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: 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

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.

 

Fire on the canal

Spotted this paper boat on fire in the Canal on Wednesday 18 July whilst looking out my window.  It was set alight by Teachers with a group of school children and placed into the canal, it quickly burnt away as it moved slowly down the canal.  I just wonder what it signified ?

Saltaire - Queen's visit to Pace

Firstly, I am not a royalist and the money spent this year for Her Majesty's Jubilee is estimated to be around 3 billions pounds.... that is obscene. So when I heard that she was to visit the Pace Corporation in Saltaire (the building next door to mine),  I decided to take a short walk to mingle and queue with the crowd (not that large) just to observe what actually happens and see all the pomp and ceremony that happens when the Queen visits, and maybe get a couple of photos, as photography is my main hobby at the moment.

The general talk of the crowd was about when and where they may have seen her before, how wonderful she is and how much they actually love the royals.  Made me wonder just how many of them actually know just how much her visit is hitting their own pockets. I thought of raising the question with a few around me, but after witnessing one incident of people being accused of "pushing in" in front of others, and some not so nice words being exchanged, I decided to keep my thoughts to myself...!

Her visit  was rather swift, arriving amidst police motobikes and security cars and she was quickly ushered from her car into the building without even a glance towards her "loyal followers", who had queued for hours to see her.  The party departed an hour and half later, once again she slipped into the car which was parked across the doorway, and driven away surrounded by her security entourage and managed a little wave here and there through the car window. 

Well, I have now satisfied my curiousity with the royal family and I'm afraid I am not impressed; standing on the cobbles for 5 hours just to catch a glimpse of the wealthiest woman in the world, who is not really interested in acknowledging her "people", is not my idea of fun.

See photos below that I managed to catch quickly as it all happened.



Awaiting her arrival
 

Last minute preparations

 

At last, she is here

Not too impressed, it seems that the Queen did not want to mingle

Wonder what she was looking at here ?

Back in the car, on her way back to Leeds/Bradford Airpot

24 May 2012

Lots of people taking advantage of the brilliant weather in Roberts Park, Saltaire and partaking of some ales in the Boathouse Inn across the River Aire.

Saltaire Arts Trail

Saltaire Arts Trail

Taking a rest it seems for this dog at the Saltaire Arts Trail 2012.

Saltaire Arts Trail

Saltaire Arts Trail

Designer maker Daniel Vangrove puts a bespoke slant on natural materials. Each individual creation, from a stone fireplace to a champagne tray is unique. Crafted by hand his designs are both contemporary and traditional.

Saltaire Arts Trail

Amanda Glanville, checking her orders for the day at the Saltaire Arts Trail. Amanda had a very impressive display.  She works with luscious jewel-coloured crystals, rare vintage beads, subtle semi precious stones, fabulous coloured enamelled wire and feathers dyed to order.

She offers lots of ideas to suit short and long hair, cute tots to finicky grown ups, themes and colours schemes, showbiz occasions and classic or contemporary weddings.

Affordable and clever solutions for the whole wedding party from Tiaras to Headpieces, Frou Frous to funky Hair Jewels, with matching necklaces, earrings and bracelets.  The tiaras are measured and made to fit, and many can be cleverly worn as necklaces afterwards.

You can see Amanda's work at

www.catstiaras.co.uk

&

www.earringcafe.co.uk

Roberts Park Flowers

The flowers in Roberts Park always take my eye with their brilliant colours. Unfortunately they are starting to die off now

Steampunk

In Quiet Reflection, a photo by Coatsey1 on Flickr.

Steampunk also refers to art, fashion, and design that are informed by the aesthetics of Steampunk literature.  Various modern utilitarian objects have been modded by individual artisans into a pseudo-Victoian mechanical "steampunk" style, and a number of visual and musical artists have been described as steampunk.
This particular lady wore a beautiful black & gold dress.

Steampunk

Steampunk, a photo by Coatsey1 on Flickr.

Steampunk gentleman in Saltaire for World Heritage Weekend.

Steampunk is a genre which came into prominence during the 1980s and early 1990s and incorporates elements of science fiction, fantasy, alternate history, horror, and speculative fiction.  It involves a setting where steam power is widely used - whether in an alternate history such as Victorian Era Britain or "Wild West" - era, United States, or in a post-apocalyptic time; that incorporates elements of either science fiction or fantasy.