Cononley and Saltaire, Yorkshire

Friday 23th September 2022

Cononley is a village, to the south of Skipton in North Yorkshire. We spent the weekend there with the Camping and Caravanning Club Photographic Section. Our thanks goes to Ray and Pauline for their welcome.

The village is very picturesque and friendly. It also boasts two pubs and a railway station.

Saturday 24th September.

With the weather good for walking, we set out to look at Cononley Lead Mine, on the hill towards Lothersdale. What remains are just the chimney the engine house and a few, mostly derelict buildings which are listed as “grade II”. The lead mine was one of many, mostly to the north of this one. It was built in the mid 19th century and it featured a steam engine and a large “inclined plane” which enabled the ore to be moved from the mine head.

Returning uphill from the lead mine, we followed the path across a field, but managed to miss the exit stile, having to come back down the hill. How did we manage to miss that?

Our route from the stile took us through some fields and then a farmyard at Manor House, to Lothersdale Road. Although the farm did have livestock, the main feature was a tractor’s graveyard with dozens of them, all rusting away on the hillside. Many of them had clearly been there for some years and had been partially dismantled for parts.

There were also many other vehicles, including a couple of Morris 1000 vans, Landrovers, articulated trailers, caravans, a horsebox and assorted agricultural machinery. We also saw piles of what looked like asbestos roofing sheets dumped in a field. We were shocked to find in this beautiful place, what amounted to an awful polluted scar on the landscape.

When we arrived at Lothersdale Road, there were a couple of men who were setting up for a motorcycle trials event the following day. This featured vintage British bikes, such as the Ariel pictured below. Apparently the trial involved negotiating difficult terrain and obstacles, completing a course without putting your feet down.

Our route back to Cononley, took us along a good path around the contour of the hillside where we looked down on this old and impressively large farmhouse.

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Sunday 25th September

Bingley 5-Rise and 3-Rise Locks

The Leeds and Liverpool Canal descends steeply into Bingley, a feat accomplished by a very steep flight of 5 locks, followed a few hundred yards later, by a further steep flight of 3 locks.

Traffic moving through the locks, moves directly from one lock to the next, without relief. Opened in 1774 and with an overall gradient of 1 in 5, these locks are the steepest in the UK, rising over 59 feet in 320 feet.

Salt’s Mill, Saltaire

Before leaving for home, we visited Salt’s Mill which contains a permanent exhibition of art by David Hockney in the 1853 Gallery. The huge textile mill was built by Sir Titus Salt and opened in 1853. He also provided housing and schooling, creating a model village for his workers.

The mill has many independent small traders as well as art exhibition spaces.

Temporary exhibitions are held in the enormous roof spaces. The view below, is taken from one end of the main roof space. The distant boards in the centre, are near the entrance and divide the space approximately in half.

When we visited, there was also a temporary exhibition by David Hockney, called “A. Year in Normandie” which is nearly 91 metres long.

Other art on display in the mill included this ceramic cityscape, which was stunning.