Mill power

SALTAIRE is a Victorian "model" village, conceived by textile baron Sir Titus Salt and built between 1851 and 1876.

Situated four and a half miles from Bradford, the village was built to house his textile mill and workforce for the spinning and weaving of Alpaca wool.

His dream was to create: "A paradise on the sylvan banks of the Aire, far from the stench and vice of the industrial city."

The industrial village is almost unchanged since it was built by Sir Titus.

After a period of decline, it is now an example of post-industrial renewal.

Today, Salts Mill enjoys a new lease of life after being converted by the late Jonathan Silver into the 1853 Gallery, which houses a collection of works by local boy made good, the artist David Hockney, who was born in nearby Bradford.

Mr Silver bought the mill in 1987 and dubbed his venture 1853 Gallery after the year in which the mill was opened for manufacturing fabrics.

As well as works by Hockney, the gallery also displays Burmantoft ceramics from a pottery in Leeds.

The mill's basement houses Zeba, which sells handmade wollen rugs and cotton fabrics.

The floor above the gallery accommodates a bookshop, with its exclusive range of Hockney posters, and the popular Salts Diner, with its cute logo - a sketch by Hockney of one of his pet dachshunds.

Upstairs again, and you enter the enchanting world of opera - thanks to a display of the stage sets Hockney designed for productions of The Magic Flute, A Rake's Progress and Le Rossignol.

On the same floor is the relaxing Caf In To The Opera... ideally placed for an espresso.

Outside the mill is the United Reformed Church, one of the nation's most precious Victorian buildings. Built for the then princely sum of £16,000, it opened in 1859. It is a wonderful example of Italianite religious architecture and includes the Salt family's mausoleum.

In December 2001, Saltaire was designated by Unesco as a world heritage site, joining the likes of Salzburg, the Great Wall of China and Australia's Great Barrier Reef.

This accolade was the result of long campaign by the Saltaire Village Society.

Unesco said: "Saltaire is an outstanding and well-preserved example of a mid-19th century industrial town, the layout of which was to exert a major influence on the development of the 'garden city' movement.

"Its textile mills, public buildings and workers' housing are built in a harmonious style of high architectural standards and the urban plan survives intact, giving a vivid impression of Victorian philanthropic paternalism."

Fact file

Salts Mill, Victoria Road, Saltaire, Shipley, BD18 3LB. Tel: 01274 531163.

Website: www.saltsmill.org.uk

Open every day from 10am to 6pm.

There is no entrance charge and parking is free, but restricted during the week.

Updated: 08:50 Saturday, May 03, 2003