After packing, showering and another delicious breakfast, we were on our way to Saltaire near Bradford in West Yorkshire, and another of my Bucket List wishes! I drove while Keith expertly navigated me, although in Saltaire itself we failed to spot the Parking sign and ended up doing a tour of the local hospital car park!
Saltaire wasn't at all how I imagined it and takes its name from its founder, Sir Titus Salt, and the river Aire that flows through the village. Salt made his fortune from the textile industry and was determined to escape the over-crowded and unhealthy centre of Bradford for cleaner country air.
He provided homes for his workers, a church, hospital and a school and provided the elderly with pensions 40 years before the state pension was introduced in Britain. It is a beautiful place but I had imagined it to be more open-plan for some reason and it's a living, working village, not a museum as I had thought.
The mill was closed in 1986 and now houses shops, a David Hockney art exhibition and a cafe. We had a look around the bookshop and then wandered into At Home which was very expensive indeed. Signs everywhere forbidding you from touching anything were a bit off-putting...
 | ||
| Perhaps they could lie on them instead? |
On the ground floor was a shop selling art supplies, art books and paintings. There were fresh white lillies everywhere and a smell of incense but I did find it all a bit smug and self-important.
We started to walk around the heritage trail (the village is a World Heritage site) and I took photos of the lovely little houses but Keith soon said he was bored... As the time was getting on I reluctantly left and we sped back home, arriving just in time to collect Sophie from school!
No comments:
Post a Comment