Saltaire Collection

Items

• 2022.72: Photographic postcards of Saltaire and Shipley from the early twentieth centuries

  Black and white photographic postcards of various scenes in and near Saltaire and Shipley. Includes: a view of Salts Mill from the United Reformed Church; the bandstand and the status of Sir Titus Salt in Roberts Park; the canal lock near Hirst Wood (about a mile from Saltaire); Market Place in Shipley; the Otley Road bridge over the river AIre in Shipley.
• 2024.33: Salt before Saltaire

  A research document from local historian Les Brook on the history of Sir Titus Salt before the move of his business to Saltaire in 1853. In four parts: Part 1: The investigation starts with snippets of evidence […in Part 2 onwards, I try to make sense of these] 3 Part 2: The Salts’ Early Years in Bradford 12 Part 3: Titus Salt’s Bradford mills 16 Part 4: A Cartographic Summary of Titus Salt’s Bradford before Saltaire
• B1-032/5/5a: Postcard and 3 copies of Mill offices and bridge over the river

  The photograph shows the Mill offices with two men standing by the railings
• 2016.7: Aire Valley Road enquiry

  Ring-bound folder on the Aire Valley Road enquiry: 1984-1996
• C3b-311: Aire Valley Living

  Loose pages of: 'Aire Valley Living' magazine with article on Saltaire
• 2025.52.9: Aire Valley Advertiser 1942013 'Crowds warm to alpacas as sun shines on Saltaire Festival'

  Aire Valley Advertiser 19.4.2013 'Crowds warm to alpacas as sun shines on Saltaire Festival'. News article to celebrate the 2013 Saltaire World Heritage Weekend. Includes colour photographs
• 2025.52.10: Aire Valley Advertiser 1242013

  Aire Valley Advertiser 12.4.2013 'Crowds warm to alpacas as sun shines on Saltaire Festival'. News article explaining the full programme of events for 2013 Saltaire World Heritage Weekend. Includes colour photographs
• Saltaire Cricket Club

  Saltaire Cricket Club was founded in 1869 and still operates today. It's home has always been Roberts (orginally Saltaire) Park where it has a scenic pitch and pavillion with a backdrop of the River Aire, Salts Mill and the United Reformed Church. Among its more famous players was the England bowler Sydney Barnes who played for the club between 1915 and 1925 and helped Saltaire win the Bradford League three times. Jim Laker, the outstanding England spin bowler of the 1950s, lived in Shipley, attended the Salt High School and played for the Cricket Club in the late 1930s. The club remains very active today playing in the Aire & Wharefdale Senior Cricket League.
• B1-218b: Poetry or Bust

  Booklet: 'Poetry or Bust' a play by Tony Harrison. It tells the story of John Nicholson a sometime woolsorter but published playwrite and poet known as the 'Airedale Poet'. Despite some success, Nicholson moved to Bradford and found work with Titus Salt as a woolsorter. He died while trying to cross the River Aire in 1943 in what became Saltaire about 10 years later. Tony Harrison's play tells the story of Nicholson's life and was first performed in Salts Mill in 1993, 150 years after his death and only 100 metres or so from where he tried to cross the river.
• C2b-032.3: Saltaire boathouse in 1900s

  Photograph of Saltaire boathouse in early 1900s showing steamboat on the river Aire. A large number of people are visible watching the steamboat from both banks of the river.
• 2026.5: 1872 When samurai came to Saltaire

  A PowerPoint presentation of 46 slides used to support a talk given by local historian Les Brook to the Saltaire History Club about the visit to Saltaire in 1872 by the Iwakura Embassy. The Iwakura Embassy was a global mission by high-ranking officials from Japan to industrialised countries to obtain information helpful in the modernisation of Japan. The talk deals with the background of the mission and then describes their visit to Britain, including Bradford and the surrounding distict in late October 1872. They came to Saltaire on 25 October and the talk describes their being met by Titus Salt Junior and company director Charles Stead, and their tour of the village including the High School, primary school, almshouses, and park.
• C2b-110: Salts Mill and river bridge

  Photograph of Salts Mill and river bridge by Walter Scott
• C2b-261: The Cricket Pavillion in Roberts Park and river

  A 'Walter Scott' postcard of the Cricket Pavillion and river.
• H2-208.106: Baker Letters - regarding: sale of Milner House and land; land south of river is still for sale

  Confidential - Mr Robinson & Mr Foster (solicitor) offered for Milner House; Sold to Mr Foster including land between Primrose Land & Baildon Bridge for £72,500 plus furniture; land south of river is still for sale
• H2-208.129: Baker Letters - regarding: Met Midland engineer; workshop; Hirst Mill and cottages; sale of stables and fields; sale of land between river and canal

  Met Midland engineer; Mr Normington erected workshop; Glynn Thomas occupies Higher Hirst Mill & cottages & may buy mill; Mr Feather, butcher, wants to buy stables & fields; man who bought Clarke’s greengrocer also wants land between river & canal
• 2024.115.3: Connecting the threads: From Altiplano to Airedale: 3 The journey from Puno to Arequipa

  One of a set of research documents on the production of alpaca wool in Peru and its subsequent journey to the United Kingdom for use in the textile industry. Part three details the difficulties of transporting alpaca wool from the remote, high Andean region of the Altiplano down to the coast of Peru where it was to be transported by ship.
• C4a-016-15: Saltaire History Club

  Various documents relating to Saltaire History Club and Saltaire Exhibitions, - Laminated copy of Airevalley Advertiser report on a map of the Aire Valley from 1840 - 19 July 2013 6ft Map of the Aire Valley rescued from the tip
• Playing Fields, Saltaire, West Yorkshire, United Kingdom

  The Playing Fields are a recreational area near the bottom of Victoria Road and near the River Aire on the edge of Saltaire. Salts Sports Association is based here and there are football and cricket grounds and Salts Tennis Club
• B1-077: Salts Mill

  Copy of postcard of the New Mill from the River Aire
• B1-313a-b: Salts Mill and weir

  Photograph of Salts Mill and weir on the river Aire