Continental street market

The second weekend of the Festival had a poor weather forecast and, anyway, I had other things to do so I gave it a miss. It's mostly loud music, eating and drinking, none of which excites me greatly (can't make sense  of the music with my awful hearing). On Friday, however, I was walking up through the village and realised the continental street market was already underway, so I walked up that way along Exhibition Road. You can buy street food from all over the world here. I follow a gluten free diet so most of it isn't suitable for me, which is just as well or I might be tempted by the Portuguese Pastel de Nata (egg custard tart) or the churros.

In and amongst, there are a few stalls that sell novelty knits and colourful clothing. I was happy to see an alpaca, a nice little nod to Saltaire's heritage, since it was alpaca wool that made Sir Titus Salt a rich man.  

Saltaire Festival 2025

September is the month for the annual Saltaire Festival. It's much the same year on year and I prefer the first weekend, which tends to be a bit more 'local' and less crowded. This year there was a lot going on in the park, so I made my way down there for a while. I didn't actually take all that many photos. Sometimes I'm just not in the mood.

I did enjoy watching the Dragon Empress Saphira, above, with her colourful swirling dragons. The flow of the 'dragon' as she twirled was mesmerising and rather beautiful. She was part of Guiding Sparks Circus, who had an arena where children could learn how to 'tame' the dragons. It was quite early in the day when I took the photos. There were more people in the park than it appears. 

The highlight of the day for me was a short, free concert by the wonderful Bradford Festival Choral Society, one of the oldest (established in 1856) and most renowned choirs in the north of England. Under their musical director, Thomas Leech, they gave us a taste of some of their classical repertoire, starting and ending (joy, oh joy!) with the rousing 'Hallelujah Chorus' from Handel's 'Messiah'. I was surprised how good it sounded, even outside with various competing noises. A couple of brief showers didn't dampen the mood either. Truly wonderful. It made my skin tingle! 

I also enjoyed a short piano recital by a pianist from the Yorkshire Music School, based in Salts Mill. They had pianos in various places within the village. My choice was Cultures café. I thought I'd get a decent coffee whilst I listened to the music. Unfortunately somehow my order was missed and I had to chase it up, so the music was almost over by the time I got my drink! Then I popped into the church where the Saltaire Art Group had an exhibition, but took no photos there. 

Some of you may recognise (I didn't!) this sleek and futuristic car - KITT the talking car, no less, from the action franchise 'Knight Rider'. I didn't hear it talking but it was a wonder to behold, with a control panel more like a spacecraft. Maybe one day all our cars will look like that, though with a bonnet as long as that on an E-type Jag, it wouldn't be very practical for trying to edge out into traffic. 

Another car on show was one from the long-running British police drama 'The Bill'. 

There were reputed to be several 'characters' wandering around. I came across Chewbacca, the legendary Wookiee warrior from 'Star Wars', who was quite friendly really. 

Pool Bank Vintage Interiors

Pool Bank Vintage Interiors is a furniture store just outside Otley. Housed in an old paper mill, it has three floors of vintage, retro and mid-century furniture, lighting and household objects. I've been meaning to call in for ages, and it is quite a treasure trove!  

I've already got as much furniture as I need and wasn't really looking for anything in particular but there was some attractive stuff, including some very well-made vintage Ercol cabinets, chairs and tables and some amazing haberdashery shop display units. 

It's the smaller items that I find most fascinating, like these old glass bottles and pharmacist jars. 

If I was going to splurge on anything it would have been these nested G Plan coffee tables. I do have some nested tables that are glass with metal frames. They're not really the right style for my mid-century vibe but, on the plus side, glass tables don't dominate a small space, so I guess I'll stick with them for now. 

Otley town centre

The far end of Gallows Hill Nature Reserve (see yesterday) is right on the edge of town, where the residential streets give way to fields with flocks of sleepy sheep. At the road, I turned back into Otley town, a short walk of maybe half a mile, as fields become gardens and then an edge of town supermarket, shops and civic buildings. 

A boarded-up pub still has a vivid mural of a cyclist. Otley prides itself as a cycling town. Otley born Olympic Silver Medallist, World and National Champion Lizzie Deignan (née Armitstead) is the patron of the local cycling club. The town periodically hosts world class road races too. 

Otley has been a market town since 1227 and is a significant centre for surrounding agricultural communities, with regular livestock auctions. It very much retains its 'local' feel, less 'tourist-ified' than many of our small Yorkshire towns. (I'm not sure where all those outdoor-gym-using Otleyans were... certainly not much in evidence around the town centre!)  

The market area has an impressive Victorian Jubilee Clock, installed in 1888. 

By 1900, the town was reputed to have 30 inns and hostelries, many of them coaching inns and posting houses (where mail coaches stopped). It still seems to have a lot! The Black Bull was reputedly drunk dry by Cromwell's troops on the eve of the Battle of Marston Moor in 1644. Whether this is true or not, I don't know, I suspect it's just folklore - but they won the battle, which was decisive in terms of securing the north of England for the Parliamentarians, against the King. 

 

Gallows Hill Nature Reserve

'Gallows Hill' in Otley has a grisly past, as executions were carried out there from the Anglo-Saxon era onwards. During the reign of Henry I (1100-1135) the Archbishop of York had the power to execute thieves caught in the Manor of Otley. This was stopped in 1614, and there were no more executions after that. It then became a sludge bed for a sewage works! Thankfully someone had the vision to clean it up and since the 1990s it has been a nature reserve, with trees planted at that time now becoming a healthy woodland and wild flowers self-seeding. Birds such as songthrushes, blackbirds, wrens and robins nest there and it has many summer visitor species - warblers, blackcaps.

It's bounded by the river on one side, and a road on the other, and has ponds and bog areas (in normal seasons anyway!). The river, slowly moving, made for lovely reflections.

One of the resident robins was singing for all he was worth, defending his territory, I think, rather than trying to attract a mate. 

There are well maintained paths around the reserve, making it a great place for dog-walking and easily navigable with buggies or walkers so it's an accessible local amenity. 

There's not much colour apart from green and brown at this time of year but woodland shelters gave me a focal point, as did the spears of purple loosestrife on the pond margins. 

Otley circular

I had various errands to do over Otley way, so I decided I'd combine them with a walk. There's a comfortable circuit over the river, through the park and back through a nature reserve, about three miles in total and thus ideal for a morning that was dry and sunny-ish but with rain forecast for the afternoon. 

The main road bridge over the River Wharfe is quite narrow. It dates back to 1229 though it has been upgraded and widened a few times. Since the 1950s it has had a pedestrian footbridge cantilevered along the outer side, to separate foot traffic from vehicles for safety. That footbridge has come to the end of its life and so work is underway to replace it. It has necessitated the installation of a temporary footbridge, rather ugly and rather damaging to either side of the river, though no doubt when it's removed the park areas will be reinstated. One side is Wharfemeadows Park and the other side is a little green space known as Tittybottle Park, apparently after the Victorian mothers and nannies who used to nurse their children whilst relaxing by the river. 

Boating on this popular stretch has been suspended whilst the work takes place. Normally there's a business hiring rowing boats for use between the bridge and the weir further along. The weir is a legacy from the mills that used to use water power. It now generates hydro-electricity from an Archimedes Screw.  

It's a pleasant amble along the riverside, where there are plans to resurrect the long-derelict Lido (outdoor pool). There's a large and well-used children's play area, a café, a skatepark and an outdoor gym. It's the only outdoor gym I've ever seen being used! They must be a healthy lot in Otley. 

Eventually you can cross back over the river on another footbridge, strung with 'lovelocks'. Otley Council must be more tolerant of this practice than some, as a few of the locks look quite old and well-rusted. 

The river flows broad and leisurely at this point though, like all our waterways, it is critically low. I think it will take many months of rain to replenish our rivers and reservoirs. 

Dogs of Airedale

Keighley Show #5

There were hundreds of dogs at Keighley Show, some entering the canine classes and many more just accompanying their owners around the showground. Here are a few of those I managed to capture with my camera. It was clearly a wonderful and exciting doggie experience, with lots of scent trails to follow and lots of other dogs to greet and sniff. They were all remarkably well-behaved. 

 

Heavy horses

Keighley Show #4

My favourite part of any agricultural show is seeing the heavy horses, so I was delighted to find quite a few on show in Keighley. Once an essential part of a farm and used for pulling ploughs and carts, nowadays they're mostly kept as pets and for show, though a few are still used as working horses. (It's not that long ago that the city of Bradford stopped keeping them. They used to use them to pull water carts to water the plant displays around the city centre, and some breweries used them as dray horses until fairly recently.) There are two native breeds - Shire horses and Scottish Clydesdales - and I'm not sure how you tell them apart. 

Perhaps my love for them is in my blood, as one of my great grandfathers was a horseman on a farm. 

The judges are very thorough, checking every aspect of their appearance and build, from the lush 'feathers' over their feet to their gait when trotting. 

 

Things that made me smile

Keighley Show #3

Agricultural shows are a warm mix of the serious, the competitive, the educational and the entertaining. These folks were sitting there in ridiculous hats, raising money for charity. For a small fee you could press the button and they'd change their fruit hats. If they all happened to don the same one at the same time, you won! What heroes, and how friendly they were. 

Seeing chaps together having a good natter always makes me smile. These days farming is a tough gig and anything that works against isolation and despair has to be a good thing. 

There's always a brass band and brass band music is usually very uplifting. I'd like to have shown you the two little girls, sitting at their mum's feet as she played. They had a 'babysitter' but preferred to be close to mum. Very cute but I don't like to show children's faces on here if I can avoid it. 

I was able to take a back view of these two, who'd managed to find a rogue patch of straw and were intent on dispersing it over everybody! 

Equally mischievous, this sheep was very determined to lick every last morsel of feed from the bag! (Don't worry, the farmer was close at hand to intervene if needed.) 

I was amused by these carved walking stick handles. Not the most polished that I've seen but I thought they had charm and lots of character. 

Sculptures outside the horticulture tent were rather funny. People do like to poke fun at 'the orange one', even over here! 

 

Sorting out the sheep from the cattle

Keighley Show #2

There were livestock classes, not nearly as many as at the bigger shows but still interesting. It's the only time I dare get close to farm animals. I certainly don't relish meeting them when I'm out walking, especially if there's no fence separating us! 

The shows are a chance for farmers to get together and chat, so you can often snap nice candid shots. 

I liked the very fluffy sheep. I think they're Valais Blacknose, usually kept as pets in the UK. 

I wasn't so sure about the bright yellow ones! I don't think they are naturally this colour but for some reason the farmers dye them. Quite striking, I suppose. 

Onto the cattle. There weren't that many and I kept well away from the big black bull, magnificent though he was. One of my great uncles used to own a dairy farm. I remember vividly visiting there as a child and being introduced to their huge bull, which had a massive ring through its nose. To a small child, it seemed terrifying. I was glad to escape to the farmhouse kitchen, with its comforting warmth from the Aga. I really loved my great aunt, an archetypal, large bosomed, soft featured farmer's wife, invariably in an apron and always baking. She had such a kind face and was usually smiling. 

I enjoy watching the highland cattle. I often wonder how they can see through all that hair.