Savile Town Marina, Dewsbury, South Yorkshire

After breakfast I lay the travel options for the day in front of The Chauffeur and he chose a mix’n match day just to surprise me.

Firstly we parked near the centre of Dewsbury in the Asda superstore, popping in first to buy a couple of bits to justify our presence in the car park. From here it was a simple matter of walking across the bridged River Calder, through the bus terminal and up to the market stalls. We were surprised to find the streets no busier than when we had visited on Monday, however were astounded to find the previously empty market area crammed with every possible item that could be sold , with special emphasis on ladieswear suitable for the fashion conscience Moslem women. The ladies shopping in the market were nearly all covered head to foot in their camouflage robes of black, dark eyes peering through a narrow head shroud slit and pretty feet peeping out under the hems. We walked through the market, crossing it this way and then the other, then back toward the bus terminal where we encountered a entertaining sight. A swarthy little man of mature years, dressed in loose pants and a long tunic shirt under a fleece jacket, exited the terminal beside his bicycle, a lawnmower on a rope tow. I stopped and gawped in wonder and another chap standing near explained to me that he was a regular of the town, mowing many lawns about the area, always travelling in this manner. “Brilliant!” I exclaimed wishing I had been quicker with my camera.

From Dewsbury we headed north through a tangle of roads, through Bradford toward Shipley, none of these very far south of Skipton, and soon arrived at Saltaire, a Victorian model industrial village and textile mill designated UNESCO World Heritage Site status in 2001. The village, still lived in today, covers an area of twenty five acres and was built between 1851 and 1876, modelled on buildings of the Italian Renaissance, designed by architects Lockwood and Mawson and engineer William Fairbairn. Salt’s Mill, is larger than St Paul’s Cathedral in London and was the biggest factory in the world when it was opened in 1853, having a total floor area of 55,000 square yards.

Prior to his grand project, in 1836 Titus Salt was already experimenting with alpaca wool, mixing it with sheep’s wool and angora, creating a new fabrics that kick started the foundation of his fortune. Twelve years later, when running a mill in the cesspit that was Bradford, he became Mayor of Bradford. In this position he was more able to see for himself the overriding horrors of the textile industry and the associated social problems. In 1849 cholera broke out in the town, claiming several hundred lives, and Titus began his plan to save the world, or at least that little part he could. 

Three years later he purchased land adjacent to the Leeds Liverpool Canal and the River Aire, and began construction of the giant mill complex, which brought together all the processes required to turn raw wool into finished cloth. The mill was completed in record time, and initially the workers were transported out to Saltaire on special trains from Bradford timetabled to coincide with shift patterns until the new housing was completed.

Like New Lanark in Scotland, schools and institutes, infirmaries and leisure spaces were all provided for the employees and their families. Titus Salt was another of this rare  species; a rich entrepreneurial philanthropist. When he died in 1876 at the age of seventy three, over 100,000 people lined the funeral route. 

During his lifetime, he had retained sole ownership of the company, but after his death, his family became shareholders. Younger son Titus Junior took over the reins and continued his father’s legacy, however after he died suddenly at the age of forty four in 1887, the business coffers were bled in the pursuit of pleasure by the rest of the family and in serious financial straits, the mill was sold to a syndicate of local businessmen in 1893. It was subsequently modernised and extended and two years later was operating at maximum output.

 

By 1902 James Roberts, one of the syndicate, had bought his partners out, continuing the great works of Sir Titus Salt, and managed to have himself created a baronet in 1909. In 1918 the mill and village changed hands yet again, and muddled through the next decade. Alas, in 1929 when prices slumped after the Crash, the village was sold off. With this capital input the mill was able to carry on all the way through to 1986 when international competition eventually forced the mill to close. All the machines were removed and the building was put up for sale.

Jonathan Silver, who was then about thirty eight at the time, purchased the mill and began immediately to transform the mill into a venue for the arts, leisure and business. Within five months the 1853 Gallery opened, featuring an exhibition by David Hockney, and it is Hockney’s work that fills three floors of the mill delighting the visitor today, no less yours truly and her husband. And most importantly we discovered that Hockney was so much more than paintings of swimming pools; we decided we loved his work and both agreed that he is an incredibly talented artist. I say “still”; he has just celebrated his eightieth birthday. It should be noted that here is the largest retrospective collection of the works of Hockney, Bradford born, hence the connection.

Salt’s Mill was created by a man of great vision and has ultimately been saved by another with a similar passion, albeit with a different end game. Sadly Jonathan Silver died of cancer in 1997 however his family have continued his legacy. Hopefully they will not end up the disappointment that Salt’s descendants turned out to be.

We were delighted to find ample and free parking in the Visitor’s car park, and everything about the Mill even more wonderful. Inside the Mill, there are café’s and art, craft and furniture shops filling the spaces between the gallery walls, a film that explains the history of Saltaire (a combination of the names Salt and the River Aire) and beyond, the Grade I listed United Reform Church and Mausoleum which houses the remains of the Master, and the exterior of the Shipley College, Victoria Hall, the workers cottages and the New Mill, this latter now leased out to the NHS. We checked out the canal and the assortment of narrowboats tied up alongside the towpath, and the weir on the river.

It was mid-afternoon before we left and came on south to Dewsbury stopping by at Asda to take advantage of the wellpriced diesel and to replenish the wine cellar and fridge with fresh provisions.