Rae Gala 2026

The first Sunday of July is always the annual Rae Gala, commemorating the gift of Northcliffe Park from the philanthropist Sir Norman Rae to the people of Shipley in 1920. It's quite a small event but a wholesome and community-focused celebration. This year it suffered by being on the same weekend as the Dragon Boat Racing, so there seemed to be fewer attendees. Those there had an enjoyable time and were entertained by our local Morris dance team, Rainbow Morris, and by the Shipley Hallroyd Brass Band. 

There was food and an ice cream van, plenty of stalls to browse, some children's races and a display of dancing by children from Stars Stage School. The most popular attraction seemed to be the miniature railway, based in the park, with members of Bradford Model Engineering Society providing rides on the two different circuits. As always, it was a good afternoon out - and, though it was a heavily overcast day, it stayed dry, which always helps. 

Northcliffe blues

Can you bear to see more bluebells? These are in our local Northcliffe Park.

Bluebells and wild garlic together always look lovely: white stars in the foreground and a blue haze in the distance. 

The green walkway in the picture below is the bridge that golfers use to get from the Northcliffe clubhouse to the greens, across the narrow valley. 

My walk was somewhat spoiled by three large dogs, a golden retriever, a black labrador and some other large breed, that were cavorting around in the woods. The lab charged at me and jumped up, nearly knocking me over and scraping his claws down my thigh. It rather frightened me and I dread to think what would have happened if it had rushed at a child. Their owners?... Nowhere to be seen. Grr. 

On my way home the sky turned dark as clouds came over and, just after I came inside, there was a sharp, squally shower. I was glad to miss that! So it turned out to be a walk full of blues, in more ways than one. 

Blue sky day

Another balmy blue sky day... Although I'd had appointments in the morning, I felt I needed to make the most of the warm sunshine, so in the afternoon I walked up the hill to Northcliffe Park. The view across to Baildon was a little hazy but you can just see the top of Salts Mill chimney jutting above the trees in the middle. That shows how Saltaire sits deep in the valley, down by the river. Once the trees have leaves it gets hidden altogether. 

This being a park rather than a completely natural area, there are daffodils in the woods. Quite pretty but they don't really fit in woodland, in my mind! 

I don't hear many birds (because of my deafness) but I have the Merlin app on my phone and I enjoy watching as it picks up and identifies the sounds around. It's not guaranteed to be 100% accurate but I think it's pretty good on the whole. It helps me to feel closer to nature and I can sometimes scan around and spot the little birds once I've been alerted to their presence. I could hear the wood-pigeons ('My toe hurts, Betty!') and the cawing of the crows. I also heard the woodpecker tapping. But the little birds are too shrill for me to pick up. 

At various points of my walk, as well as those listed above, the app picked up: Carrion Crow, Jackdaw, Nuthatch, Song Thrush, Coal Tit, Goldfinch, Chiffchaff and Siskin - and I saw a few Magpies too. There are Jays in the woods - and sometimes Ring-Necked Parakeets too, though I wasn't alerted to either of those that day. It just goes to show how important these suburban green spaces are. Well done to the late Sir Norman Rae who, in 1920, gifted Northcliffe Park to the people of Shipley in perpetuity.  

Willow trees are among the first of our UK species to 'green up', though in reality that early colour is a strident acid yellow! Echoing the yellow, there were hosts of daffodils around the children's play area, as well as in the woods.

It was a 'good to be alive' kind of day. 

Hidden in the woods

Northcliffe Park has a large area of woodland. A lot of the trees are oaks, which tend to have wonderfully twisted shapes. There's abundant wildlife there too - squirrels, birds and even deer if you're lucky and quiet enough to spot them. Lately, other interesting things have appeared...

There is this 'Sound Horn', a curious wooden cone, which invites you to sit in it to hear the sounds of the forest, amplified. My hearing needs more than amplification (!) so I can't vouch for its effect but it's a fascinating idea.  

The horn has been placed there by NEET - Northcliffe Environmental Enterprises Team. They work at the Northcliffe allotments to enable people with learning difficulties to live inclusive and fulfilling lives, growing vegetables and plants for sale, doing woodwork and running a café there. They have also been instrumental in getting this willow arch erected - part, it seems, of an intended arts trail through the woodland. 

The 'den' apparently started life during the COVID lockdown, people adding branches to it as they took walks, symbolising hope and connection during that very strange time. 

It being near Halloween, there were a few ghoulish additions! 

In the allotments, a couple of rather amusing 'scarecrows':

 

Early autumn up at Northcliffe

I'd been to the hairdresser in the morning and didn't intend to go out again but it was such a lovely early autumn day that it seemed a shame to waste it. A few days of rain had cleared to leave blue skies and bursts of warm sunshine. I opted for the 'steep uphill at the beginning with a long, gentle descent to return' route, rather than the other way round. That takes me up into Northcliffe Park, which - as I'm sure I've said before - is a large area of woodland and grassland, more natural than Roberts Park. 

It turned out to be a very good decision. On the way up the road I bumped into an elderly gentleman from church, who I've known for years but don't often see. We greeted each other and he said I was 'looking lovely', which rather cheered me! (Must have been the new haircut!) A few yards further on I slowed to enjoy the tree (below) with its branches tipped with red. To my surprise, a deer skipped out of a gateway and crossed the road right in front of me. I didn't get a photo as it was too quick. Thankfully there were no cars passing at the time, as they often speed down the hill and round that corner. I know there are deer in the woods and park, even sometimes in the gardens round my apartment block, though that's usually in the early morning before folk are stirring. I've never seen one on the road before. 

Walking through the park, I was able to enjoy all the different trees - laden with apples, tinged with autumn colour, or simply interesting shapes to wonder at. I was admiring the little burst of gold in the meadow (below) when a green woodpecker suddenly flew up and away, out of the grass in front of me. I rarely see them. The black and white spotted ones are more common in our gardens and parks. 

Shadows were interesting and the blue, blue sky was a joy. 

As I neared the recreation ground, views over Shipley were attractive. There was someone flying a couple of kites (the ones on strings, not the birds), which was interesting to watch, even though they were too far away for photos. 

I arrived back to civilisation (well, houses anyway) along an avenue of fruit trees that were very definitely veering to autumn colour.  I was glad I decided to make the effort to go for a walk as it was really uplifting. 

More winter trees

Walking from home involves either a steep walk downhill, towards Saltaire village, the canal and river, followed of course by a steep trudge uphill on the way back - or vice versa. Arguably it's easier to do the steep climb uphill at the beginning when my legs are fresh, so it's a pity really that that is my slightly less preferred route. It takes me up into Northcliffe Park, a large area of land donated to the people of Shipley by Sir Norman Rae in 1920. It is lovely really. Much larger, less formal and more varied than Saltaire's Roberts Park, it has an extensive meadow, woodland and recreation areas. At this time of year though, the meadow is boggy, forcing me to stick to the paths, and there is little to see along the paths other than trees, grass and sky. 

I like it when I'm in a certain mood, when the sun is shining and the sky is blue and I feel like a taste of freedom. It's expansive, somehow. It doesn't feel like 'home' to me though, not in the way that walking through Saltaire and along the canal or river feels. Additionally, there is a much more limited choice of route, just three or four paths all going much the same way - boggy meadow, tarmac path, muddy woodland or down through the wood in the steep and dark ravine. And there are so many dogs, off the lead. Some are a bit scary, I find. Dogs in Saltaire, more often than not, are on a lead. 

Oddly, it bothers me that there are also no coffee shops in the park. I rarely actually buy myself a coffee when I'm out on my own... but it always feels good to have the possibility there. 

Still, about once a month I'll take the uphill route and mostly I will enjoy the walk. Northcliffe does hold one of my favourite winter trees, the one in the photo above, which I like for its graceful arc of a trunk. It looks to me like it's dancing. 

Top of the world

If I walk up the hill to Northcliffe Park, rather than down the hill to Saltaire and Roberts Park, it's like being in a different world. In the top meadow, there are rolling grasslands and big wide skies. Walking in an easterly direction there are far-reaching views across the valley. There is more newly-installed gym equipment here. I wonder if anyone ever uses it? 

I stuck to the main path rather than descending through the wooded ravine. This was a couple of weeks ago and I noticed that the trees were very definitely starting to turn autumnal and, where there were wild roses, there are now bright rosehips. (Which reminded me that as a child we used to be given 'rosehip syrup', which I loved. I wonder if you can still buy it? I think it's a bit of a chore to make, needing straining carefully.) 

Forest bathing

After the people, noise and bustle of the Rae Gala, it was soothing to walk the long way home, up through the wooded ravine that makes up one side of Northcliffe Park. It's so quiet here in the woods, and although the trees are all assuming that uniform shade of dull summer green (as opposed to the nuances of spring and autumn colour) the sunlight dappling through the branches did lift the scene into one of beauty. There's been lots of research that shows that walking slowly through a forest can be of huge benefit, lowering stress levels and boosting our immune system. Trees give us so much; it's good to appreciate them. 

Rae dance

Local dance groups were adding their colour and magic to the Rae Gala. Rainbow Morris are based in Shipley and I have friends who dance with them. Their style of dance is in the North-West tradition and the dancers wear iron-shod clogs decorated with bells so that their heavy stepping creates a distinctive beat. They use garlands, handkerchiefs and short beribboned sticks in their dances. It's a lot of fun, though tough on your hips and knees!

They have a very good accompanying music group too, with an accordian, fiddle and percussion. Watching and listening always makes me smile; it's a very infectious rhythm. 

The other dance group at the Gala was North Wind Tribal, who dance a variety of Tribal Bellydance. I don't actually know any of these dancers but I've watched them a few times and they all seem to have an absolute ball, shimmying and swaying. I think they are really great; very feisty women. I've occasionally tried to perfect the signature hip lifts and drops and I can tell you that kind of shimmying is a lot harder than it looks! 

Rae music

The first Sunday of July was the occasion of the annual Rae Gala, commemorating the gift of Northcliffe Park from the philanthropist Sir Norman Rae to the people of Shipley in 1920. I love it; it's quite a small event but a wholesome and very community-focused celebration. 

There was music by the Great Yorkshire Chorus, conducted by their gifted leader, Maria Mullin. Based in Saltaire, the choir has been in existence since 2018. Many of my friends and neighbours are in the choir (I might be, if only I wasn't deaf!) and it seems to be going from strength to strength. They have, I think, recently recorded their debut album. Maria has also written a musical: Salt - the Musical, telling the story of Sir Titus Salt. It has its premiere, a workshop performance, in November at the Bradford Playhouse. 

Music was also provided by the Hallroyd Band, a community brass band based at Northcliffe Church - and again I have close friends in the band. It gives me great joy to know that people I'm fond of are contributing to these creative and very professional endeavours, having a great time themselves and providing enjoyment to so many who come to listen.