MONDAY.
The 2008 journey thus far: 224 Locks & 334 Miles & 26 Swing\Lift Bridges
Journeys using bus pass: 14
Another day practising to be permanent moorers (only joking- we still wave and talk to people).
We walked back along the towpath to Saltaire and looked around the model village. Sir Titus named the streets after his family. It is, perhaps, as well that he did not plan a city, as he would have required the services of a full time mill manager.
The quality of the buildings always gives us pleasure. Whatever your views may be concerning workers housed by mill owners, very handy to his mill and his shops; he could have built the houses with inferior materials at less cost. He did not. The streets of solid, no nonsense houses look just right, set out according to plan. The hospital was built in 1856, closely followed in 1859 by the Grade 1 listed United Reform Church, a real gem. It comes as a welcome surprise that Saltaire was designated as a UNSECO world heritage site in 2001.
We caught a bus to Shipley and walked around the town centre. I feel that a UNESCO heritage site designation is unlikely here; evidence is all around of a planning department headed by Rip van Winkle. I have discovered something this year about Yorkshire towns. I must tread carefully here. Myra was born in Yorkshire of Yorkshire parents. I would never have described them as careful with money, tight or mean. So why has everyone at council level become so mean that you are charged 20p to urinate safe from the gaze of others?
I wanted to see the railway station, as it is located in the centre of a triangle with platform faces on three sides, not unique, but fairly rare. We then walked back along the towpath to Martlet at Hirst Lock.
Weather light winds, overcast with sunny intervals.
