Stockeld Park: Inside West Yorkshire amusement park

Few industrial sites are reputed for their aesthetics. Styleless, imposing and billowing smoke, few would expect anything of the sort to be considered prized cultural capital.

Saltaire in West Yorkshire provides what is perhaps England’s best exception. 

This Victorian model village on the outskirts of the city of Bradford represented, in its day, the pinnacle of enlightened 19th-century urban planning. 

Built for the workers of a large textile mill, its rows of terraced houses and the surrounding amenities have been well-preserved. Since 2001 it has been a designated UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Perhaps best of all in the throes of staycation mania, it remains off the mass tourism track.

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Titus Salt was a leading Yorkshire wool magnate. In 1853 he set about creating an integrated mill complex near Shipley, shrewdly situated between the railway and the Leeds to Liverpool Canal.

His utopian vision contrasted sharply from the squalor of the Bradford slums. Local architects Francis Lockwood and William Mawson were drafted in for the project that would take two decades to complete.

The gridiron of neat stone houses was interspersed with wash-houses with tap water, public baths, a hospital, gymnasium, library, concert hall and school.

UNESCO claims 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.”

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Salts Mill still looms over everything, but hasn’t produced textiles since 1986. Refurbished soon thereafter, today it features a mix of commercial, leisure and residential spaces.

The main building is best known for housing the David Hockney 1853 Gallery – the largest collection of the Bradford-born painter’s work in the world.

Among the 300-plus exhibits – including paintings, drawings, photomontages and stage sets – are some of his most famous, including “Twenty five trees” based on a scene in Bridlington.

Another revolutionary feature of the town is Saltaire Park. A total of 14 acres of green open space were dedicated providing the foremen with the opportunity to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.

One of the final features of the town to be completed, the mill stopped production and its workers were invited to attend the opening ceremony hosted by Sir Titus himself in 1871.

A bronze statue of the industrialist overlooks the park to this day, unveiled in 1903 to commemorate his 100th birthday and the park’s 50th anniversary.

In terms of calendar staples, September happens to be a perfect time for a weekend visit.

The Saltaire Festival, which first took place in 2003 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the town’s foundation is held every year over eleven days in September.

Some 30,000 descend on the town to enjoy this celebration of the local community and heritage through live music, markets, drama performances, exhibitions, food and drink

You can even stay in one of the workmen’s houses, with a handful on offer through Airbnb, but prices are expected to shoot up.

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