Last Saturday afternoon I was rescued from the computer screen and driven to Ilkley in Yorkshire for a birthday party. The following day a small group of us went to visit Salts Mill. I had last visited this huge industrial building, which is now houses an art gallery, a diner, a very posh cafe, a fab bookstore and several other lovely outlets, about 15 years ago when my children were very small. It was just as I remembered, even down to the lovely fittings in Salts Diner, where we stopped to have a very welcome and late lunch.
I had a wide angle zoom on my camera – a bit of a novelty as I very rarely use zoom lenses these days, and hardly ever touch anything wider than 35mm – not deliberately, but for most of what I shoot, wide is not my style. However, I really enjoyed seeing the wide open spaces with a different perspective, and because I was still tired from a late night, the novelty of less movement on my part which comes with using a zoom, was a welcome relief! The art gallery was showing 25 Trees and Other Pictures by David Hockney – I must say, I was caught by the idea of the very long photographs of a street with 25 trees, showing them throughout the different seasons. There’s a lovely piece on the exhibition which I found on this blog.
If ever you are visiting the Leeds area, do take some time to visit this astonishing building. The art, shops and eating areas are themselves worth a visit – but the building itself is staggering and its hard to imagine the grind of physical labour, and the scale of it, that went on in this mill and others like it so many years ago.
This is a Sisterhood Circle post, so please visit Isabelle after enjoying the pictures and leaving a comment!!!
What a wonderful building, which I would love to visit – if it weren't so far away. But seriously I love it when the money can be found to restore old and/or historic buildings and find new use for them. It is so much part of us, we need to keep it and hold on to it.
What a beautiful place for a gallery! I'd love to spend a couple of hours wandering through it…
Boo as always you have the most dreamy take on the world around you, just stunning
This space looks delightful to dine in. Definitely would love to take a visit someday.
Boo I grew up 5 miles away from here. I remember when the mill closed down – yes I am that old! It was a dark, brooding, soot blackened building and it stood empty for ages. I was so happy when they decided to give it a new lease of life instead of tearing it down (as happened to so many mills). It is one of my favourite places to visit and it has given the village a new lease of life. AND the cafe serves the best Caesar Salad and the best Treacle tart I have ever tasted!
Thanks for sharing these with us Boo, its a fabulous space and I'd love to visit one day.