A girl inspiring the world

Hebden Bridge and the Calder valley are so prone to flooding that the people who live and work there are perhaps closer than some to the reality of climate change. It was no surprise then that the children at the primary school my granddaughters attend voted for Greta Thunberg, the young Swedish climate activist, as the woman who has most inspired them. To mark International Womens' Day, they worked with local artists 'Sand in Your Eye' to create a giant portrait of her on their school playing field. Painted in the kind of paint used for sports field markings, it will fade and wash away within a few days but it has created quite a stir, even being shown on the local TV news.

I think it's great that the school's pupils have such awareness and are inspired. My own granddaughters, even at five and eight, are able to have a sensible conversation about the issues. I was, therefore, sad and shocked to read the vitriolic comments that have been posted on social media in response to the news items. It seems many people still don't believe climate change is a reality, nor do they think primary school pupils are old enough to make their own minds up about todays' issues. The level of venom directed at Greta Thunberg herself is unbelievable. It is very sad that people seem increasingly to feel that it's OK to direct such fierce hate at those with whom they disagree.

My daughter took the photo above when she was walking their dog up the steep hillside, and she's kindly allowed me to share it here. I took the one below, from the roadside. You can't see the picture so well from that angle but it does show the scale of the work.

Incidentally, there's a fair chance I might one day in the future end my days in the buildings behind! It is a development of flats for older people and a residential care home. Being quite near my daughter's home, it would save her a lot of trouble if I moved there! I'm not nearly at that stage yet so I have no plans to move. It's just something we joke about... for the moment!

Still in a jokey frame of mind - I was amused to see a mannequin dressed in scuba diving equipment outside a shop in the town. I know they've had horrendous flooding several times in recent years but even so...  Actually, it is advertising a Dive School. I don't think they are seriously trying to get the locals to stock up on wetsuits.

Puppy in the woods

I had a day over at my daughter's house, looking after my grandchildren - and (rather scarily!) my new grand-dog - as the girls were off school for half-term and their parents were both working. When my daughter got home, we took the puppy, Cookie, for a walk in the woods. That's a very new experience for me, as I've never had a dog, ever. They are training him and taking him to puppy classes, so he's beginning to learn how to behave. He is allowed off the lead a little now, though cautiously, as he's still a bit unpredictable. He responds quite well to his 'mum' and 'dad', though less well to me. I suppose he isn't used to my voice and I'm not used to him so I guess my anxiety is discernable. The woods around their house are beautiful and the view from their front windows, over the Calder valley, is currently stunning with all the autumn golds.

It's not often I get a photo of me these days. My daughter takes the credit for these two, taken on her phone and used with her permission.

A braver man than I...

Photo © Dr John Rhodes, used with permission

One of my good friends, Dr John Rhodes, also a keen photographer, recently took the opportunity to climb the tower of St. Peter's Church, Shipley (see here) with his camera. He has kindly agreed to let me show some of the photos he took. They give an interesting view of the area that can't be seen from any other vantage point. 

Photo © Dr John Rhodes, used with permission

Despite having been church warden at St. Peter's for a number of years, I was never brave enough to venture up the steep staircase (see left) which is topped by a 20ft ladder to reach the parapet of the tower. Not for the faint-hearted - and I get vertigo even on a step ladder!

But the views from up there are wonderful.  Photo one (above) shows Moorhead Lane, the road leading down past the church to the junction where Saltaire roundabout used to be (now traffic lights). To the left (beside the orange truck) is Saltaire tram-sheds, where the old trams used to be garaged. It's now a bar/restaurant called The Hop. In the middle distance you can see the western end of Saltaire village on the right and also Salts Upper School, the modern white building. Beyond that, the wonderfully named Hope Hill rises up to Baildon Moor.

Photo © Dr John Rhodes, used with permission

The photo above is a telephoto view of Salts Mill, with Saltaire village in the foreground and the Victoria Hall on the right, with its tower visible.  Behind the Mill, at the foot of the escarpment, is the hamlet known as Baildon Green, with Baildon itself on the hill top. 

Photo © Dr John Rhodes, used with permission

No prizes for identifying the iconic domed tower of Saltaire's famous Victorian United Reformed Church, nestled among trees.

Visting Santa

My son-in-law captured this lovely picture when my two little granddaughters, in that time-honoured traditional ritual, visited Father Christmas a few days ago. I love the tenderness shown by my five-year old to her little sister (and the care and attention that Santa seems to be giving) and I love the heartwarming innocence in their faces. I vividly remember the excitement and slight apprehension I felt as a child, doing the same thing.

One

There are some more photos from my holiday to come but I'm interrupting the series, to celebrate that a whole year has passed since my second granddaughter was born. So much has happened in that time and I thank God that all's well. She is adorable (both of them are) - a happy, secure and easy-going little girl. They are settling into their new home in Yorkshire, although there is still plenty to do to get it all how they want it. My daughter found time to make this amazing cake for the birthday party. It's delightful to have them living nearer, so that it's now much easier for the whole family to get together.

I haven't managed a decent picture of either of the girls for ages. The one below was taken by their mum on a recent day out. I love my older granddaughter's expressions when she is looking at her sister - sort of loving and amused at the same time.

Cat

I haven't posted a picture of these two gorgeous girls lately. When I go to visit them in their new home there is usually so much going on that I don't find time for photos - and besides, they tend to pull faces when confronted with a proper camera! Their mum, on the other hand, manages to whip her phone out and produce wonderfully natural pictures like this, seemingly quite effortlessly. They had gone into the fields at the bottom of their garden for a picnic in the heather. One of their cats followed them and M started to stroke him and said her first proper word: cat.

She's growing up fast and is no longer content to sit still in one place but crawls around fast so that you now need a lot of vigilance! It will soon be her first birthday. E will be four in a couple of months and has just started to attend a nursery at the little local primary school nearby. She was at nursery in London a few mornings a week but this is more like pre-school and she has her first school uniform... so sweet.

Advance Notice - LOTS to see! 23-25 May

Photo © Paul Barrett

After a break of a year, the Saltaire Arts Trail returns over the coming bank holiday weekend: 23 - 25 May. There is LOTS going on, with the wonderful 'Makers' Fair' in the Victoria Hall and the ever-popular Open Houses, where original art and craft of all kinds is displayed in village houses, whose brave owners throw them open to the public (and pray for dry weather!)

For full details please see the Saltaire Inspired website - and if you are anywhere near Saltaire, take it from me.... you'd be MAD not to visit!

Equally exciting is a 'fringe event' (all the best festivals have 'fringes') taking place in St. Peter's Church, Moorhead Lane, 23 - 25 May. The small photography group of which I am a member is holding an exhibition of photos, celebrating our first ten years of meeting as a club. All are welcome, free entry - and again - why would you want to miss that? See here for full details.

The photo we're using to illustrate the exhibition is a wonderful Yorkshire collage by one of our members, Paul Barrett. Doesn't it make you want to explore Yorkshire?

Lincolnshire sunset

I've bemoaned before the fact that down here in my urban Yorkshire valley, with houses to the west, I hardly see the sky and rarely notice the sunsets. Not so for my sister. She lives in rural Lincolnshire - high up and on the flat lands. Lots of sky there.... She sent me this from her iPhone last week. Isn't it glorious? I'm proud to feature her as a guest photographer. I thought her photo deserved to be shared.... A lovely sunset seems to thrill nearly everyone; there's something instinctive about our response, I think. God's in his heaven, all's right in His world.

Star Trek to Kilnsey

Photo © Bob Collier and used with permission

After running the story on Saturday, I was delighted to find in my inbox this wonderful photo of Jamie Roberts, setting off on his trek from Saltaire to Kilnsey with alpacas in tow (or perhaps towing him, you can't be sure!)  I don't think the alpacas are walking the whole way but they are a nice touch. They will be taking up residence at Kilnsey Park, to celebrate its links with Saltaire. Doesn't Jamie look the part? Let's hope the weather stays fine for him; it's a bit changeable this week and I don't suppose a Victorian gentleman's fine tweeds are much use in a downpour. Hopefully he has a voluminous cape too...

Because of work, I wasn't able to get down to Saltaire for the launch of the walk so a big thank you to Amanda Brown, of A2B PR, for thinking to send the picture to me. It was taken by (and is copyrighted to) Bob Collier, so Bob is starring as my guest photographer today and must be congratulated on a lovely photo.

The following text is taken from the publicity material:

Alpacas Star In Trek To Commemorate Yorkshire’s Mill Heritage

An important era in Yorkshire’s history was commemorated today when the owner of one of the county’s top rural visitor attractions donned Victorian attire and began a walk with a trio of alpacas in tow.

Jamie Roberts set out from Saltaire in West Yorkshire to return home to Kilnsey Park in the Yorkshire Dales as part of the Park’s 35^th anniversary celebrations. The walk is also honouring an important anniversary in the history of Salts Mill, one of Yorkshire’s and the world’s greatest industrial powerhouses in Victorian times and now a cultural centre and UNESCO World Heritage site. It was 120 years ago when Jamie’s great great grandfather Sir James Roberts took over Salts Mill from the family of the founder, Sir Titus Salt and saved it from bankruptcy.

As the mill’s fortunes – and those of his family – were largely built on spinning alpaca wool, Jamie decided it was a fitting tribute to start the walk with the camelid trio before they take up residence at Kilnsey Park.

Jamie is walking part of the route with the alpacas, from Salts Mill to Crossflatts following the Leeds-Liverpool Canal, before rejoining the route about 4 miles from Kilnsey. He said: “Bringing home the alpacas to Kilnsey is a fantastic way of celebrating my family’s heritage and connections with Salts Mill. The success of the Mill enabled my ancestors to purchase the Kilnsey Estate in 1911 and it has remained in our family ever since.”

“In 1978 we opened a trout farm and trekking centre and since then the Estate has gone from strength to strength not only as a visitor attraction but also as a centre for conservation and as one of the most sustainable businesses in the UK.”

A weekend of celebrations is planned at Kilnsey Park on 10-11^th August including family activities, outdoor performances, music and local food and drink. More information can be found at www.kilnseypark.co.uk

The alpacas are also local having been bred by prize-winning breeders at Carlshead Farm near Wetherby. 

Hawk's eye view

More wonderful views from the top of Salts Mill chimney.  These are perhaps of more particular interest to those who live locally...  Like me, you may be able to spot your own house! (Photos will enlarge if you click them, I think.)

5⇧ We start with the picture above, looking north from the chimney, beyond the New Mill and the river hidden by trees, and over to Baildon's Coach Road. The hamlet of Baildon Green is up to the top right with the main village of Baildon on the hill. To the left is Hope Hill and the woods of Shipley Glen. By the way, as I'm sure you'll realise, the turquoise pole in the foreground is one of the copper lightning conductors attached to the Mill chimney.

6⇧ Swinging round clockwise a little, to the north-east, the foreground shows some warehousing attached to Salts Mill. The modern hexagonal building is the banking centre for Britain's tax authorities (HMRC), bounded by the canal to the front and the river to the back, where the lines of trees are. Behind that on the right is the Victoria Mills apartments complex.

7⇧ A little further clockwise, the office block on the left is the Waterfront Centre, which now houses, among other things, Macmillan Cancer Support's new fund-raising centre. Behind that is the new white-painted orthodontics factory. You can see the Leeds-Liverpool canal slicing through on the left and the railway on the right. In the middle distance is Shipley town centre - you can perhaps make out the modernist clock-tower on the right.  The hill in the background rises up to the areas known as Windhill and Wrose.

8⇧ Swinging clockwise again and looking south-east, Shipley's clock tower is now in the top left. The church sitting prominently on the hill is St Paul's. Behind the church, in the fog-filled dip on the horizon, is the city of Bradford. Imagine the miasma that used to hang over it in Victorian times! No wonder Sir Titus Salt moved his business out to Saltaire. You can see Saltaire Road running through the middle of the photo. The large building in the mid-right is Wycliffe Primary School.

9⇧ Moving clockwise a little further and now looking south, the terraced housing at the bottom of the photo is part of Saltaire. It was built later than the rest of the village, around the turn of the 19-20th century, when the Salts estate sold off some land after the great Jubilee Exhibition. At one time the terraced housing extended down Saltaire Road on both sides, but some of it was demolished and the more modern flats in the middle of the photo were built. You can't really tell from this perspective, but the land on this photo rises steeply from the bottom to the top. The area of green on the far right (behind the fire station, which you can't quite see) was once a quarry. Right on the skyline, about a third of the way in from the left, you may be able to see a chimney which I believe is Bradford's other great Victorian mill, Listers.

[To complete the 360º panorama, look back at yesterday's photos in the order, 4, 3, 2. ]

I'm sure you'll agree that these photos make a wonderful record of Saltaire and its surroundings in 2012. I am delighted to have been able to share them here. Once again, my huge thanks to Paul Taylor whose idea this was, and to the unnamed photographer, who bravely took a camera to the top of Salts Mill chimney to capture the views for posterity. It looks like it was a typically damp, misty autumn day when they were taken, so it was very good of him to brave the drizzle.

Saltaire as you've never seen it before

Regular readers of Salt & Light will have realised, I'm sure, that yesterday's quiz photos were taken from the huge chimney of Salts Mill, looking vertically down. (Not by me, I hasten to add. You wouldn't get me up there! The only way up is by the long, long ladder. I am, however, rather flattered that a few of my friends thought me capable of it...)

You may recall that I showed photos of the scaffolding erected to enable some repairs to the chimney. Someone who works in Salts Mill noted in the comments on that post that he was hoping to get one of the workmen to take some photos from up the top. He was a good as his word and, even better, he has offered me the photos to share here on the blog. I'm thrilled therefore to showcase these fascinating images and would like to offer my huge thanks to Paul Taylor for the privilege - and to the unnamed photographer, who did a great job!

1⇧ The photo above is looking more or less west and shows part of the south frontage of the Mill with its twin towers, and the railway line to the left. You can see that building work continues, to improve one of the main visitor entrances to the Mill.

2⇧ Here, looking north-west, we see the main body of Salts Mill, the satellite dishes giving a clue to the modern use of the building, which houses Pace plc, a technology company. Beyond that is the New Mill with its elaborate chimney. That is actually on the opposite bank of the Leeds-Liverpool canal, though you can't really tell that from this photo. The trees, green lawns and cricket pitch in the middle distance are in Roberts Park. You can just see the River Aire curving round. At the top of the photo you can see Titus Salt School and its playing fields, and the little white shed that is the bottom of the Shipley Glen Tramway.

3⇧ Looking west again, the railway line carves it way through, with the Victoria Road bridge passing over it and, just beyond that, Saltaire station's platforms. You can see how the United Reformed Church sits immediately opposite the main entrance to Salts Mill, within its own tree-filled grounds. The village houses on the left of the photo are among the oldest in Saltaire. Beyond the houses, the woodland towards the top left is Hirst Wood.

4⇧ Looking south-west, the dominant building is the Victoria Hall, with the original factory school opposite. The large school-like building to the bottom left is Shipley College's Exhibition Building. On the left edge, you can see a three-storey building that is the old Salt's Hospital (now apartments). Very bottom right is the grey roof of Caroline's Club and next to that the Caroline Street carpark. That used to be the site of the village's Sunday School, which was demolished. Opposite that space you can pick out some of the shops on Victoria Road. This photo gives a good idea of the grid layout of Saltaire and its relative size. I guess it covers about a square mile altogether.

Vertigo

OK, where's this?  If you can't guess from the first photo, take a look at the second....

Any ideas?

One today!

A very happy 1st birthday to my precious grand-daughter, Elodie Grace. She's as beautiful as her mummy (and daddy of course) and is developing into a lively, engaging and sweet little personality. I was delighted to receive this photo one morning from my daughter, via my iPhone. I smile every time I look at it. E is not quite walking yet but can pull herself up to standing and loves to be on her feet. What a long way she's come, from this to this. Such joy and gratitude in my heart.

The cygnet that hadn't yet learned....

Photo © Roy Pritchard, used with permission

The cygnet that hadn't yet learned NOT to pose for a camera....  

Taken in the vicinity of Bingley's Five Rise Locks - but I must say straight away that this isn't one of my photos.  It was taken by a good friend of mine a couple of summers ago.  I thought it was delightful and it made me laugh.  Those who've been following my blog for a while will have heard me opine that swans will never pose for my camera.  They turn their backs, plunge their heads in the water, swim in the opposite direction or lunge at the camera!  By contrast, this little cygnet swam right up and fixed her beady eye on her reflection in the lens.  No doubt mum would have had a few words of advice later!

Incidentally, what impressed me most was the sanguine way in which my friend was dangling his brand-new Nikon at arm's length over the water... a braver soul than I!

Seeing ducklings on other people's blogs in the last few days reminds me to try and get down to the canal to see if we have any yet.  I've been so busy I haven't been out for a walk for ages.  They say there are bluebells out too - which is two or three weeks earlier than usual, I think.