It was an absolutely glorious day when I visited the photo exhibition in Bingley (see yesterday) and it was a pleasure to wander through the town in the warm sunshine. The 19th century Bowling Green Mills, now the Damart factory, where the exhibition took place, looms large over this end of the town. It's very noticeable because of that big, black chimney.
Equally noticeable, just beside the Park Road bridge is a vibrant mural (which I showed once before on my blog). It features moorhens, many of which frequent the adjacent canal. Created by Misc.Etc, it was sponsored by Bradford City of Culture 2025.
On the other side of the bridge, an archway and steps lead down to the railway station. From here you can see the dual-carriageway road that was squeezed into the valley bottom to ease congestion on the town's main street. Sandwiched between the railway, opened in 1847 (right), and canal built in 1773 (left), the road was opened in 2003. To build it, they actually had to shift this section of the canal over to the left.
Thankfully many little pockets of history have been retained. Just in front of the big mill is what was the Bingley National School, opened in 1814 by the Church of England to provide schooling for poorer children in the parish. It closed in 1824 and then re-opened as a mill school in 1833. The school was the scene of a terrible disaster in 1869, when a boiler adjoining the school exploded and 15 people including several children playing in the school yard were killed. It finally closed as a school in 1999 and has been imaginatively converted into apartments.
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