During the Saltaire Arts Trail, I visited an exhibition in the room in Salts Mill that used to be the company boardroom. 'Saltaire: Foundation and Legacy' told the story of Saltaire's founder, Sir Titus Salt and that of one of his successors as the owner of Salts Mill, Sir James Roberts. It had details of their lives and families; the story of the rise, fall, rise and fall again of the textile business and information about the wide-ranging contributions they both made to the local community. (It's perhaps not very widely known, for example, that Sir James Roberts bought the Brontë Parsonage in Haworth and gifted it to the Brontë Society.)
The boardroom now lies empty again, after a brief spell acting as the local Tourist Information Office. Council cutbacks put paid to that. The massive table that once graced the room is now in the 'People and Process' gallery in the Mill itself.
It would be interesting to reel back the years and listen in to what the Boardroom members were discussing here in this room 150 years ago: their ambitions, hopes and dreams. I once read a book - really! - called "The Basics of Business Economics" by Honour Croome and have been fascinated by the subject ever since.
ReplyDeleteA lovely room.
ReplyDeleteThat is quite an impressive table and chairs and just the sort of furniture appropriate for a boardroom. The ceiling details were quite impressive. Has there been any word on a new purpose/use for the room in future?
ReplyDeleteYour first shot is my favourite.
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