Saltaire, West Yorkshire, Autumn
Building a business was very different in the Victorian era.
In 1850 a Titus Salt sought to build a textile mill big enough to consolidate all the textile manufacturing processes in one place. His competitors were running a variety of mills in Bradford and Salt did not approve of the appalling working conditions, unsafe practices, and level of pollution in the city.
So Titus Salt bought a plot of land in Shipley, three miles away from Bradford, and started building what became known as Salt’s Mill. The project was completed in 1853 and was opened on Salt’s 50th birthday, 20th September 1853.
The mill was the largest industrial building in the world by total floor area.
Titus Salt also built tidy stone houses for his workers—a vast improvement over the the slums of Bradford—wash houses with tap water, bath houses, a hospital, and an institute for recreation and education. This included a library, a reading room, a concert hall, billiard room, science laboratory, and a gym.
He provided a school for the children of the workers, almshouses for those in need, allotments, a park, and a boathouse. Titus Salt encouraged recreational activities, so a drum and fife band for school age boys and a brass band was set up.
Combining quality housing, fulfilling employment, recreation, educational facilities and social services, the village of Saltaire became a landmark example of enlightened 19th century urban planning.
Perhaps to some, providing people both their employment and their homes might seem too prescriptive or overbearing. But to me it feels more like a panoramic and holistic approach to business, work, employment, and personal development that modern capitalists and entrepreneurs have lost sight of.
All photos taken on a Fujifilm X-T2 with a Fujinon XF 18–55mm f/2.8–4.0 lens using a customised Classic Chrome film profile.