Inside Salts Mill leading to the David Hockney Gallery
Entrance gates at Salts Mill depicting the Salts logo designed by David Hockney
Specialist Shops in UNESCO World Heritage Village Saltaire on Victoria Road
Canal walk from Salts Mill along the Leeds Liverpool Canal TowpathContemporary 20th century artist David Hockney is one of Bradford's most famous sons and within UNESCO World Heritage site Salts Mill you'll find one of the largest collections of his work. The old Mill building provides a wonderful setting for the David Hockney gallery, not to mention a huge choice of arts and crafts outlets selling everything from contemporary jewellery to art materials, books, furniture, posters and items for the home. Fine eateries within the complex include both a diner and chic Opera Cafe.
Reproduction posters of Hockney's famous depiction of Salts are available for sale within the Mill site.
A huge collection of David Hockney's work is here at Salts, especially in the '1853' Gallery on the Ground floor, with his particularly memorable interpretation of Salts Mill in gleaming orange and the etchings illustrating Grimms Fairytales dating from the late 1960s. The Salts Mill webguide below guides you through the full range of Hockney's work on display.
Scattered about on other floors you'll find fine arts and crafts shopping centres galore with particularly good offerings of books, furniture, posters, cards, postcards and jewellery.
On the ground floor you'll find craft outlets for art materials, carpets and textiles, bikes and an early music shop. The Main Floor is centre for home items, jewellery, books, posters and outdoors. Finally the Top Floor plays host to antiques, a tailors and florist.
A diner and the Cafe Opera are on-site and admission to Salts is free! Checkout the webguide for directions and opening times.
www.saltsmill.org.uk
More delightful shops are situated around Salts Mill in Saltaire Village. These shops largely take the form of antiques, occasional second-hand books and Victorian or antique dress. The tourist information centre is no.2 Victoria Road, and is not immediately obvious as it serves also as a gift and knickknacks shop. They do guided tours and have a useful map of the village for around 30p.
Saltaire plays host to an annual festival of music and arts in September. Checkout the Saltaire Festival and Saltaire Village webguides right for details. Details on a choice of Salts guided walks are also listed on the Saltaire Village Guide.
If you go to Saltaire it's well worth walking down to the Leeds & Liverpool Canal (1774), behind the mill. The cut is extremely wide and the traffic must have been pretty busy in peak production periods unloading raw materials like coal.