Salts Mill in the snow

Two different views of Salts Mill's classic south frontage.
The view in the photo above is usually obscured by trees and you can rarely get a decent photo out of it but in winter you get a better idea of the sheer length of the building. That's my neighbours' allotment in the foreground, snoozing under its white blanket.
I've photographed the view below so many times in all weathers and lighting conditions. I like the way the snow lightens up the scene - and I love those red rosebuds, just hanging on despite the weather.

What a difference

As I noted a few days ago, I often seem to photograph (and post) a picture of Saltaire's church in the week between Christmas and New Year. But what a difference a few days makes, when the weather changes suddenly. From Saturday's golden light (HERE) to an altogether cooler scene, with everything under a covering of snow. I don't prefer one over the other... I'm just glad to live in this temperate climate, where you never quite know from one week to the next what the days will be like. It can be infuriating, especially if you're trying to plan an outing, but it's full of delights too.

The Snowman and the Snowdog.

Some children built the most characterful snowman and a snow dog in the local playground, inspired perhaps by the Raymond Briggs book. They obviously had a few brussels sprouts left over from their Christmas dinner and put them to good use! I'm glad to have captured this little work of art for posterity. Sadly it didn't last long in actuality.

Snowy tree

Happy New Year! It's 2018!

We unexpectedly had a bit more snow last Friday, just a couple of days before the New Year.  There was a light covering when I woke up and it continued to snow heavily for about three hours. Less than an inch fell altogether, but it was enough to change the familiar world - and I love that. As soon as the blizzard eased off a little bit, I got togged up with warm clothes and good boots and went for a wander round Saltaire with my camera. It's a delight to see the way a little snow transforms everything, truly a winter wonderland. I came back with quite a lot of photos that I was pleased with. This one, of a tree reflected in the river near Hirst Weir, has to be one of my favourite pictures of the whole year.

By mid-afternoon, the snow had turned to rain and by bedtime little remained save the lumps where people had made snowmen. It felt a bit like I'd dreamed it all. But I have the photos to prove it - and, like it or not, you will see some of them in the next few days!

Saltaire by night

I rarely wander the local streets at night with my camera and tripod but, when I do, I am always struck again by how the character of the village changes in the dark. In the winter months when darkness comes early, the lights twinkle out from the shops and businesses down Victoria Road, still busily working after nightfall. It's not a view the early Victorian residents would have recognised. Candles, oil and gas lamps would have provided a much gentler glow. But the plethora of modern electric lights - tungsten, fluorescent, halogen, LEDs - all have different warmths and the effect is, I think, quite cosy and attractive.

My photo shows the junction of Victoria Road and Caroline Street, right at the heart of the village.

If you're venturing out tonight to see in the New Year, take care.

Wishing you all a very happy, healthy and safe New Year.  I hope 2018 will be a good year for all of us personally and will herald change towards a better, safer, more equal, more peaceful world. (We can but hope!)

Golden light on the URC

I seem to make a habit of photographing Saltaire United Reformed Church from the canal towpath somewhere between Christmas and New Year. The light is always tricky, as this is the north side of the church so it is backlit by the low sun. The main advantage is that the ice-cream boat that is usually moored right at this spot and (for me) spoils the view, is moved for a few weeks in the low season, leaving the scene to be enjoyed as a very picturesque part of our village. There are still a lot of fallen beech leaves on the lawns and they add a lovely russet glow.

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.

'Everytime a bell rings...

Saltaire's Living Advent Calendar 2017

...an angel gets its wings.' Such a pretty, twinkly window at 16 Ada Street, with the added bonus of more twinkles from the reflections in the car parked outside.

Winter is coming

Saltaire's Living Advent Calendar 2017

Some of you may be more clued up about this one than I am. I think it's a reference to Game of Thrones but, since I've never seen that, I am more 'in the dark' than the window was! This dramatic offering can be seen at 57 Albert Road. I hope they didn't rely on dragon's breath to cook their turkey, though.

Santa over Saltaire

It's not one of the official Living Advent Calendar windows but nevertheless Rance Booth Smith Architects, in the centre of Saltaire, have a classy Christmas panel in their window every year. I loved the detail in this year's offering, which depicts the west facing elevation of the Victorian almshouses on Victoria Road, drawn in a suitably 'architectural' style. It looks like they might have had a visit from Santa...

Merry Christmas

Wishing all my friends, wherever you are, a very happy Christmas. Whether you celebrate the festival or not, I wish you a joy-filled and peaceful day.

All Hail! Lord, we greet Thee,

Born this happy morning.

O come, let us adore Him, 

Christ the Lord.

Weather permitting, I shall be celebrating with my family over in Hebden Bridge. There will be two very excited little girls and an avalanche of wrapping paper and noise, I expect. I count myself very blessed.

For some mysterious reason, robins and snow are traditional Christmas symbols in the UK. Is that the same everywhere? It's a little hard to understand, since our robins are resident all year round and we rarely have snow at Christmas - and neither bears any relationship to the real reason for Christmas, celebrating our Saviour's birth. But never mind, it's a cheery scene! I love the way robins look like little round fluffballs when it's cold.

Mog's Christmas

Saltaire's Living Advent Calendar 2017

'Mog's Christmas' by Judith Kerr is a much loved children's picture book that my two little granddaughters both enjoy having read to them. Poor Mog, the cat, doesn't like the Christmas preparations and takes fright on the roof when she sees the Christmas tree, refusing to come down...

The windows at 51 Albert Road tell the story. The stars and baubles were made by children in the Reception class at Saltaire Primary School,  which is just across the road. I think these are my favourite windows this year, though they're all so good that it's hard to choose.

The Nutcracker

Saltaire's Living Advent Calendar 2017

The window at 44 Whitlam Street is a colourful homage to The Nutcracker ballet, much-loved and performed at this festive time of year.

My daughter and I had a delightful evening out together recently, when there was a live screening of the ballet, performed by the Royal Ballet Company from the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden (see HERE for a glimpse of it) . We sat in the cosy surroundings of Hebden Bridge's Picture House, with a drink, and enjoyed the spectacle as much as if we'd actually been there. I love the Tchaikovsky score, and know it well enough from the past that my brain can supplement the little that my poor hearing these days picks up. It was wonderful.

Immortalised

Saltaire's Living Advent Calendar 2017

The alpaca sculpture in the park that I showed yesterday has found a new fame, immortalised (well, temporarily anyway) in one of the Living Advent Calendar windows in the village. They've donned reindeer horns to get into the festive spirit. Rather cute, I thought.

Implacable

This statue of two alpacas, outside the Half Moon Café, was installed in Roberts Park during the refurbishment seven years ago.  It references the importance of alpaca wool in the history of Saltaire, since it was through working out how to spin it effectively and incorporate it into lustrous cloth for Victorian ladies' dresses that Sir Titus Salt made his fortune. The statue is loved by countless young visitors to the park and it's rare to see it without a few children climbing over it. Throughout the rough and tumble, the alpacas remain implacable.

Beckfoot, Bingley

There was a lovely quality to the light the other day when I walked down to the ford at Beckfoot Bridge and then crossed over the ancient packhorse bridge itself. The stream is Harden Beck and there has been a ford and bridge here for hundreds of years, part of a packhorse trail along the Aire Valley. The present structure was built in 1723 (and the fencing added - or perhaps replaced - more recently for safety reasons). The ford can get much deeper and more dangerous when there's been a lot of rain. I love how those wizened beech leaves still cling on, adding a splash of colour to the wintry scene.

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.

Disease in the forest

All the work they did in clearing rhododendrons (see my post HERE) last winter, up at Bingley St Ives, appears to have had little effect. The fungal disease (Phytophthora Ramorum) must have spread to the conifers. Now there is a massive programme of felling trees. The main car park is closed, all but for a small section, to allow access; machinery and diggers are up in the woods.

Frozen

In the recent spell of bitterly cold weather, the Coppice Pond at Bingley St Ives froze right over. There were a couple of patches of clear water at the edges, where trees and vegetation had trapped some slightly warmer air. The ducks congregated on those but the swans were slipping and sliding on the ice and looking fairly bemused.

I'd had a long and chilly walk so it was wonderful to find the little café on the estate was open. A hot, sweet latte fortified me enough for the return leg home.

Homeward bound

Homeward bound on a winter's evening and the lights on Saltaire's Albert Terrace glow warmly in the chill air.