THIS article continues my series of community collaboration and cohesion articles regarding Bingley and surrounds.
Between 2016 up to 2025 members of the Salt family with connections to Bingley have been actively involved in events connected with preserving the family name and heritage in the area.
Also involved have been myself, Baildon historians Tish and Mike Lawson, local farmer David Downs and his wife Stella of Milner Field Farm, Sally Illingworth of Brackenhall House and farm and Philipa Gibbons, Chair of Bingley Town Council.
Whilst members of the Salt family connected with Milner Field in Gilstead now live outside the area, several of them including Nicholas (Nick) Salt maintain their family connections with Bingley.
Nick Salt observes: “Saltaire and the life of Sir Titus Salt are an important part of my family history, and over the years I have become particularly interested in the life and achievements of his youngest surviving son, my great-grandfather Titus Salt Jnr.
“When visiting the ruins of his extravagant mansion at Milner Field I have usually walked up on the old carriage road from Saltaire, past the South Lodge, and was only vaguely aware that the house, and its extensive gardens and model farm, were actually in Gilstead, on the outskirts of Bingley.
“A later connection with the town was that both my parents worked for the BBC North Region, and in 1946 my father John Salt chose Bingley for the first broadcast of the Wilfred Pickles radio show ‘Have A Go’ from the Modern School (now Beckfoot). The show went on to be very successful, and ran for the next 21 years.
“In 2016 as part of a weekend of History Walks, I was taken on a fascinating circuitous walk around Bingley by Alan Cattell. This included visiting the Bingley Three and Five Rise Locks, Gawthorpe Hall, Oakwood Hall, Bingley Teacher Training College, The Mechanics Institute, The Butter Cross, Stocks and Market Hall and the Parish Church.
“I had not before fully realised the historic scope of the town and its surrounding area. During this walk Alan outlined the changes, particularly in Governance and Law which began to affect Bingley from 1847 onwards. In many ways these paralleled the changing fortunes of the Salt family during the same period.
“Later the same day we walked along the canal bank, stopping briefly at the Fishermans Inn and over Scourer Bridge, then up Primrose Lane to Milner Field Farm. Both this farm, owned by Titus Salt Jnr., and Ferniehurst Farm at Baildon, owned by his elder brother Edward Salt, were built as Model Farms to mirror the Model Village approach taken at Saltaire.
Alan’s research has also shown that four of Sir Titus Salt’s sons were involved in farming in some form, and that his own father, Daniel Salt, had also been a farmer for a while before moving into the Bradford woollen industry.
“As an architectural consultant I have always had an great interest in buildings and their history, especially in West Yorkshire. My recent visits to Bingley have confirmed the wealth of historic buildings and institutions that the town still has, and the wish by residents to preserve these. Linked to this, Governance of the town continues to evolve and change, as witnessed by the creation of a new Town Council in 2016.
“Alan’s book Bingley - A Living History is a testament to his wish on behalf of others to capture change whilst it is happening, whilst also recording memories before they are lost forever”.
To date, Nick has been involved in presentations of family artifacts and history on a Milner Field, Model Farm family weekend. Along with Jamie Roberts, great great grandson of Sir James Roberts he has also led a walk on the permitted pathway through Milner Field Estate between South Lodge and North Lodge.
More recently he has provided old family maps showing the extent of the old Milner Field Estate as an aid to a Bingley Town Council Neighbourhood Plan which he and I have contributed to.
We have also been involved with Tish, Mike and Sally in identifying and measuring the remaining artifacts of the old Victorian wooden thrill rides on Shipley Glen.
More recently, he and his wife had a holiday steering a canal boat from Saltaire to Skipton.
My next two articles will explore the history and development of Milner Field Farm and Milner Field Estate by the Salt family.
* Alan’s book, Bingley - A Living History, is available from Luscombes, 154 Main Street, Bingley.
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