Saltaire - Fishing on the Canal

 

Fishing on the Canal

 

It was a gorgeous day last Sunday for a walk along the canal in Saltaire, not only were the ducks enjoying the water, but the fisherman were lined up every few metres endeavouring to catch the "big" one.

Saltaire Secret Poet

 

There was a young girl from Saltaire

 

by

 

Saltaire Secret Poet

 

These quaint poems are beginning to appear around our village of Saltaire.  One never knows where the next one will be; quite exciting I think. We all love a bit of mystery !!

 The image above was one of three that I came across on the weekend during the Saltaire Festival.  They were attached to the fence of Salts Mill Complex, and I believe there were some more around the churchyard.

Saltaire Festival 2013

 

Great weekend for the Saltaire Festival in Roberts Park, lots of stalls, people, music, food, beer and most of all "sunshine".

Saltaire - Cloth & Memory 2

Installation by Caren Garfen UK

 

This is based on the lives of actual women from Saltaire drawn from the 1891 census.  Garfen's installation comprises vintage wooden reels attached to the wall, each with its own 'memory plaque' label and an 'S' for Salt and Silver, some also have ribbon wrapped round with hand stitched addresses or researched text.

 

More information has been added to this installation in the form of a booklet giving further details on some of the women, such as what happened to them after working in the mill etc. This has been researched and kindly provided by my husband, Colin Coates.



Cloth & Memory 2, Salts Mill, Saltaire

 

Fading Memories

 

Yoriko Murayama from Japan has woven the landscape surrounding Salts Mill using traditional kasurai (ikat) technique  which creates indistinct images - like fading memory. The images have been printed on Japanese paper which has been cut up and woven; the installation takes the form of a number of spiral cones each 2 metres high.

Cloth & Memory 2 - Saltaire

 

No. 23 in Cloth & Memory 2 exhibition

Salts Mill

Saltaire

 

A Japanese artist, Yoriko Yoneyama produced this installation which comprises of a suspended web of dried rice threaded on fine cotton.  Yoriko's intention is to link those overlooked elements which are essential to our survival and our cultural heritage; food and clothing - rice and fibre.

 

A very captivating installation, as the light streamed through the clear roof panels and the mirrors reflected the threaded rice grains.

Saltaire - Cloth & Memory (2)

 

Salts Mill

Cloth & Memory 2

 

Cloth and Memory {2} is a site-specific exhibition located in the UNESCO World Heritage Site: Salts Mill, Saltaire Yorkshire UK, which is also an anchor point in the European Route of Industrial Heritage. The exhibition features 23 artists drawn from a UK and international cohort and runs from August 18th to November 3rd 2013.

 

It builds on knowledge gained in our first exhibition, however it is a very different experience. It takes place in the original Spinning Room (known as The Lobby), which at 168m x 16m, when first built was thought to be the largest industrial room in the world. Apart from a new roof, it has not been restored or refurbished, and is not normally open to the public. The extraordinary internal architecture with its peeling walls and floors still retain the marks and smells of its original use.

 

An international group of artists were invited to visit Salts in order to propose work as a response to the site. From these proposals 23 artists were selected: 14 from the UK, 7 from Japan, 1 from Germany, 1 from Norway, representing emerging, early career and established artists. All the work engages with the palpable history of place that is evident at Salts Mill and The Lobby in particular, and range from large scale interventions in space to highly intimate placings within the fabric of the building.

 

Cloth and Memory {2} uses that universal familiarity with cloth to connect audience, place and artist within this heritage building in the heart of an area central to textile production during the industrial revolution and, by so doing, extend contemporary practice in the field.

 

LESLEY MILLAR: Cloth & Memory Creative Director
Professor of Textile Culture, University for the Creative Arts

www.clothandmemory.com

 

Originally the spinning room contained 16, 380 cap spindles for spinning yarn.  Raw alpaca fleece, imported from Peru, arrived at the top of the building and was processed down through the building to emerge as finished cloth at the bottom.

 

In its heyday, Salts Mill manufactured over 30,000 yards or 18 miles of alpaca cloth per day.  That's nearly 5,600 miles per year (enough to reach all the way back to Peru as the crow flies).

 

At its peak, Salts Mill employed 4,000 people using the most modern technology of the day.

 

 

 

I will be posting photos of all the different works over the next few days, so stay tuned.

Saltaire: Jamie Roberts begins his walk with his alpacas

 

Jamie Roberts with alpacas

 

Jamie Roberts, the great great grandson of Sir James Roberts (Roberts Park is named after him) is the owner of Kilnsey Park, one of North Yorkshire’s top visitor attractions. Jamie will begin a walk next Tuesday 6th August at 11am accompanied by alpacas, to commemorate his ancestors whose fortune was built on alpaca wool, from Salts Mill World Heritage Site in Saltaire, West Yorkshire. A weekend of celebrations is planned at Kilnsey Park on 10-11th August including family activities, outdoor performances, music and local food and drink.

Jamie is undertaking the trek to mark the Park’s 35th anniversary and the 120th anniversary of his great great grandfather Sir James Roberts saving Salts Mill from bankruptcy. As his ancestor made his fortune from alpaca wool, so Jamie will walk with alpacas that are coming home to take up residence at the family’s estate this August.

Sir James Roberts, from Haworth, began working in mills aged 11, eventually rising to take over Salts Mill, considered at the time to be the largest industrial building in the world, employing 4,000 people. In 1903 Sir James erected the statue of Sir Titus Salt in what is now known as Roberts Park.
The Kilnsey Estate was purchased by Sir James Roberts’s son Bertram Roberts in 1911 and four generations of the family have lived there. Kilnsey Park was established as a visitor attraction in 1978.

The anniversary begins with the walk from Saltaire and will lead onto a weekend of celebrations at Kilnsey Park on 10th-11th August. The walk will follow a section of the Leeds-Liverpool Canal before continuing in the Dales.
Jamie will be accompanied by the alpacas that will live at the Park visitor attraction. The alpacas have been sourced from prize-winning alpaca breeders at Carlshead Farm near Wetherby.
Kilnsey Park visitor attraction is 11 miles north of Skipton in the Yorkshire Dales.

Website: www.kilnseypark.co.uk

Information courtesy of Saltaire World Heritage:   http://www.saltairevillage.info/news-00296_Trek_from_Saltaire_to_Kilnsey_Park_with_alpacas_010813.html

Aire Sculpture Trail - Saltaire to Shipley

Aire Sculpture Trail - opened 25 May 2013

 



Aire Sculpture Trail

The Aire sculpture trail was officially opened on the 25^th May 2013 by Andrew Mason, Managing Director of Newmason Properties Ltd., and is said to be an integral part of improving the use of the footpath alongside the river Aire between Baildon Bridge and Saltaire.

This development has been created for the benefit of residents and visitors to Saltaire and Shipley.  It adds a visitor attraction to the area and encourages the use of this footpath link.

The project is a collaboration between CBMDC Dept of Regeneration & Culture, Newmason Properties Ltd, Canals & River Trust, Hive Community Arts Organisation and Wycliffe Primary School.

Hive is a community arts organisation based in Shipley that has been delivering high quality creative activity across Bradford for the last 30 years. It commissioned metal sculptor Mick Kirkby Geddes to work with students from Wycliffe Primary School.

Under Micks supervision the children prepared drawings and then made their own sculptures inspired by their thoughts and feelings for this area. Holmfirth based artist Mick has been a professional sculptor since leaving Leeds Polytechnic with a degree in Fine Art in 1988.  He makes sculptures for indoor and outdoor spaces and exhibits his work in galleries, and works regularly with local schools.

There is an Octopus, Pirate Ship, Salt pot slug, Fish & drawers, Fish, Cat bath,
Bird, Skater frog, Snowman, Dog, Alpaca, Submarine, Frog on leaf, and Dinghy dog.

I am puzzled by these sculptures supposedly being about the Shipley/Saltaire area, as the only one amongst them is the Alpaca.  I guess anything is possible when it comes to children's imagination, although I think they could have had a little more "direction" in what the area is really about.

Wonder what other residents think about it?

 

 

York

 

Out trip to York on 5 May 2013

 

The Romans founded the city of York. They invaded Yorkshire in 71 AD and built a fort between the rivers Ouse and Foss. By the mid 2nd century a small town grew up by the fort. Craftsmen and merchants came to live there because the soldiers in the fort provided a market for their goods and ships could sail up the River Ouse.
The Roman name for York was Eboracum, which may be derived from Celtic words meaning the place with yew trees. By the early 3rd century Roman York was protected by a stone wall. In the town there were public buildings such as a baths. Rich people lived in very comfortable houses with mosaic floors.
However in the 4th century Roman civilisation began to break down. The last Roman soldiers left Britain in 407 AD and afterwards Roman towns were abandoned and they fell into ruins.

After the Romans departed York was probably abandoned or nearly abandoned and the old Roman buildings fell into ruins. There may have been a few people living inside the walls farming the land outside but York ceased to be a town.
In 627 a bishop of York was appointed. A cathedral was built inside the walls of the Roman town and a bishop's palace was probably built there as well. It is possible the local Anglo Saxon king built a royal palace inside the Roman walls.
Then in the 8th and 9th centuries the town of York revived. Its position made it an ideal place for trade and so craftsmen came to live there. They probably started weekly markets and goods such as pottery were brought by ship from Europe. By the middle of the 9th century York was a flourishing town once again. However it was probably much smaller than the Roman town with a population of only about 2,000. It is believed that the town was called Eofer's wic (wic meant trading place). The Danes changed its name to Jorvik.
Then in 866 the Vikings conquered northern England and York became the capital of a new Viking kingdom. Viking York boomed and it grew much larger. In the town wool was woven. There were blacksmiths and potters. Other craftsmen made combs from bone and antler. The Danish word for street was gata, which in time became corrupted to 'gate'. Coppergate was cooper gata.

 

By the time of the Norman Conquest in 1066 York was booming and it probably had a population of 9,000 or 10,000.
William the Conqueror built a wooden castle in York. However in 1069 the north of England rebelled. The Normans in the castle were massacred. However William captured York and sacked it. He also built a second wooden castle to control the town.
In 1190 a horrific massacre took place in York. Jews took refuge in the main castle. Some committed suicide. The townspeople set fire to the castle and the rest were persuaded to surrender but they were murdered anyway. Cliffords Tower was built in the mid-13th century to replace the keep of the main castle which had been burned in 1190.
Then in 1212 King John gave York a charter, which allowed the city self-government.

Carlisle Cathedral, Cumbria

The Fractry (Kitchen House) in the grounds of the Cathedral

 

 

The Cathedral Church of the Holy and Undivided Trinity, otherwise called Carlisle Cathedral, is the seat of the Anglican Bishop of Carlisle. It is located in Carlisle, in Cumbria, North West England. It was founded as an Augustinian priory and became a cathedral in 1133.^[1]
Carlisle, because of heavy losses to its fabric, is the second smallest (after Oxford), of England's ancient cathedrals. Its notable features include some fine figurative stone carving, a set of medieval choir stalls and the largest window in the Flowing Decorated Gothic style in England.^[2]

 

 

Settle to Carlisle Train Trip

Today we took a trip on the Settle to Carlisle train line, one of the most travelled in England. The views of the countryside as we sped along were fantastic.

 

The Settle - Carlisle Railway is without doubt one of Britain's most spectacular railway lines.

 

It was the last great mainline railway to be built in this country. Completed for passenger travel in 1876 by the Midland Railway Company, it had taken six years to build. For the 19th century engineers, the landscape presented a tremendous challenge to their ingenuity, skills and abilities.

Consisting of 72 miles of track with 17 major viaducts spanning the ravines and 14 tunnels, the line was constructed by men who lived a harsh life in shanty towns, with little to supplement their manpower except dynamite.
Advertised as the most picturesque route to Scotland, the Victorian and Edwardian travelling public took it to their hearts.

Occasionally private operators organise steam-hauled trains on the line.

There are -

• 380 numbered bridges (including 14 tunnels & 21 viaducts)
• 20 stations (11 open, 9 closed)
• 13 signal boxes (10 operational, 2 preserved (Armathwaite and Settle), 1 disused & derelict (Little Salkeld))
• approximately 150 railway workers’ houses (all now in private ownership)
• approximately 100 line-side huts (all disused and in various stages of decay)
• one aqueduct (recently restored)

Most of the line, from Carlisle to Dent, is in Cumbria, with the section between Ribblehead and Settle in North Yorkshire.

Doncaster Yorkshire

 

Today 4th May 2013, we visited the City of Doncaster

 

Doncaster was founded approximately 71AD by the Romans who had a fort here , the fort was named Danum . The Romans left England in the 4^th century.

The very first Roman fort in the area(approx 40AD) was located at Rossington Bridge just to the south of Doncaster. Rossington Bridge is locally known as Parrots Corner
Doncaster got its name from the Saxon word ceaster meaning fort and the area being called Don,the area was known as Don Ceaster, as time went on the name was shortened to Doncaster. The Saxons created the first settlement which later became Doncaster.

 

Saltaire Vegetable Swap

Vicars Café

Vegetable Swap

 

Calling green-fingered gardeners!..

 

Convert your Greens to Gorgeous Grub!

 

Swap your fresh produce for Vicars Vouchers in the VEG-EX Scheme.

 

The staff of Vicars Bistro on Victoria Road, Saltaire have come up with a fantastic idea.

They are hoping that their food with a heart scheme will bring together the community of Saltaire, enabling local gardeners, college students studying horticulture and anyone else in the area that my be growing their own vegetables to bring along their excess seasonal produce, and in return receive vouchers which can be spent in the bistro.

 

This young man, dressed as a carrot, was enjoying the sunshine as he walked Victoria Road handing out flyers advertising the vegetable swap.

 

He kindly let me take his photo.

 



Saltaire Heritage Weekend

Saltaire Heritage Weekend

          April 2013                                                                                              April 2013

 

 

The Saltaire Heritage Weekend has come and gone for 2013 and I must say that it did not have the same feel about it this time round. Last year the trees and flowers had begun to bloom and lots of visitors enjoyed the canal and Roberts Park activities.

 

This year, the number of visitors seemed to be lacking and the atmosphere around the canal and the park was rather flat. The trees are still bare and the skies still mostly grey, although we have had a little sunshine over the past few days.

 

Come on summer, it is time to shine in the beautiful Saltaire.