Saltaire Village Yorkshire

Saltaire Church

David Hockney galleries, a Round Church, a Reed Organ museum and a model village are just some of the highlights to savor on a trip to Saltaire. The village was founded in 1853 by Sir Titus Salt for the workers in the mill and their families. It included neat stone houses with running water, a hospital, an Institute for recreation and education now called Victoria Hall where music and dance events are staged. The village also provided almshouses, allotments, a park and a boathouse which was recently damaged in a fire.
Sir Titus was a canny philanthropist siting his massive mill complex between the river Aire and the Leeds Liverpool canal alongside a railway station that is still open on the Leeds to Settle line. To get staff to move over 10 miles from Bradford he needed to make some facilities available but the model village has stood the test of time and is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The mill has fantastic vaulted ceilings and stone slabs for flooring that would pull down many modern buildings. The space is now used by the NHS, an electronics manufacturer but mostly as a unique exhibition and retail space. As the UK home for displaying David Hockney’s works the mill has 3 floors of singular works by this artist from telephone book covers to Opera sets, photographic montages to paintings in several mediums. Interspersed are retail opportunities notably specials book sales and 3 eateries. The whole facility exudes quality and this is replicated on their web site

The Saltaire streets are given girls names that are reminiscent of a gone by era like Maud Street and Grace Street. (Sorry if these are popular modern names but I doubt that somehow)

Aire I saw elba

Credit
Saltaire Church by JohnSeb CC BY-SA 2.0

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