mention the value of people coming in everyday to study and work in the village. Nor its role in collecting, documenting, storing and displaying the important papers, photos and memorabilia that make up the Saltaire Archive.

Saltaire's hole

I mentioned not long ago (here) the plans to redevelop the gardens belonging to Shipley College, building a teaching block for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. Work has started on laying the foundations. It all looks horribly dark at the moment and huge too... hopefully it will look a lot better when it is finished. I am of the opinion that Saltaire, despite being a World Heritage Site, is also a living community that has to move with the times. Its founder didn't shirk from making dramatic statements. But it's sometimes difficult to see how to marry the new with the old successfully. I hope this development will succeed in that but I am not certain yet. I can't say I honestly have a lot of faith in our town planners when it comes to making sensitive decisions.

They are currently working on a grand 'management plan' for the World Heritage Site with some interesting ideas like opening one of the village houses as a tourist attraction, opening a 'Saltaire Interpretation Centre' in the Victoria Hall, creating an interactive history trial around the village and building a major new community arts 'hub'. The plan is for the next 30 years though - by which time I will almost certainly be past caring!

For or against?

Many Saltaire residents are dismayed and disgruntled at the local council's decision to allow Shipley College to demolish greenhouses in their horticultural studies garden to construct a new teaching block, specifically for students with learning difficulties and disabilities. The design has been modified after public consultation - an artist's impression of the building is here - but lots of people still aren't happy. This area is not actually part of the World Heritage Site (or Salt's original village), though where I was standing to take the photo is.

To the left of my photo is Salts Mill, some allotments and Caroline's (the local club, itself a bit of an eyesore, though serving a very worthwhile community purpose). There are concerns that the new build will spoil the views and will be too modern and not in keeping with its surroundings. The architects are a firm based within Saltaire and noted for contemporary eco-builds. They and the planners counter that an obviously modern building, built to sustainable principles, will be better than a 'pastiche' of the older buildings in the area, including the College's Exhibition Building shown in my photo.

The area it will be built on is currently a garden and rather pretty when you get inside it (see here and here) - but it is not open to the public (apart from at festival times as part of the Open Gardens days) nor even very visible, because of the high hedge.

An aerial view of the site (bottom left), taken from the top of Salts Mill chimney

I can see reason on both sides and I'm glad it's not me that has to make those kinds of decisions!

Festival gardens 6

Not normally open to the public, the garden around Shipley College's Exhibition Building is another of Saltaire's hidden secrets. As it is surrounded by a tall hedge, many people don't even realise it's there. (Although if you come to the village on a coach trip, as many people do, your coach would probably park in the adjacent road.  From the high vantage point of the bus window you would be able to peep in and see this little delight.) It is maintained by the college's horticultural students and its borders look attractive at this time of year, especially seen against the splendour of the Victoria Hall in the background.

Ice-cream colours

For some reason these trees make me think of ice-cream: pistachio and chocolate chip flavours! Aren't they glorious in their spring foliage?  They are growing in a corner of Shipley College gardens, tended by their horticultural students. The local Council have planted several young trees, of a variety similar to the bright green one, around the new(ish) children's playground a few streets away. I think they will look spectacular when they mature.

Eggstravaganza

Shipley College, based in Saltaire, offer a floristry course. I imagine it was their students who created this Easter/Spring inspired display in the window of the Old Dining Hall. I liked the way it linked with the reflection of the old lampost and the Salts Mill building across the road.

Cosy glow

From the steps of Saltaire's Victoria Hall, looking across Victoria Road towards the nicely symmetrical old Factory Schools (now part of Shipley College).

You get a sense from this photo of the glow at the heart of our village on a chill winter night. The public buildings have warm-toned floodlights illuminating the stone work. Along with the street-lighting, which is not too harsh and modern, it makes it all seem really cosy.

Ars Coelum Est

Anybody speak Latin?  I'm not exactly sure what this phrase means... Art is Heaven?  or Heaven is art, maybe? (You can tell I failed Latin O-level, can't you?) Anyhow, this is the motto that greets visitors and students entering the Exhibition Building in Saltaire. Named after the great Jubilee Exhibition that Titus Salt Jnr masterminded in Saltaire for Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee, the building was paid for from the proceeds, after it was decided that Saltaire needed an expansion of its educational facilities.  It still forms part of Shipley College and the large hall at its centre provides useful exhibition space even now, for various community and college events.  I think this mosaic floor will be original to the building, which was opened in 1887.