Sir Titus Salt built the model village Saltaire on land he had acquired near to Shipley, he decided to relocate his mill and workers out of the it's of Bradford after a cholera outbreak killed over 300 people in Bradord.
Salt built houses for his workers, a church, school, hospital, an educational institute and almshouses for retired workers as well as his magnificent mills.
Saltaire had everything a good village in the mid 19th century should have except a pub! Sir Titus Salt was a strict teetotaller and insisted that his workers remain sober as well.
The streets of Saltaire were mostly named after members of the Salt family and two architects who contributed to the design and building of Saltaire, a few notable exceptions include a trio of streets named after flowers popular at the time and some streets named after royalty.
These days the mill hosts an exhibition by local artist David Hockney and some excellent historical information.
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David Hockneys Art at Salts Mill.[/caption][caption id="" align="alignnone" width="500"]
A Mural of The Process of Woolmaking.[/caption]A brilliant restaurant and some rather lovely shops!
And the houses once occupied by mill workers are now highly desirable properties and the shops are mostly either speciality shops or sadly empty, although we did see one, 'Salts Village Bakery' where my Grandma worked a long time ago, and where they make and sell the most deeee-licious spinach and feta pasties!
We also found the street where my Dad lived when him and Mum first met and where my Grandma still lived when I was first born and we spotted houses where various relatives have lived over the years.
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Memory Lane[/caption]We had a yummy picnic in Roberts Park and a good walk around it, culminating in a run around (for the kids) in the playground...although I had a quick bounce on a trampoline and our friend Helen slid down the slide a few times, looking out over the river Aire from the playground we could see a weir in the river where as a child I begged and begged to be allowed to play with all the lucky kids who were allowed to play in the water...I was never ever allowed though!!
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Around Saltaire and Roberts Park.[/caption]The weather was on our side yesterday too which helped make it yet another lovely day out!
Until next time
Em xx
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