It feels like quite a while since I took the back road to Salts Mill but it was the sensible route when I was walking home from Shipley and wanted to call into the bookshop in the Mill. The back road in question is called Ashley Lane, threading its way along the narrow strip of land between the railway and the canal. I usually view the old warehouses along Salts Wharf and the Quays from the canalside towpath. It looks quite a bit different from this other side, though the brick construction of Merchants Quay, with its round chimney, stands out in this predominantly stone-built area. The units now house a variety of businesses.
Continuing along Salts Mill Road towards Salts Mill, this entrance to the site brings you right under the massive boiler house chimney.
The building at the back of the Mill was once the wool shed, where the fleeces used to arrive to be sorted and graded, before being cleaned. Even here, the architecture is ornate and Italianate, with decorative bands of stonework along the walls and rounded windows with carved arches. I liked the reflection of trees in the window itself.
Great facade in the las tshot
ReplyDeleteThat was one very tall chimney! I wonder what the purpose of having it so tall might have been.
ReplyDeleteTo raise it so high above the valley that the waste gases and smoke blew away from the settlement.
DeleteIt is such a handsome complex.
ReplyDeleteBuilt to last.
ReplyDelete