Salt, pepper and plaster dust

Well...  Sir Titus Salt's statue in Roberts Park and a cannon capable of peppering cannon balls everywhere! (I wrote about the cannons HERE.)

Also, in the background, the tower of Saltaire's URC church. Sadly the recent storms have apparently caused a large part of the ceiling plasterwork in the church to collapse inside. It happened overnight last week so thankfully no-one was injured but the church has had to be closed for obvious safety reasons. It looks as though it may be a while before it can be fully inspected and the necessary remedial work can be carried out. Hopefully the money can be found to restore it. These old buildings have so many problems. It's quite a tragedy as it is unique and beautiful inside.

Judy Woods

I have some friends who live at the other side of the city, in south Bradford. We had long planned to visit their local beauty spot of Judy Woods, so despite it being a damp, dull and rather misty day we went for a walk. It's a large area of ancient woodland (in fact several different areas of woodland) now surrounded by the city suburbs. Its present tranquillity gives little hint of its history as a coal and ironstone mining area in the 18th and 19th century. Careful exploration reveals the remains of bell pits and waggon trackways, as well as packhorse routes that crisscross the area. The nearby Low Moor Ironworks, founded in the 1780s (and now closed), produced high quality iron. They manufactured cannons that were used in the Battle of Waterloo (as well as the two now in Saltaire's Roberts Park - see HERE) and later their iron was used for rail locomotive wheels.

The woods have been known by many names. Their present title of Judy Woods refers to a lady called Judy North, whose husband ran a 'pleasure garden' in part of the woods in the 1850s and 60s. She sold 'sweetmeats' including parkin pigs (a kind of gingerbread biscuit), sticks of spice and ginger beer, for the refreshment of their customers. There is an interesting history of Judy Woods HERE,  on the Friends of Judy Woods website.



























We had a peaceful ramble, only slightly disturbed by the 'giant squid monster' we passed part way round!

The return of the cannons

The World Heritage Day celebrations had a particular focus this year: cannons. In 1871, Sir Titus Salt, bought two Napoleonic War naval cannons as features for the newly opened Saltaire Park (now known as Roberts Park). It was said that one of them had been fired during the Battle of Trafalgar. As can be seen in old photos in Saltaire's archives, those cannons stood either side of the original bandstand, until they were removed and melted down to make more armaments during WWII.

Two 68 pounder cannons have now been reintroduced to the park, on permanent loan from Bradford's Industrial Museum. They have their own interesting history. They were made locally at Bradford's Low Moor Ironworks in 1846, and used as a display at the foundry. It is said they could fire cannonballs over a range of two miles in 15 seconds! After the foundry closed, the cannons, which each weigh four and a half tonnes, eventually ended up at the Industrial Museum, where they have been displayed at the gates. The iron work was deteriorating, so they have been professionally restored, painted and mounted on new military gun carriages, which replicate those originally in Saltaire's park.

It has been a real labour of love. I spoke to the conservator, Ian Barrand (photo below), who has spent over 18 months researching and restoring the cannons, work which has been possible thanks to lottery funding. He was clearly very moved to see the project concluded and the cannons in their intended positions. There is a very interesting video and feature HERE, worth clicking for more information. It shows some footage of the original cannons too.

I can see that the cannons will rival the Roberts Park alpacas as climbing frames for children. I was rather amused by the three little boys in my middle photo, who hunkered down underneath the barrel and found that their baseball caps just neatly fitted on the cannonballs piled up below.

Two hundred years

The Leeds-Liverpool Canal, which passes through Saltaire, was a decisive factor in Sir Titus Salt's plan to site his huge woollen mill at this spot.  Completed in 1816, the canal pre-dates the mill by almost forty years. This year, the bi-centenary of the Canal is being marked by various events, the most significant being the recreation of the first full navigation in 1816, when local people turned out in their thousands to greet the boats, church bells were rung, cannons fired and brass bands played. During October, the restored working barge, Kennet, is making its way along the canal, stopping off at various points for celebrations.

Despite very heavy rain, I went down to the canal in Saltaire to see the Kennet pass through. (The things I do for this blog!) There was a brass band, playing under the bridge for shelter! The church bells rang and a couple of hundred hardy souls, including the Lord Mayor of Bradford and a BBC Yorkshire camera crew were there to witness the event. Tempting to think we were indeed 'recreating' something... except that in 1816 Saltaire didn't exist and the boats would have been making their way through green fields and heading for the Five-Rise Locks at Bingley for whatever razzmatazz the townsfolk there had dreamed up.

Never mind, it makes a good 'old' picture, doesn't it?