Bingley and southwards

20th Sep

Saltaire, Salts Mill - credit: J

We had a change of venue today, transferring to cousin Tessa's place in Bingley on the outskirts of Bradford. This included driving from Huddersfield to Halifax, just like happens endlessly in the TV series Last Tango in Halifax. It's a very hilly part of Yorkshire, due to the numerous river valleys that are also responsible for the siting of a large number of 19th century woollen mills. These are large, sometimes immense, brick or stone buildings, usually with a tall chimney. Those remaining are mostly now converted to apartments, offices and other commercial uses, but we saw a few derelict examples too. There is also the Leeds and Liverpool canal, and the railways following the original 19th century routes, so lots of reminders of the industrial revolution. The countryside itself is verdant green, and very country - farm land, trees, hedgerows - but the industrial heritage adds an extra twist when juxtaposed.

Saltaire, overseer's houses - credit: J 

After a rendezvous at Tessa's, the five of us (including cousin Kay and aunt Sally) visited Saltaire. This is a strange but fascinating place - a purpose built "model" (as in role, not tiny) village built to support a huge mill. The owner Titus Salt had 5 mills in Bradford and hated the appalling conditions the mill workers lived in, so in the 1850s built a much bigger mill on the banks of the River Aire, then built houses, schools, churches, infirmary, social halls, shops etc for the mill workers. The bosses got bigger terrace houses with gardens at the front, while the workers got small 2 up 2 down terraces.

Saltaire, workers cottages - credit: S

The downside was Titus Salt's egomaniacal streak (eg buildings had to be t-shaped to align with his first name), and his very strict rules, including no alcohol which he saw as a major reason for social issues among the poor. He wasn't however a teetotaller himself, so no doubt supped on fine wines while preaching the evils of liquor. There is now a bar called "Don't tell Titus".

Inside Salts Mill and Titus himself - credit: J

The mill itself is absolutely gargantuan - the photos don't do it justice: the internal photo shows a room that is about a third of the length at most, at the external photo is only one of the buildings. The main weaving shed was next door and housed 1200 looms. Weirdly, the primary source of wool was alpaca from south America. Now the village is just a normal village and the mill is a tourist attraction, filled with gallery space, shops and cafes. The artist David Hockney hailed from these parts, and a number of his works are housed here, including a recent collection all produced on an iPad!
There seems to be a link with the Glyde family - Reverend Jonathan Glyde from Exeter was Titus's friend with similar social views, and there is a plaque to William Evans Glyde in the church. I'm planning to research this further: Glyde is a rare name, there must be a connection to the Dorset Glydes.

Bangles 5 rise lock - credit:J

Later in the day, after tea and scones at Tessa's, we walked to the nearby canal to see the Bingley three rise and five rise locks. The Leeds and Liverpool canal was built in the 1770s for transporting coal and is 127 miles long with 91 locks, not surprising given that it crosses the Penines. The Bingley 5 rise locks are the steepest staircase locks in the UK and as they're not far from the 3 rise locks, it would make for a tedious trip along that stretch of the canal.

That evening, it was into Bradford for a "traditional" northern curry at the Karachi restaurant once visited and praised by Risk Stein. Great no frills curries, sublime mango lassi! And appropriately, we stopped in at the Titus Salt pub for a drink, and later Jeremy and Martin sampled a few whiskies.




21st Sep

Melton Mowbray - credit:J

Off down south today, with a 5 hour drive to Dedham in Suffolk (actually, it's just over the border into Essex, but who wants to admit to going on holiday to Essex!). The motorways delivered us very efficiently to our first stop, Melton Mowbray. Jeremy is a huge pork pie fan, and this is the home of the pork pie and of Stilton cheese. It's quite a nice little town, but the pork pies are the star. In spite of the dubious name, Ye Olde Pie Shoppe does the best pie around. Jeremy went for the Stilton topped pot pie, while I stuck with the more traditional version. They didn't disappoint.

Stamford School - credit: J

Next stop was Stamford, where Jeremy lived for a few years in the early 70s. The centre of the town is a historic gem, with wonderful old honey-coloured stone buildings, often rickety, sometimes very grand. We wandered through his old school, some of which had changed significantly, including the fact girls now attend (J said "we didn't have those in my day, I would have remembered them"). He actually boarded there for one term, so checked out his boarding house before going off to his favourite fish and chip shop (now a chinese takeaway) where he and his mates used to buy the little scrappy bits of batter for next to nothing.

The Glyde residence was slightly out of town in a country lane. It's now surrounded by a huge hedge so we couldn't see it, but it's still called Long Acre as named by Jim (Jeremy's dad) and is now a cattery. Last stop was Uffingham to see Jol's (Jeremy's brother) school. All the mums were clustered around waiting to pick up kids, so we couldn't do more than a quick photo.

Another 2 hours of motorways and we arrived in Dedham - more on that next time. We had a very nice early meal at the Sun Inn pub before crashing into bed for 10 hours sleep!