Visit to Salts Mill in Saltaire

Saltaire was built as a model village and now is a UNESCO world heritage site. It was created by the Victorian textile mill owner and philanthropist Sir Titus Salt. The housing which was much superior to the living accommodation for mill workers in nearby towns, architecture and parks are really interesting but the biting cold wind prevented us from wandering around on this occasion.

We made for Salts Mill, now a huge art gallery which was set up by someone I knew, a young entrepreneur called Jonathan Silver who bought the mill in his early twenties and set up the gallery. Being a personal friend of the famous artist David Hockney meant that a lot of his work could be displayed there. Sadly, Jonathan passed away at a very young age and now the mill is run by his wife Maggie and brother Robin.

On the approach to the mill there is a railway line, the River Aire and the canal, a more modern textile factory, a large bike company and a music school and shop. On the website it said that dogs were allowed as long as they were carried and my husband said he was up for that so the dog came too. It was not our first visit to the mill but it had been a long time since our last visit. The Hockney works took up the walls of the ground floor long gallery. Some of the work was painted and some was produced on his ipad and all were annotated. The flooring, windows and radiators are all remains of another era.

Down the middle of the long room were tables of art books, prints, notebooks and other mementos. There were also huge vases and other ornaments made by Burmantofts pottery and wooden seating which looked like old pews from a church which came in handy when the dog became too heavy to carry. There are a further two floors of cafes and galleries and we could smell something appetising emanating from there as it was lunchtime.

At the entrance to the mill is a stunning 8 ft ceramic mural of Bradford by German artist Grete Marks. For many years the piece which was was hidden behind a false wall in a city centre office, was restored and now has pride of place in the foyer of Salts Mill.

I loved this chair

We tried to find the little light railway which takes you up to the top of the glen where there are peacocks milling about, or at least they used to be when we used to go with the children. We found the start of the railway which only runs on weekends and ate our picnic lunch in the car as we hadn't dressed for such cold weather. The flask of hot coffee was very welcome.

On the way home we saw woods absolutely carpeted in bluebells giving the floor a wash of colour.

Richmond and Kiplin Hall in North Yorkshire

Being a pleasant and warm day, we decided to make a trip to Richmond in North Yorkshire. This market town on the River Swale, the fastest flowing river in England, has a lot of history. Its castle is one of the finest examples of Norman military architecture and the gas works installed in 1821 made Richmond the first town of its size to enjoy public street lighting. More recently it has become know for being the constituency of Rishi Sunak, the last Prime Minister, who resides close by.

We parked by the river where the water cascades over the rocks and there is a beach of cobbles.

It was fairly busy and, for the first time this year, people were exposing their pale limbs to the sun as if they had been living underground for the winter.  

We then went on the Kiplin Hall, a four hundred year old stately home on a 90 acre site which was formerly a hunting lodge. Since our last visit, the entrance had changed and there was now had a new café and courtyard which cleverly blended in to the rest of the property.

We had enjoyed the walled garden on our last visit which was in high summer but, apart from the spring bulbs, there was very little to see at this time of year. 

The Hall overlooks a large lake with a path and woodland so we began to walk around it. We passed a bird hide where binoculars had been thoughtfully provided and saw people fishing before reaching the folly.

The Folly had previously been empty but the interior had now been make into an ecological education centre with illustrations of wildflowers, animals and insects to be found here including some containers which you had to sniff to see if you could recognise the scent of various animals! There was also a whiteboard and pens to draw or write on. Mainly children had drawn the birds, ducks and swans they had observed with creatively spelt labels. A couple approached us and advised us not to go much further as the lake had overflown and wasn't passable without waterproof boots. We returned to the Hall which, although containing many interesting artefacts and illustrations of how the gentry and servants lived in bygone days, we couldn't leave the dog. We returned to the café, had tea and a cheese and apple chutney sandwich  before setting off for home.

A trip to the Yorkshire Dales

We took advantage of an unseasonably warm and dry day for a trip to the Yorkshire Dales.

Although we know the area well, we never tire of the beauty of the spectacular landscape. We saw waterfalls, new lambs, snowdrops and hawthorn leaves emerging.

Taking a footpath which forms part of the Pennine Way, we made our way to Gayle Falls which is a favourite view as we have a print by Sam Chadwick on the wall of our living room.

From there we visited  the Wensleydale Creamery where we sampled and purchased some cheese.

 The boys didn’t look happy about waiting outside

Definitely one for the memory bank!

Day trip to Cleethorpes

 After all the recent fog, it was great to see some sunshine.

I was pleasantly surprised by this seaside town which is situated on the Humber Estuary in North East Lincolnshire. 

There is a pier which houses a large fish and chip café

We had our sandwiches and coffee before taking a stroll on the beach. The tide was out but there were loads of shells (people and dogs too) but sadly no sea glass to add to my collection.  Many large boat and tankers were sailing up and down the estuary which enters the North Sea.  

We had a walk round the large boating lake in the park

We saw seagulls, geese, ducks, coots and swans

The bridge leads to the a light railway

Cleethorpes has Amusement Arcades, activities for children and a variety of eating places.  

Choose a sunny day and give it a go!

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Advent stories

 It's that time of the year again when Loren hosts  annual tradition of writers sharing small, spooky Advent stories at  https://isawlightningfall.blogspot.com/  .  Bearing in mind that spooky is definitely not my genre and with just 100 words to play with, here is mine.

“This must be heaven” thought John. Faces were peering down on him and could just about make out an angel, a nun and, surely not, with a fluffy white beard, Father Christmas! Confused, John attempted to sit up but the nun placed a restraining hand on his shoulder.

“You’re in safe hands now,” said the angel soothingly.

John began to relax until Father Christmas whipped out a stethoscope saying “Luckily for you we had just left the hospital on our way to a party when we found you on the road. It’s hell out there on the black ice.”  

Go to the blog to read more ..... if you dare!

Festive greetings

Fireworks in the Park

 Although there won't be fireworks for Guy Fawkes Night in our local parks (funding cuts and health and safety issues), there were indeed fireworks in the two parks we visited this week.

Roundhay Park

Golden Acre Park

Seascapes and Sandscapes

On a recent visit to Burton Constable Hall, we enjoyed an exhibition of photographs by Steve Morantz, who is part of East Riding Artists.  The exhibition is called At the Edge and we particularly enjoyed the atmospheric works which depict seascapes, sandscapes and scenes of Hornsea, where Steve lives, and the wider East Yorkshire Coast. What’s more, we could name every location!

The exhibition runs until 8^th December 2024

Burton Constable Hall

 The Orangerie

 We have visited the house many times which has some fascinating artefacts