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.

Vigilance at dusk

I happened to be walking through the centre of Saltaire at dusk when the sky was still quite light and the floodlights that illuminate the main historic buildings had come on. It all looked rather nice. The lion, Vigilance, still does guard duty, though his name has almost worn off his plinth. The building was originally Saltaire's Factory Schools, opened in 1868 to comply with the 1844 Factory Act that required child workers to be educated for three hours a day as well as working in the mill for 6.5 hours (!)  Children had formerly been taught in the mill's Dining Hall. There was one school for boys and one for girls, in the same building and they took 750 pupils. They had advanced facilities for the time,  including central heating, gas lighting and playgrounds at the rear.  It is now part of Shipley College.

No 11 Victoria Road

I pass this doorway at the corner of Victoria Road and Caroline Street several times a week and one day - as sometimes happens - the way the light was catching it gave it a whole new beauty. The coloured glass panels positively glowed and I noticed the Victoria Hall's tower reflected in the central window.

The building is now part of the offices of chartered architects Rance Booth and Smith, who have restored and imaginatively reinstated aspects of the original building to provide office space that is both contemporary and historical.

When it was first opened in the late 1850s, the corner shop was a grocer's, before becoming a specialist bakery in the early 1900s. By 1937, trading as H W Ready, it was apparently 'the place to go' for catering for weddings and funerals. By the 1960s, as new, more modern shops opened in Shipley and the mill contracted, demands changed. There were at that time three bakeries in Saltaire in close proximity. No 11 had a change of use and became a furniture shop, then a TV repair shop, later a wool shop and then a seller of artificial flowers. Rance Booth and Smith took over in 1989.  It would be interesting, I so often think, if walls could talk. What stories these old buildings would tell.

Hope - far and near

Mid-morning on a Monday, a fabulous day with blue skies, warm sunshine and hardly a breeze but the pandemic lockdown meant there were few cars or people in the village centre. I was able to stand (without fear of getting run over) in the middle of Victoria Road to take the photo above. With the shops on the left (all closed), Salts Mill to the right (also closed), the railway station down to the left (trains running but fewer of them and hardly any commuters), local schools and Shipley College (closed, so no students about), I have never known it so quiet.

My eyes are always drawn to the hill across the valley. It's called Hope Hill, which I love as it reminds me of Psalm 121: 'I will lift up my eyes to the hills. Where does my hope come from?' I wonder who named it and how many other people, trekking to work in the Mill perhaps, have also found strength and encouragement from this view?

You can barely make it out in the top photo but there is a farm right up near the top of Hope Hill (Hope Farm, of course). I'm not sure if it is still a working farm or just a farmhouse. At one time, years ago, one of my daughter's teachers lived up there. I recall she once took her class pond-dipping in her garden.

My circular walk took me round through Baildon and back along West Lane, from the centre of Baildon to the top of Shipley Glen, passing across the hillside below the farm buildings (see photo below). It's actually a fairly built-up residential area for most of the way, though you wouldn't know looking up from the valley. The trees on the escarpment hide the houses (which sit on a kind of wide step halfway up the hillside) and it all looks deceptively lush and green. There are some substantial old mansions and even older farmhouses but the space has been infilled over the years with large estates of modern houses. Where there are still a few fields, there were lambs lazily enjoying the sunshine.

Spring in Saltaire

It's that time of year again where my ability to process and post photos on my blog is far outstripped by the pace of change from winter to spring. I took this photo on the 20th March, when the shrubs in the corner of the carpark were just beginning to blossom. The plot is part of the Veg on the Edge initiative, that uses bits of 'spare' land to grow fruit and veg for the local residents to help themselves to. In the intervening time between taking the pic and posting it, nature has blossomed even more. How we need the warmth and the colours of spring, after the dreadful wet winter and the horrors of the current global pandemic.

Lockdown, Day 3

Yesterday was Day 3 of this strange new world of lockdown due to coronavirus. Our government decreed on Monday that people MUST stay at home. We are allowed to:
- go outside to exercise once per day, so long as we keep a 2 metre distance from others;
- make infrequent shopping trips for essential supplies;
- take care of medical needs and of those who are vulnerable;
- travel to and from work if essential, though most people have been encouraged to work from home where possible.

My own careful isolation has been going on for about a week longer, apart from a trip to the supermarket and a trip to the hairdresser last week. (Glad I did that! The hair salons have all had to close now.) I'm feeling fit, well and quite cheerful most of the time. The novelty is interesting so far. I recognise that I'm in a very fortunate position compared with perhaps the majority of people and I am grateful.

So yesterday I went out for my allowed walk. It doesn't say anything about not being allowed to take a camera, or how far or how long you can walk for! Saltaire was quiet and largely traffic free and it all felt quite weird. The few people about were all careful to keep their distance from each other. Most public places are closed, including children's playgrounds - sad to see them all lying unused. Roberts Park itself is open but there were few people there. There was a police helicopter hovering around, maybe keeping a check on how well the measures were being observed. We were all being good!

As you know if you regularly read this blog, Saltaire has had the tradition for many years of decorating windows in Advent, the month leading to Christmas. Now people are starting to decorate their windows to keep everyone's spirits up in this unusual and unsettling time, as we battle to keep our health service functioning and to save lives at risk from this deadly virus. They are posting one window each day on Facebook - see HERE.

A trio of oddments

Here's a trio of things around Saltaire that I may vaguely have noticed before but have certainly never stopped to photograph. The mirror is at the Victoria Road entrance to Salts Mill, above the now-sealed tunnel that used to lead to the Dining Hall across the road. There is a larger mirror further along that I have taken pictures of in the past. Whether this smaller one is a recent addition, or whether I've just never seen it, I don't know. (It is quite high up). It must be to enable the security guards to see the driveway from their office.

The ceramic cat is a David Hockney creation, made when he was a student at Bradford College of Art and later given to his brother. It has been loaned to Salts Mill to display in the 1853 Gallery alongside some of Hockney's other work in the Salt collection.

Finally, corks... I'd be interested to know if any of my local readers know where these are?

In fact, it is a large picture that covers the window of the Victoria Off Licence, on Victoria Road. It's one of those wonderful shops that stays open a lot and sells sweets, crisps, milk and other useful sundries as well as alcohol. The same lovely couple have owned and run it for over 30 years.

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. 

We're going on a Saltaire hunt (1)

(Whilst I recover from eye surgery, with the consequent 'clipping of my wings' - no driving, nothing too strenuous - I'm going to post some local photos I took in the late summer last year (2019). It is nice in winter to look back at brighter days. It does no harm either, on a blog like mine, to do a recap of some of the local sights. They're so familiar to me that I almost take them for granted but it's a while since I showcased the local icons.)

So... We're going on a Saltaire hunt... (no, not a bear hunt - though you can't go under it, you can't go over it... you've got to go through it!). It was a beautiful day (and I wasn't scared) so I decided I'd take a local walk for a change. I'd been out and about so much over the summer, I really hadn't done much around home. Mind you, over the years I've taken so many photos in Saltaire that it begins to be difficult to find a fresh view. Here are the classics, again:

Our first view of Salts Mill (above), from Caroline Street, with the Shipley College horticultural department allotments displaying a few bright red dahlias in the foreground.

We arrive at the main crossroads in the village centre, where Caroline Street and Victoria Road intersect. Looking southwest, a few of the Victoria Road shops lead up to the square where the Victoria Hall sits (out of view on the left) opposite the old school buildings, now part of Shipley College, behind the trees.

Looking northwest from the same spot, the Victoria Road shops continue down to the railway bridge:

Advent windows 6

Saltaire Living Advent Calendar 2019

Some of our local shops get involved in decorating their windows as part of the Living Advent Calendar festival. I always enjoy the display in Louise Perry's bridal shop on Caroline Street - angels this year.

The homewares and gifts shop, Rad Studio, on Victoria Road, is also in on the act, with a new Christmas bauble being painted in on the window every day. You can't really see the painted picture in my photo but I thought the shop looked very colourful and welcoming with all the lights on.

Nordish.Saltaire

In Saltaire, a lot stays the same and a lot changes... The property on the corner of Victoria Road was, for a long time, a shop and then became a café, which has been through numerous incarnations. For the past couple of years it has been run by a couple of young entrepreneurs, Beth and Sam, as Nordish, a Scandi-influenced restaurant. They started small and gently, as a pop-up and now open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. They serve Fika (coffee with small Swedish-style cakes and buns) and Smørrebrød (elaborate open sandwiches) and have recently expanded into early evening opening, serving 'small plates'. They make a point of using local suppliers and make all their produce on the premises, including the sourdough bread and pastries. They even, I understand, cure their own fish. (I walked past the other day and wondered why the area smelled a little like the shellfish stalls in Whitby - a whiff of vinegar and fish. Not unpleasant.) They have recently decorated the windows with bundles of dried herbs and sculptural plants, which I couldn't resist taking a photo of. They also use the upper room for classes and workshops. I've seen life-drawing and calligraphy advertised.  Their vision seems precise and ambitious, though also, by being organic in their menus and approach to growth and minimising waste, they are very much, it seems to me, in tune with the zeitgeist and with Saltaire. They seem to work hard, often to be seen in there even when it's closed, and they seem a very pleasant young couple. I've only personally been in for coffee, as they don't (yet?) serve gluten-free cakes.  

Read a review HERE, which describes it all much better than I can. 

Festival Weekend 2

Saltaire Festival 2019
Amazingly, the second Saturday of Saltaire Festival was a very warm and sunny day too, rare for this time of year. (Though the Sunday was more traditionally seasonal again, with dull skies and drizzle!) The crowds flocked to the village to enjoy the various markets, a vintage fair in the Victoria Hall and the live music in the park. Personally, I prefer the first weekend, which has much more of a community feel to it, but you couldn't help getting caught up in the lively atmosphere and it was lovely to see folks enjoying themselves. Exhibition Road is pedestrianised for the Continental Market, with street food and gifts for sale.

Victoria Road (seen here from one of the upper windows in Salts Mill) was partially pedestrianised and was thus a lot safer than in previous years. It doesn't look too crowded here but there was a huge jam of people further down, trying to cross the narrow footbridge into the park. Check out the hordes of people getting off the train in the station, too! When it's busy like this, it always reminds me of the old film clips I've seen of Saltaire in the early 20th century, when people came here at weekends to enjoy the pleasure grounds up in Shipley Glen. Many things don't really change, do they?

It was very crowded in Roberts Park and I didn't stay long. There was another market and many food and drink outlets, all around the main stage where they have live music all afternoon. The act I caught was a band called Majesty, a reggae soul band, with singer Hayley Gaftarnick.

Filming 'The English Game'

Filming of 'The English Game' was taking place in the open air in the centre of Saltaire on Monday. The cafés and shops at the intersection of Victoria Road and Caroline Street have been pushed back into the 1800s, the tarmac covered with gravel and scores of film makers and actors drafted in. The transformation is really quite impressive.

I've seen a lengthy cast list (here) but to be honest I wouldn't recognise most of those listed. I think the majority of the people in my photos are extras. This lady below appeared to be one of the more significant players but I can't place her.

There is an awful lot of hanging around...

and finishing touches to the costumes and props

but when they shout 'Action!' it's really quite exciting.  I have managed to identify one of the directors, Tim Fywell, seen below in the jeans, navy hoodie and headphones as they were filming a take.

The English Game

With being on holiday, I was a bit slow to realise that they are filming in Saltaire again. I must have missed some of the action - although I've found they tend to keep bystanders well out of the way, so it is often difficult to see anything much anyway. There are various props scattered around (with lots of security guards), and some of the shops on Victoria Road are having new frontages added to cover up the more contemporary signs and artefacts. They clearly have not yet finished, as they were actively filming upstairs in a house on Albert Terrace; the huge reflective screen was directing more light into the windows. A week or two ago, they had closed Titus Street and were filming in a house there. It always amazes me, though, the lengths they go to to create these sets, often just for a few minutes exposure in the film. 

I gather it is a new drama for Netflix, called 'The English Game', written by Julian Fellowes (who wrote much of the Downton Abbey series). It tells the story of the creation of the English football league in the late 1800s, examining how the game crossed the divisions of class and fired people's imaginations. (Sounds a bit boring to me!!) 

 
It makes me glad that I don't live in the centre of the village; it must get a tad annoying when you can't park your car and can't access your house very easily. It happens really quite frequently these days. I'm sure the film companies pay handsomely to use the village as a set and backdrop, but I don't know who gets the money! I'm pretty sure Saltaire doesn't ever see much of it - the Council must pocket some of it but they don't seem to plough it back to the village, they've just closed the public toilets and information centre instead.

Saltaire's almshouses

Since some of the large trees on Victoria Road were felled, it's been much easier to appreciate the architecture of Saltaire's almshouses. Opened in September 1868, they are amongst the most ornate buildings in the village. Like the rest of Saltaire, they have Italianate features but they lean heavily towards the Victorian Gothic style in favour at the time, with pointed arches and rock-faced stonework. 45 dwellings were built at the top end of Victoria Road, in a rectangle around a garden known as Alexandra Square. Those shown above are on the east side, adjoining the infirmary. 

Perhaps influenced by other local mill owners (including Francis Crossley and Titus Salt Junior's father-in-law, Joseph Crossley, in Halifax), Sir Titus Salt decided to provide for selected elderly and infirm residents, who received rent-free accommodation and a small pension. I believe some of the cottages are still used for social housing. 

You can see other photos of them by clicking the 'almshouses' label below. 

Giddy Arts - coffee to go!

The shop on the corner of Victoria Road and Albert Terrace has been many things. It opened in 1861 and was a flour dealer and confectioner. In the 1930s it was 'Vimto's Temperance Bar', selling soft drinks and it had a counter where you could sit and drink your Vimto. It continued to sell confectionery for years under various owners, until the 1970s. It then had a time when it sold furniture and rugs, and by the early 2000s it was 'Era', selling vintage clothes. (My daughter bought a dress for a Cambridge May Ball there.) The shop closed and then reopened eventually as ArtParade, selling high quality craftwork, ceramics, jewellery, cards and gifts. It was also a gallery showing and selling contemporary artwork, prints and photographs. ArtParade flourished for many years until its owner retired last year.

Now No 1 Victoria Road has become 'Giddy Arts', a gallery 'championing independent makers', mostly local, stocking a growing collection of jewellery, textiles and ceramics. They have also installed a small coffee bar, selling 'coffee to go'. I stopped by after a walk and chatted to Joel, the proprietor, whilst sampling the coffee. It was delicious and I can highly recommend it. I'm not generally a huge coffee fan but I could drink several of their lattes a day, if my waistline would allow it! Top marks for using compostable cups and lids too. The shop has only been open a week or two, so it's early days. As it's right beside the rail station, I could imagine them doing a good trade catering for commuters who want a hot drink to wrap their hands around and wake them up. (I don't know what time they open up.)

It's a nice counterpart to Radstudio at No 2 next door. That's been open five years now and sells a good selection of stylish homewares and gifts.

(Some information taken from the book 'A Penny for Going', the history of Saltaire through its shops, by local historian Roger Clarke.)

Saltaire in the round

Saltaire in the round: four photos taken on the same spot, turning 360 degrees.

Looking NORTH (above) from the railway bridge down Victoria Road, towards the church, canal, river and park.

SOUTH (above) looking up Victoria Road towards the Victoria Hall, whose tower you can just see behind the tree on the left.

EAST (above) looking across the allotments to the south facade of Salts Mill,

and WEST (below) looking along Albert Terrace, which runs alongside the railway line.

Saltaire signage

I don't think I've shown this new(ish) Saltaire sign on my blog before. It was erected when the Victoria Road 'environment' was improved a couple of years ago, with the felling of some huge trees, new street lighting and some alterations to the road surface outside the Victoria Hall. It has been placed at the entrance to the Caroline Street carpark, which is fairly central in the 'touristy' part of the village. It's an improvement on the sign that was here before (see here) and is matched by a similar board opposite that tells the story of the now demolished Sunday School building that at one time occupied the space where the car park is now.

I'm sure the sign is necessary now, since the staffed Tourist Information Centre in Salts Mill was shut down due to budget cuts. There is currently only an unstaffed information point in the Victoria Hall, where you can pick up a few leaflets about local attractions. I think it rather a shame that a World Heritage Site is so low on information. Some sites that I've explored have excellent visitor interpretation facilities. There is a small exhibition in Salts Mill about the history of the Mill but that is provided by the Mill's current owners and is not very obvious to visitors.

In addition, they have closed the only public toilets (again due to Council budget cuts. Blame the Tory government.) That seems very short-sighted since I gather it has reduced the number of coach tours visiting the World Heritage Site, which therefore reduces the revenue coming into the village.

Vigilance

Vigilance, Saltaire's most watchful lion, surveys the scene from his pedestal in front of the old Victorian primary school. I wonder if he's noticed the rather pretty autumnal tree behind him? The building is now Shipley College's Salt Building.

Morning

I've lived in Saltaire for 20 years and photographed its square mile for the past ten of those years, yet still it manages to surprise and often delight me. I was up fairly early one morning to catch a train. It was a beautiful, sunny morning with a hint of autumn in the chill air. The ticket machine was behaving itself and there was no queue, so I bought my ticket and still had a quarter hour to wait for my train. I walked the short distance down to the church, enjoying the sunshine, and was astonished to notice how lovely the trees at the end of the drive looked, with the sun's rays filtering through. (Even more astonished that my photo conveyed the atmosphere rather well.) What a lovely start to my day!