Vicky Hall

I haven't shown a photo of this place very recently. It is of course the Victoria Hall (affectionately known locally as Vicky Hall) in the centre of Saltaire. Formerly known as the Saltaire Club and Institute, it was opened in 1871. Like so much of Saltaire, it was designed by architects Lockwood and Mawson. Sited opposite the Factory Schools (see HERE) these public buildings and their landscaped gardens make an imposing centrepiece for the village. Sir Titus Salt, the mill owner and village founder, was keen for children to be educated and also wanted to provide a place for recreation, culture and learning for adults. It held a reading room, library, laboratory, chess and draughts room, smoking room, billiard room, a lecture hall seating 800, classrooms, a gym and a rifle drill-room. It is still a focal point for activities, exhibitions, classes and celebrations.

Of course, it is currently closed due to the coronavirus outbreak. I've no idea when it will reopen. It all feels a bit desolate but at least the floodlights still come on at night, showing what a significant building it is.

We're going on a Saltaire hunt (2)

At the cross roads in the centre of Saltaire (see yesterday), if you turn up the hill along Victoria Road you quickly arrive at the imposing bulk of Victoria Hall, opened in 1871 as the Saltaire Club and Institute. It was provided by Sir Titus Salt as a place of recreation and education for his mill workers. It housed a reading room, a library, laboratory, chess and draughts rooms, a smoking room, a billiard hall, a lecture hall seating 800, classrooms, a gym and a rifle drill-room. Even today, it functions as a social hub for the village with space for events and exhibitions, concerts, meetings and weddings. Since the large trees on Victoria Road were felled, you can appreciate the building as Salt intended, as a centrepiece of his model village. It has a small garden in front and the square made by the Hall and the Schools opposite is guarded by our four famous stone lions. You can see 'Peace' silhouetted in my photo. 

If you turn down the hill from the cross roads, along Victoria Road towards the railway station, you pass the shops shown yesterday. Opposite them, there is a view of the south elevation of Salts Mill, its chimney prominent beyond the allotments that border the railway line. As the trees grow bigger, it gets harder to see the mill. 

Saltaire lights up

The Saltaire Christmas lights were switched on at the beginning of December but I wasn't able to go to the event and have only recently found time to go out after dark to see them. There aren't many; just a tree in front of the Victoria Hall and some small trees on the shops up on Gordon Terrace. Quite tasteful though. We don't like too much bling around here! The floodlights are always lit at night, to show off the wonderful architecture and our four lions. 'Peace' looks very peaceful lying beside the Christmas tree. The tree must be 15 feet high but it seems dwarfed by the huge bulk of the Hall. 

Reverse photo-bombing

We're all familiar with 'photo-bombing', when an unexpected/unwanted person or animal sneeks into your shot... I wonder if there is a reverse equivalent, when an unexpected (possibly unwanted) photographer sneeks into your photoshoot? That's what I did the other day, on my way into the annual Peace and Crafts Fair in the Victoria Hall.

Father Christmas is often to be found hanging around at the event. I think he must pick up a few stocking fillers there. As I walked past, a group of friends had invited him to feature in their photo. It seemed a good opportunity to take a quick snap myself! He seems to have suffered, like all of us, from a little austerity over the past year - beard and fur not nearly as luxuriant as last year and he himself looks even leaner (compare HERE).

It's all a bit of fun at this time of year. The Peace and Crafts Fair is indeed a good place to stock up on cards and gifts, ready for the festive season, often supporting charities in the process.

Festival Sunday

Saltaire Festival 2019
In contrast to the sunny Saturday, the first Sunday of Saltaire Festival was dull, overcast and rather chilly. I was free to wander and take photos though, as I'd delivered my grandchildren safely back to their parents, so I explored quite a few of the Open Gardens. I was also able to see some of the choirs taking part in Saltaire Sings. Community choirs seem to be a growing trend and we now have the Great Yorkshire Chorus, launched about a year ago in Saltaire. They are fairly easy to spot in their colourful bright purple and orange tops. Being so deaf, I can't really tell good music from bad but they had drawn a good crowd outside the Victoria Hall. It's a large choir too, obviously attracting people to join, so I presume they are pretty good at what they do.

Lights, camera (little one), action...

It's nearly Christmas! Saltaire's festive tree is up and lit (although actually it has been there since December 2nd. I'm a bit late in photographing it this year. My little Panasonic camera was just about up to the job.) It's a good big tree, though it looks tiny set against the huge facade of the Victoria Hall behind it. Nicely lit too. Well done to the Saltaire Village Society, who mastermind it.

Christmas shopping?

I had to move fast to catch him, and it's only a phone pic, but look who was at the Peace and Crafts Fair at Saltaire's Victoria Hall. (Clue: It's not Sir Titus Salt, despite the luxuriant beard.) Do you think he was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping?

War and Peace

War and Peace - not Tolstoy or even Trump v Kim Jong-un. This is War and Peace, Saltaire style. I've shown photos of Saltaire's stone lions before, but not recently, so I thought I'd say hello to them again. They are looking rather smarter since the big trees were felled. The greenish tinge from lichen has all but disappeared. Peace (below) is my favourite. He looks so... well... peaceful. War, in contrast, has a lean and hungry look. They flank the Victoria Hall and opposite, on either side of the old school building, are two more: Vigilance and Determination. 

The sculptor was Thomas Milnes, of London. It is said that they were made for the base of Nelson's Column in Trafalgar Square but then that commission was awarded to Landseer. These four sandstone lions were left languishing in the sculptor's studio and were snapped up in 1869 by Sir Titus Salt, who wanted them as a centrepiece for his new village of Saltaire. 

Saltaire's Victoria Hall

As the Christmas season slips away, here is one last look at this year's Christmas tree outside the Victoria Hall. I think they did a good job with it this year and the way it reflects in the Hall's windows provides an added bonus. It really is a magnificent building, isn't it? Wandering Saltaire's streets at night, looking at all the Advent windows, made me realise afresh just how lucky I am to live here.

Bright lights in Saltaire

The traditional Christmas tree outside Saltaire's Victoria Hall looks much better this year, as it's absolutely covered in lights. They've been a bit sparse in previous years but I think I read that this year someone has sponsored it in order to provide more. It's quite a big tree but still dwarfed by the huge bulk of the building. I wasn't able to go to the 'grand switching-on' event, so no pictures from that, I'm afraid. It was on a Sunday evening and I had to be at the evening service at church.

Jeremy Corbyn

I've always voted Labour and briefly held membership of the Labour party back in the Blair years, resigning over the Iraq war. I rejoined the party some months ago, since I felt they had put together a manifesto for the last election that I could really support. I was nevertheless a little surprised to receive an invitation from the local Labour group, on Tuesday, to apply for one of 100 seats available at a meeting locally, where Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, would be speaking. I was even more surprised on Wednesday to discover I had been allotted one of the tickets for the meeting - on Thursday at the Victoria Hall in Saltaire! It was all rather hush-hush; I suppose they didn't want vast and unmanageable crowds to turn up. 

I duly went along. He arrived a bit late (he'd been visiting a care facility) and it felt a little like waiting for a rock star to turn up! Palpable excitement in the room. It was pleasing to see the huge mix of people gathered: all ages and ethnic groups, students, business people in suits, ordinary blokes in jeans and trainers, techie types, young mums and a fair sprinkling of retired folk (the full spectrum... ageing hippies, purple-haired sirens, grey perms and M&S grandmas like me!) How's that for a list of stereotypes !?  but what I really mean is that it wasn't a stereotypical gathering.

Mr Corbyn spoke well and clearly, without notes, for maybe 30 minutes. He talked about the Labour party's history and core values, the development of the current manifesto, the enormous recent growth of the party (now over 500,000 members) and its wide spread of supporters, and about some of the key policy areas in the manifesto. He was serious, though with a twinkle of humour. There was a quiet authority and confidence in what he said, though he was very 'ordinary' and apparently quite relaxed, accepting being the centre of attention but not playing that up. He seemed (to me anyway) very genuine, very sincere and very well-informed. When he talks - about poverty, housing, families struggling with dementia, students, the environment - you can sense that his opinions and views are formed by really hearing people, by being genuinely in touch with the reality of ordinary people's day-to-day lives. He's been a constituency MP since 1983. That doesn't always guarantee that one's feet remain on the ground, but in his case I sense he is a real listener and learner. I heard vision and passion in what he said but sensible pragmatism too. 

There was some enthusiastic applause. I actually found myself, several times, saying 'yes' out loud, so heartily did I agree with what he said. There was no time for questions from the floor, which was perhaps a shame (though so often people's 'questions' are actually statements of opinion and so maybe it was sensible to avoid opening things up in that way, in a packed schedule). At the end though, he avoided a standing ovation (which I'm sure would have been forthcoming) by inviting people to come and speak to him and people surged round, asking for 'selfies' and the odd autograph. He seemed mildly amused by it all, very gracious and generous. I think my photos show that what he was doing, as people crowded round, was listening. He has that knack, I think, of making ordinary people feel like they are important and valued. 

I think I can say I was something of a fan before though I don't tend to have 'heroes'. Seeing him and hearing him speak live, I am now sure that 'what you see' with him really is 'what you get'. If he became our Prime Minister (and I sincerely hope he gets the chance), I think there'd be a radical shift in tone coming out of government, as well as direction. It remains to be seen if he could retain his calm rootedness, under pressure in office. I hope he could. I hope he can continue to seek the collaborative, consensual, informed approach (nationally and internationally) that he seems to believe in. I've never understood why governments ask for advice (from experts and end-users) and then so often seem to ignore it. I don't believe he is 'the messiah'. (Nor does he! He stressed many times that it is all about a grassroots movement, a collaboration, a pooling of ideas.) I know there'd be areas of conflict, as there are in all parties. Perhaps he has things to learn when it comes to effectively managing his team.  But I long to see the policies he espouses given a chance to work, and I long to see a more respectful and caring attitude coming down from the top in our society. It will, I accept, take a long while to really turn the country around. I hope we can. I will work towards that, even if that only means going out shoving leaflets through letter boxes. 

As I say, it was a privilege to experience this and I am thankful. 

(All iPhone photos) 

If you want to comment, please make your comments respectful. I shall delete any that are rude or inflammatory. 

Drama

From this angle, the Victoria Hall does look a bit 'naked' since they felled the large trees that stood nearby. The lion sculptures, however, are easier to appreciate and you can see, too, the glory of Hope Hill in the distance above the house roofs. You also see a lot more sky - not a bad thing when it is as dramatic as this one was. A huge hailstorm had just passed over.

It's black over Bill's mother's

'It's black over Bill's mother's'' is a phrase you'll probably only understand if you're from the North of England or the Midlands. It's what people say when there are storm clouds visible on the horizon. The origin of the phrase appears to be doubtful. Some say it refers to William Shakespeare, others to Kaiser Wilhelm II, the last German emperor, whose character and foreign policy was changeable and blustering. Others say it has more local origins. But whatever the truth of the phrase, it is often apt round here!

Saltaire's houses are dwarfed by the huge bulk of the Victoria Hall which extends back in a T-shape behind its tower.

A load of cobble(r)s

I noticed that they have closed Victoria Road in Saltaire to through traffic and dug up the tarmac and I wondered why. Walking down the road the other day, the mystery was solved. They are reinstating the cobbles in front of the Victoria Hall. (Actually the oblong stone blocks are called setts; cobbles are, strictly speaking, round pebbles.) I'm not sure why, except that I assume it is part of the overall refurbishment plan that saw many of the trees felled, new streetlights erected and so on.

The road would originally have been paved with setts, as all Saltaire's streets were. The only bits that remain are the famous length of Albert Terrace and a short stretch outside the Saltaire Dining Hall, by Salts Mill. I imagine reinstating this area outside the Victoria Hall is partly for aesthetic reasons, since this is fundamentally the heart of the village, and partly as a traffic-calming measure. It is uncomfortable to speed over cobbled roads. They are hard to walk on too, and dragging a suitcase becomes a chore! Luckily it is not on my route from home to the rail station, though part of Albert Terrace is.

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.

Magic beans

Conversazione 4: For the price of a few magic beans (£1 a bag!) you could buy yourself a story from a red-hatted storyteller, assuming you could find one in the warren of rooms that make up the Victoria Hall. I was lucky enough to discover them all in one place, having a photo taken in the lobby, so they gave me their best smiles. The storytelling activity was inspired by Settle Stories, a charity set up in the Dales 'to promote the power of storytelling for individuals, communities and organisations'. It is a wonderful way to preserve our oral history, helping people learn through diverse stories originating from individuals and different groups in our communities but often containing universal truths.

3D printing

Conversazione 2: One of the most enthralling exhibits in the Saltaire Conversazione was this 'Maker Bot' - a 3D printing machine. I have, of course, heard about these but it's the first time I have ever seen one. It melts plastic and then extrudes it through a print head as a very fine thread, which it then builds up, layer upon layer, into an object. In this case it was making a nut and bolt, which fitted together perfectly and could easily be screwed and unscrewed. There were also little chains and a circular 'bracelet' that it had made. What surprised me was the intricacy of the layered plastic; it actually looked quite attractive with a sort of textured surface. Of course, these things are as yet in their infancy but I can imagine this may in future be as commonplace as all our other gadgets. The possibilities seem quite exciting.

It left me reflecting how the changes seen by, for example, my grandparents are matched if not surpassed by the developments I have seen in my lifetime. I can vividly recall my father (who was a telephone engineer) talking about the far-off future when we might be able to see each other as well as talk to one another on the phone. Fast-forward relatively few years really and I regularly have 'Facetime' calls with my daughter and granddaughters. Frankly, it still amazes me that I can also see, almost instantly, photos and videos of what they are doing at that moment hundreds of miles away.

Perhaps THE most astonishing photo (and I am sure my grandmother would sit up in her grave if she knew!) was the one I received last year from my daughter showing her 20 week scan. Imagine that... a photo of a tiny foetus (upturned nose and miniature hand, waving and readily visible) still well tucked up inside her mum, in a hospital in London, beamed direct to Gran in Yorkshire within minutes! I still can't quite grasp that, it seems little short of miraculous.

Victoria Hall

This is a picture that I couldn't have taken a few weeks ago. It's Saltaire's Victoria Hall from the north-west. Previously it was pretty much obstructed from view by huge horse chestnut and copper beech trees, planted in the 1950s. The original design for this part of the village was very much that it would be a spacious central area, a focal point, with the Victoria Hall (then the Saltaire Club and Institute) on one side and the school opposite. The trees were added later and became very large. Some felt they added beauty and softened the architecture but the Council eventually decided they were too big and were becoming a nuisance so there has been an extensive and controversial tree felling operation in recent months. Though it's perhaps a pity they took the smaller trees as well as the horse chestnuts. I rather liked the pink blossom (see here).

Lopped

The tree-loppers (see here) are working their way down Victoria Road like a creeping plague. Outside the Victoria Hall, 'War' the lion's sunshade of leafy branches has been removed. The tree trunk will be felled in due course (if it hasn't been already), the pavement repaired and the lion will have to start wearing sunscreen.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

... in Saltaire. One of the resident lions (aptly, the one named 'Peace') lies quietly in front of the Christmas tree outside the Victoria Hall.