Saltaire

I had never heard of Saltaire. However, at Al's suggestion, I caught the train to Leeds and then on past Shipley to the village. Saltaire was/is 

a purpose-built 'model' Victorian industrial village, built by the Victorian philanthropist Sir Titus Salt, to provide self-contained living space for the workers at his woollen mills, a welcome alternative to the then "dark satanic mills" of Bradford and Leeds. More recently Salt's Mill has been converted by the late Jonathan Silver into shops and the "1853 Gallery" which houses a collection of the works of the famous artist, David Hockney (who was of course born in Bradford ).

In 2001 Saltaire was designated a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. This is why I felt surprised and rather ashamed at not having heard of it and why it is now a 'destination' in its own right.

The sheer size of the factory made it almost impossible to photograph. Even by 21st century standards it is huge.

And the village is full of rows of houses like this, very orderly...

Haha!

Inside Salt Mill you get vistas like this...

The things that struck me were: the sheer beauty of the factory complex itself; the vision of Titus Salt and his ability to combine humanitarianism with entrepreneurialism; the scope of the enterprise - 3000 workers in the heyday of the factory; the somewhat eerie feeling that I experienced in this whole village preserved in time - there was a disjuncture for me between its original purpose and current 'status'; the contrast between the regimentation of the Victorian industrial architecture and the chaotic exuberance of David Hockney's work; the extremely high quality of the commercial use to which the Salt Building has been put.