Linthorpe WI: Saltaire: 13.08.14

Saltaire United Reformed Church

We were greeted at the Church (yes - that's the church!) by "Mrs Dooley" ( a 'common' mill worker), "Sarah" (a nurse from the hospital) and "Mrs Hill" (the Security Chief's wife). As we enjoyed tea and biccies, and the wonderful hospitality of the Saltaire United Reformed Church, we were greeted to a wonderful talk by Mrs Dooley about the dilemma of her bloomers! The night before, she had washed them in preparation for us visiting, but they were still damp this morning so she put them out on the line. Unfortunately, putting washing out on the line is against the Rules for living in Saltaire and so her bloomers were confiscated by the ever-vigilant Security Manager, Mr Hill.

Rules for Living in Saltaire Village

In desperation, Mrs Dooley went to the Hill home to try to reclaim her bloomers and plead her case to Mrs Hill, who took pity on Mrs Dooley and gave her a pair of her own bloomers, complete with lace trim. Mrs Dooley was so impressed by these bloomers that she showed them to us all!!! Mrs Hill was not amused and quickly told Mrs Dooley that she did not need the bloomers returned.

Mrs Hill

Once we had completed our tea we were led up to the church itself, which has been faithfully restored after some recent vandalism. It was beautiful.

On entering the church we were led past the statue of Titus Salt which was installed after his death:

Titus Salt statue - in the Saltaire United Reformed Church

The creatures at his feet are Alpacas, which are where he made his fortune, by finding a technique to spin the wool from these animals and creating a beautiful, soft and highly sought-after fabric. Sarah, Mrs Dooley and Mrs Hill told us more the history of Titus Salt and Saltaire.

Sarah - in Saltaire Church

It was interesting to hear that Titus Salt didn't feel that he was any more important than anyone else, and so did not claim the first or even the second bench in the church. He actually preferred to sit in the third bench back from the front. However, his wife Caroline, felt that they were more important than this and wanted something grander to set them apart from the rest of the congregation. She nagged and nagged and eventually he caved in and built her a balcony at the back of the church so that she could sit above the entryway and above the rest of the congregation. However, he remained in the third pew. However, Titus had not made it this far in the world without having some wiles about him: He made the spiral staircase up to the balcony, the doorway onto the balcony and the balcony itself so narrow that it was virtually impossible for Caroline to actually get up there in her huge fashionable crinoline skirts! If she did manage to struggle her way onto the balcony, he had huge hanging lights installed in the church, which literally block the balcony from view and prevent anyone sitting on the balcony from seeing the service or being seen. Caroline resumed her usual seat next to her husband on the third pew.

They explained that Saltaire is built on a grid-system with each of the streets being named after members of the Salt family. Hence we have Titus Street, Caroline Street, Amelia Street, etc. The 11 children each had a street named after them ( but Mrs Dooley was quick to add that she has 12 with one on the way!)

We were each assigned an identity for the day. I was Gabrielle Laycock:

My identity for the day

We were then split into three groups and our guides set off to tell us more about Saltaire. We joined Mrs Hill for the expedition:

Mrs Hill

Our first stop was at the building which served as the dining hall for the mill workers. Note Titus Salt's emblem above the door. The whole village is littered with his emblems, busts and monogram - it's like a treasure hunt trying to spot them all!

Saltaire Mill Dining Hall

There was space in this dining room for 800 people to eat at any one time. They could purchase food there or bring their own to eat on the premises. This was the main entryway to the dining room, accessed from the road, but there was also a tunnel which led direct from the Mill to the dining room, running under the roadway, which allowed for a safer and quicker route for the Mill workers. We found the entrance to the tunnel at the Mill:

Underground tunnel to the dining hall

We next visited the school. Children were expected to attend the school for a half-day (and work in the Mill for the remaining half-day): some children worked in the morning and attended school in the afternoon, others attended school in the morning and attended school in the morning. The school had two entrances - one for boys and one for girls; and three playgrounds (including a wet-weather one!) Again, note the emblem above the door, and Titus Salt's monogram was on the iron gates.

Saltaire School

Across the road from the school was the Institute. This was basically the social hub of the village, even housing a gymnasium!

Saltaire Institute

Note the Salt emblem above the door. Above each of the upper windows you may just be able to see a face? These are busts of the Greek Gods and it is interesting to note that the extreme right one is of a laughing "Bacchus" (the God of wine) which is ironic, considering that it was banned in Saltaire. It is also interesting to note that the window above the door, much higher than the other windows, contains the bust of Titus Salt:

Saltaire Institute

We then started our walk around the streets looking at the various houses that comprised Saltaire. As we passed each street, Mrs Hill pointed out the houses that our various personalities for the day lived in. Those with more authority had front gardens:

George Street, Saltaire

Mrs Hill was also quick to point out her own home, complete with tower from which her husband could keep a check on the whole village to ensure that they were adhering to the rules. She said that they were not well-liked in the village:

Mrs Hill's home in Saltaire

As we sat on the site of what used to be the wash and bath houses, Mrs Hill explained how Titus Salt didn't believe in letting anything go to waste. Inside the Mill there were separate toilets for men and women. He collected the pee from these and used the women's pee (much better quality) to treat the alpaca wool. The men's pee was sent to the tannery to cure the leather. If you were a red-headed lady then you had your own toilet as your pee was more precious than any! He also collected the poo.... It was boiled with the tallow and oils, etc from the wool and whatever raised to the surface was skimmed off and sent to the cosmetic industry to be used in LIPSTICK!!! The remainder was sent off to be used in MARGARINE!!!!

The whole guided tour was interesting, informative and extremely entertaining - and it is highly recommended for anyone wishing to visit Saltaire. This is where the guide left us and we were free to explore Saltaire at our leisure.

After a delicious lunch at the café inside the Mill, and a mooch around the shop, we decided to explore the park. First we crossed the bridge over the canal and waved at the canal-boats passing underneath us (they waved back too!)

Mrs Hill had earlier explained that this was also not without it's rules. It was open every day but most people would not have been able to visit it as they would have been at work in the Mill. At dusk the bell was tolled and you had to vacate the park immediately via a PROPER exit, not by jumping over the wall, and you also had to keep off the grass. All transgressions were punished by fines of 3d.