Three angles on Lower Laithe

Lower Laithe Reservoir, west of Haworth, was constructed in the 1920s by building a dam across the Sladen valley, just above where Sladen Beck joins the River Wharfe. It supplies water to Keighley and the surrounding area. It is a noticeable landmark when seen from the higher moorland around it.

The valve tower is quite distinctive - and its walkway provides a roost for flocks of black-headed gulls.

There was hardly a breath of wind when I was walking there, so there were some interesting reflections in the water.

The Worth valley

One tends to think of Haworth as surrounded by moorland (with visions of the Brontë sisters wandering about poetically among the heather). In fact, the heather moorland is mostly south and west of the village. To the northwest, north and east, the village overlooks the gentler scenery of the Worth valley - rough, rolling farmland and woods.

There's a track behind the Parsonage that takes you out along West Lane and Cemetery Road, to the cemetery that is now used for burials, since the churchyard is so overcrowded with graves. Beyond that you have the option of heading for the open moor and the Brontë Falls or making a gentler descent into the valley to Lower Laithe Reservoir. I opted for the second route, since storm clouds were building. I had a nice circular walk and just made it back to my car before the sleet started.

Haworth's church

This is the quintessential view of the Brontë Parsonage, the one that all the tourist brochures show: taken from the crowded graveyard that surrounds the church, with all its lichen covered gravestones. In the wall separating the two, there's a stone that notes that when the Brontës lived there, there was a gate and path that connected the house directly with the church.

The church, St Michael and All Angels, is still Haworth's parish church and tries to balance its duties as a spiritual centre with its role as a tourist attraction. It is currently undergoing some extensive restoration. The present church is not actually the building the Brontës would have known, as it was rebuilt in 1879, after their deaths, when the old church was found to be unsafe and unsanitary - water from the graveyard was seeping in through the floor.

With the exception of Anne, all the Brontë family are buried in a vault under the church, over which a memorial chapel has been constructed. Anne died of TB in Scarborough and was buried there.

The Brontë Parsonage

Back to Haworth - 
 I'm sure most people are aware of the connection between Haworth and the Brontë sisters: Charlotte, Emily and Anne. Their father, Revd Patrick Brontë, became the minister in Haworth in 1820 and the three sisters lived and wrote their famous novels in the Parsonage there. It is now a museum, still furnished much as it was in their time, though the wing on the right with the gable was added by Patrick's successor and there is now a visitor centre round the back. 

Walking from the village centre, up the cobbled lane, past the church and the schoolroom that the Brontës built and at which Charlotte, Emily, Anne and Branwell all taught, you could well imagine yourself back in the 1840s. 

Dogwood

I was fascinated by the brightly coloured dogwood bushes planted alongside the airport runway. With a clear blue sky, it seemed to make a rather good abstract - spoiled only, perhaps, by the perimeter fence. For some reason, it put me in mind of 'the most expensive photo ever sold', a photo of the River Rhine by Andreas Gursky (see HERE) which sold for $4.3 million in 2011, and which is now the second most expensive photo ever sold, having been beaten by the $6.5 million paid for a photo by Peter Lik in 2014. If anyone wants to offer me $2 million - a bargain price - for 'Dogwood', please get in touch!

Tarnfield Park

I don't know when they started calling it 'Tarnfield Park'; it's always been known locally as Yeadon Tarn. I haven't been there for a while and I'd forgotten how much higher up it is. Here in the valley the snow soon melted but up there it was still very icy. My walk was more of a slide and a slither on the icy paths, which had been tramped down and polished by many feet. It's a very popular spot with families and dog walkers, as the wide tarmac paths are usually good for kids' bikes, pushchairs and wheelchairs. Despite the cold, there were still plenty of people enjoying the mile or so circuit of the lake, which was almost completely frozen over.

The lake is normally used for watersports and one end has been developed into a small nature reserve with reedbeds and ponds.

It adjoins the Leeds-Bradford Airport main runway, so walks are enlivened by sightings of taxiing aircraft.

All the waterbirds were down at the far end, where there was a small area free of ice, perhaps due to its proximity to the town centre of Yeadon and the nearby buildings. Unless they were after the bread that people were throwing, the swans seemed to prefer standing on the ice to being immersed in the cold water. It's always comical to watch the ducks sliding about; they seem a bit puzzled by the ice.

The obligatory 'snow' shot

So... it snowed a little on Friday morning, though we only had a couple of centimetres, not much compared with many other parts of the UK. I couldn't be bothered to clear my car in order to drive anywhere, so I contented myself with a local walk. A picture of 'Saltaire URC in the snow' is more or less obligatory, though it doesn't change much, year on year. Quite attractive though...

The Big Issue seller

The centre of Haworth village is, I suppose, the area just below the parish church, where a junction of cobbled lanes opens into what might loosely be called 'a square', although it isn't square and is barely big enough to justify the term. There is a pub at either end, a telephone box and a building that held the tourist information office until it was closed (more budget cuts!). It was here that the Big Issue North seller was sitting, even though there were very few people about. She looked so very cold. I didn't buy a magazine as I didn't want to have to carry it about, but I did give her a donation.

The Big Issue magazine was launched in London in 1991 as a way to help people struggling to earn legitimate income. Big Issue North developed from that and is now a separate entity. Sellers buy the magazine for £1.25 and sell it for £2.50, keeping the profit. They come from a variety of backgrounds but all face the problems of poverty and inequality (though they are not all rough sleepers). Many sellers locally are women and often appear to be of an Eastern European background. The Big Issue charities work to highlight the issues of poverty and rough sleeping, and attempt to alleviate some of the pressures for individuals.

Haworth details

Just a few of the details that caught my eye when I was wandering around Haworth.

Alleys and lanes

Haworth, more than most places, is a bewildering jumble of narrow lanes, alleys and ginnels, some wide enough for vehicles but many only accessible on foot. It has grown up over many centuries, from the early days when villagers subsisted on a few acres of poor farmland and maybe some hand loom weaving or wool combing. By the time the Brontës lived here in the 1820-50s, the Industrial Revolution was in full swing; mills, powered by water and later steam, were taking over. Haworth was crowded, polluted and unhygienic. The average age of death was 24 and 41% of children failed to reach their sixth birthday! Nowadays, the crowded cottages are attractively converted, some of them are holiday homes, and the narrow streets are honeypots for tourists.

Hobbling around Haworth

I somehow managed to seize up my back a couple of weeks ago. Whilst I've regained some freedom of movement, it still aches. I'm trying to keep moving, as sitting still doesn't help. So, despite the temperature hovering around freezing, I took myself off for a hobble round Haworth. It was cold but there wasn't a breath of wind so it was actually really pleasant wandering around in the weak sunshine. I'd forgotten that the Brontë Parsonage Museum closes during January, as do many of the cafés and tourist shops, so there were only a handful of other visitors and I could appreciate 'the bones' of the village, rather than fighting through the crowds.

It isn't exactly a pretty place (too gritty and 'northern' for that) but it has a lot of charm, with its steep, cobbled main street (made famous recently as a challenging climb on the Tours de France and Yorkshire cycle races). There is a host of little alleys and backstreets to explore too, as well as the area around the Parsonage and church.

The imposing Hall Green Baptist Chapel sits at the bottom of the main street, with a glorious view of fields beyond. Haworth was an important centre during the Evangelical revival in the 18th century, which led to the birth of Methodism. (Interesting article HERE about that and Patrick Brontë's links to it).

The lack of crowds meant it was easier to appreciate the many different shapes and sizes of buildings that line the main street. There is a wondrous hodgepodge of houses, pubs and commercial premises clinging to its slopes.

Tong Park

My camera club will hold its biennial exhibition this summer, so I've been choosing a few photos to have printed. Stage two of the process is to get them mounted, so I trotted off to the picture framer that I use, in Baildon. It was a very cold, frosty day but, as the sun was shining, I also took the opportunity to have a short walk round nearby Tong Park.

Tong Park was a mill village that was built by the Denby family around their Tong Park Mill in the 1850s. Unlike Saltaire, little now remains of their empire. The mill finally closed in the 1990s and is now an industrial park. Some of the original village was demolished from the 1960s onwards and now the area is a pleasant and mixed residential zone. There are a few rows of Victorian terraced houses still dotted around. Interestingly, I noticed some of them are 'back to backs', where the houses share party walls on three sides, with only the front wall having a door and windows. They were often badly built and came to be considered unfavourably, so most have now disappeared.

What does remain is the mill dam, nestled in the Gill Beck valley. It provides a tranquil focal point in an area of grassland and woods, rich in wildlife and unusual plants that thrive on the glacial moraine.

The ducks were rather bemused that the lake was completely frozen over. They just stood around, seeming rather fed up with things. 

Climbing out of the valley, there was a good view back over the lake towards the Hollins Hall golf course and, to the left, the rather picturesque cricket ground. On the hillside (where the evergreen tree is) stands a war memorial, erected by the Denby family to commemorate the men from Tong Park who died in WWI.

YSP in mono

We've had a couple of talks recently at the camera club by photographers specialising in mono work. They have inspired many of us, me included, to scroll back through our archives and look for images that will convert effectively to monochrome. I found these two, taken at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, that I think look quite good in mono, especially when I gave them a slight sepia tinge.

The top one is part of a sculpture by Amar Kanwar, made of organ pipes salvaged from the 19th century chapel on the YSP site. Its title is 'Six Mourners and The One Alone'.

Perched on top of a rotting tree stump, the iron figure above is recognisably an Antony Gormley creation, entitled 'One & Other'. (In fact, the tree stump is so rotten that I gather the figure has now been removed, awaiting a new site.) Gormley's other works include 'The Angel of the North' and 'Another Place', the figures on Crosby Beach (HERE). He often uses casts of his own body. This particular sculpture speaks of isolation. The figure, with no distinct features, becomes the universal.

Windows, reprised

I generally try to avoid taking the same photo twice, although it can be a fascinating exercise to log the changes over the years. Here is an exception. I am fascinated by all these windows in the houses bordering the path down from Ilkley Tarn. I first noticed and photographed them in 2010 (see HERE) and, since then, very little appears to have been altered. I still find them oddly compelling, and a black and white conversion still seems to suit the image best.

Elsewhere in Ilkley, things are changing. The Rombalds Hotel has closed, as the owners decided to retire after 22 years and could not sell it as a going concern. It is now being converted into nine apartments. Ilkley is a popular place for well-heeled retirees and there are already a lot of apartments, in converted older buildings and newly-built blocks. The developers obviously think they can sell a few more.

Of more concern to me was the fact that the public toilets in the town centre were closed! I'd understood that the local town council had taken them on, when they were earmarked for closure by Bradford Council last year. So whether their recent closure is temporary, for repairs, or permanent, I'm not sure. It always seems daft to me that the only alternative is to pay for a coffee in order to be able to use a café's facilities - and then an hour or so later you just need the same all over again!

Framed

There is a good view from Ilkley Tarn over the Wharfe valley towards Middleton and across to the high moorland north of Ilkley. From this raised vantage point, Ilkley itself is more or less hidden below in the valley. There is a shelter beside the Tarn and its wooden structure offered a kind of picture frame to the view.

Looking in the opposite direction, Ilkley Moor rises up from the Tarn, everywhere russet-tinged with heaps of collapsed bracken. I rather liked the shape of this lone tree on the edge of the moor.

Practising at Ilkley Tarn

I met with a friend from my camera club one afternoon and we walked up to Ilkley Tarn. Both of us are keen to improve our photography and I'm still on a learning curve with my new camera, so we were trying out manual exposures - with limited success in my case! It was a dullish day and the light wasn't great, but we still enjoyed chatting and learning together. Coffee and cake in one of Ilkley's lovely coffee shops rounded off a very pleasant afternoon.

The Tarn sits on the edge of the moor, above the town, and was created out of a bog in the 19th century, initially as a mill dam. It then became a popular place to walk - and skate when the water froze in winter - and was 'prettified' with shelters, lights and paths. It even had a fountain at one time. It has been a popular meeting spot too. Emmeline Pankhurst, the suffragette leader, spoke at a rally there.

It's still popular with dog-walkers and those seeking a gentle walk along decent, mud-free paths. You can happen upon it unexpectedly if, anticipating a moorland walk, you follow the path from the town. Indeed, beyond it there is access to Ilkley Moor proper. It always seems a little odd to me to come across the old Victorian lamp-posts that line the path. A bit of Saltaire in Ilkley or even a touch of Narnia in them.

The Work of Salts

This interesting oil and acrylic canvas called 'The Work of Salts' (2018) hangs in the People and Process Gallery in Salts Mill. It is by London-based artist Alke Schmidt, part of her Wonder and Dread project, which 'explores the politics and morality of global textile supply chains and situates Bradford's wool industry in an international context'. Against the backdrop of Salts Mill's long south elevation, Victorian female mill workers share the space with Peruvian women and their alpacas, the source of the wool that was to make Sir Titus Salt's fortune. He himself can be seen in the upper left corner, with a lady that I presume is his wife Caroline. A Victorian child with two Victorian ladies in their huge crinolines and cloaks refer to the clothing that could be made from the fine, lustrous cloth the mill produced. Also creeping in are Burmantofts pottery vases and the lilies that are always displayed in the 1853 Gallery, filling the air with their heady scent.

The artist is quoted as saying: 'The Mill left such a strong impression on me: its remarkable history of vision, hope and hard work; its visual impact; its great spirit and energy; its beautiful Victorian alpaca dress fabrics; the scent of lilies in the 1853 Gallery; and especially the people whose work has made Salts Mill a success then and now.'

Salts Mill Gallery 2

In Salts Mill, just beyond Salts Diner, there is a long gallery that is used for temporary exhibitions. At the moment it is featuring photographs by Ian Beesley, a local photographer celebrated for his social documentary work. The work shown spans four decades. It includes photographs from the1980s when he documented the slow shutting down of Salts Mill as a working mill, and some from 2017 when he returned to photograph the Mill's reinvigoration, picturing some of the same spaces in their current incarnation. (See also HERE). There are also some poignant portraits of men and women employed in trades that no longer exist. The images are accompanied by poems by Ian McMillan, an acclaimed Yorkshire poet, who is a friend of Beesley's and with whom he often collaborates.

The above photo is called the 'The Bobbin Doffer'.

'Look at this man, how he carries the bobbins so carefully, each hand just so.....

Look at this man, how he carries the bobbins like he's carrying history.
And he can't see where he's going.
Can't see which way History's heading.
But we can see him.'  

Ian McMillan