Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
ten picked out in white and the centre point of the channel is marked, usually offset from the
keystone at the middle of the arch, giving a lopsided look.
Overlooking the junction is the Hilton tower block, fine warehouses, Granary Wharf with
its Victorian shopping arcade, a 19th century wharf crane and the large Leeds station. The el-
evated railway hides the cathedral and museum. The indoor market is claimed to be Europe's
largest.
The canal follows the River Aire closely all the way to Gargrave, initially running over
coal measures. The
ladenses
, British Celtic for a violent river, gave the city its name.
The Leeds to Harrogate railway crosses after Spring Garden Lock. The Leeds Industrial
Museum follows at Armley Mills in what was the world's largest woollen mill of 1806 in Ge-
orgian stone, used for fulling. It is now has steam locomotives, static engines, water wheels,
textiles, a mill cottage and a gas-lit 1920 cinema.
Across fields of rhubarb stand the remains of Kirkstall Abbey, dark and roofless but one of
the most complete medieval monastic sites in Britain. It has a good west portal. It was built in
1152-1182 in transitional Norman style by a breakaway group of Cistercians from Fountains
Abbey, who rejected Barnoldswick because of its climate. It has the ghost of a 12th century
abbot, who met an unfortunate end. It also has a folk museum in the great gatehouse, with
three streets of 18-19th century cottages, workshops, shops with period furnishings, 1760
costumes, toys, domestic items and items from the abbey excavations. Kirkstall Abbey crypt
was painted by Turner in 1824.
Newlay Three Rise Locks are another staircase. The minor road to Horsforth crosses the
canal and then the river on an attractive cast-iron bridge of 1819, the Micklefield Estate toll
bridge, similar to the Scarborough Spa Bridge. It is 3m wide with two 900mm footways and
spans 25m with rhomboid openings.
After the A6120 crosses, the Railway warns that the tracks are returning and will cross bey-
ond Calverley.
A Yorkshire Tragedy
was written in 1608, possibly by William Shakespeare,
about Walter Calverley, who had murdered his two sons and was pressed to death in 1605.
This had been the seat of the Calverleys for centuries, one of whom may have been the model
for Sir Roger de Coverley.
The Ilkley to Shipley railway crosses over. A spur is the end of the former Bradford Canal.
The Noble Comb public house and a high chimney are among the landmarks. In Shipley,
the Alhambra had its dance floor replaced with timbers from the short boat
Cedric
. Shipley
Wharf has been restored. Canopies still project over the water. This textile and engineering
town has 16-17th century mills, a battlemented Salvation Army citadel and Windmill Manor,
which was owned by Hilaire Belloc.
Saltaire was a model village, built from 1850 by Sir Titus Salt with 850 good terraced
houses for the workers in his mohair and alpaca mill, now a World Heritage Site. The 4ha site
has a school, institute and almshouses modelled on Italian villas but no public house or pawn-
