Our Northern Ways: The Mills of Yorkshire

| Salt Mill in Yorkshire – the inspiration for Malbrough Mills, perhaps? |

England Trip 2015 Travel Journal
Sunday, March 29 – Part One

What a country! Today was quite a literary and historic adventure. We visited the Brontë Parsonage and an old woolen mill in a countryside dotted all over with mills – some abandoned, some repurposed – on wild, windy hills. I felt like I'd been dropped into North & South, Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre! Truly.

There is nothing like Yorkshire scenery!

These surroundings obviously contributed so much to the stories and literary styles of Mrs. Gaskell and the Brontë sisters. The wild and rugged scenery, with heaps of clouds swirling furiously across the grey sky and the constant wind seem to have bred the independent spirit of their fierce characters, and woven itself into the stories themselves. It begins to weave itself into you if you stand out in it long enough!

We were on our way to Keighly (pronounced "keeth-lee") where some 'North & South' scenes were filmed, when we saw a sign for Salt Mill, a preserved historical site (indicated by the sign's brown color). So I made the decision to take a quick detour to explore it and to see the inside of a textile mill. It was basically on our way, after all, and it turned out to be an exciting, memorable experience!

Salt Mill with its smokestack.

On the third floor is an exhibit on the history of the mill, opened in 1853 by Titus Salt, and it was considered to be a model mill in its time, innovative with its technology and clean working conditions. (He sounds a bit like Mr. Thornton to me.) There were two original machines on display, and imagining one of these enormous rooms packed with rows and rows of them helped me to understand better than I ever had before Margaret Hale's initial repugnance at the idea of a mill, and especially of mill owners, as well as her pity of the working people. My understanding was quite vivid, in fact. The monotony of the nose and confinement oppressed my very imagination. And that was looking at an exceptionally comfortable mill!

Original machines from Salt Mill, used in making wool cloth.

One of the upper floors of the mill, now a little museum.

The back of Salt Mill

The ground floor of the mill. It's rather beautiful now, making it a bit hard to imagine it filled with the whir of machines.

A model of Salt Mill – it's like a small city!

 The third floor had an impressive view of the town outside – a town that looks exactly like I imagine Milton would look, with its grey stone and the spires of other mills dotting the skyline.

The town of Shipley, looking out from Salt Mill.
Doesn't it look like Milton??

North & South was set in a real time and based on real places and people so seeing these real cities and mills brought that history so much closer. It almost felt real enough to touch. This is why I love to travel! Well, one big reason.

A project to remember the people who worked in Salt Mill.
Here is Sarah Ann Morton – who knows, maybe we're related! That made history seem really close...

© 2016 Anna Morton

What do JMW Turner, fossils, Henry Austen and doughnuts have in common?

 London, of course!
Here is where the fossils are: the Natural History Museum.

2015 England Trip Travel Journal Entry

Tuesday, March 17
 

This day was packed! My feet were so worn out at the end of it. We at last went to Tate Britain! It was exciting to finally get off at Pimlico Station. "Alight for Tate Britain" is what the Tube announcer say every time, and at last it applied to us. We weren't exactly sure if we were going in the right direction, and while we were standing there looking rather bewildered an older lady passed by and said with a smile, "Tate Britain? Just down that way." She must be a local. (As well as being yet another example of a friendly English person.)

Tate Britain: the national gallery of British art.

What a great overview of western history is in that gallery! There are fewer pieces than in the National Gallery, so it is mentally more manageable. You can actually remember what you've seen. We went backwards from 1910 and the beginning of Modernism to the Renaissance and the beginning of British art. Boy, did things change! Each shift from one decade to another in ideology and style is more than evident.

Portrait of Elizabeth I in 1563 by Stephan van Herwijck

The Cholmondeley Sisters from 1600-10

Scenes from Richardson's Pamela by Joseph Highmore in 1743-4

Three Ladies Adorning a Term of Hymen by Sir Joshua Reynolds in 1773
Reynolds is one of my favorite artists.

One of the most famous paintings in the Tate:
The Lady of Shalott by John William Waterhouse in 1888

And another of the most famous...
Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais, Bt in 1851-2

We happened to be looking at a painting that was to be the subject of a 15 minute lecture. It was an 18th century depiction of a battle on the isle of Jersey, and the expert who was to give the lecture was just then setting up the chairs. When he noticed us looking at it he got started telling us about its history, so we ended up getting our own private lecture. It was basically a propaganda piece during the Napoleonic wars with France, and as such would have also made the artist some money, because it would have been printed and displayed. The gentleman who was about to lecture looked like my idea of a stereotypical professor: his grey hair a little disheveled, with a suit jacket over a dress shirt and jeans, a silk scarf and glasses.

The painting which was to be the subject of the lecture.
The Death of Major Peirson, 6 January 1781 by John Singleton Copley in 1783

A Country Blacksmith Disputing upon the Price of Iron, and the Price Charged to the Butcher for Shoeing his Poney
by JMW Turner in 1807
We thought this was a somewhat unusual scene for Turner, being a very ordinary scene.

Crossing the Brook by JMW Turner in 1815

Malvern Hall by John Constable in 1809

We had a pleasant lunch in the cafe with a delicious pot of Darjeeling and our own food: Wensleydale cheese, carrots and dip, boiled eggs, cashews and cookies (or biscuits, I should say).

Mom looking cheerful about our tea. :)

Tea always makes us happy. (Which is good, since we
drank a lot of it...)

Next we zipped up to Victoria Station for South Kensington and Exhibition Road. The Natural History Museum looks like it is a giant fossil carved out of a canyon – and I mean giant. Massive! The great hall alone is worth seeing. But it would be worth visiting again to see the rest.

The Victorian marvel that is the Natural History Museum.

The great hall of the Natural History Museum with Dippy the dinosaur.

And a view from the other end.

A fuzzy photo of what appears to be a giant armadillo.

Proof that we were there!

The British rooms at the Victoria & Albert Museum were open today! So we went from 1760 back to 1500. My favorite specimens are of course the clothes. Two other favorites were an invitation to Vauxhall Gardens and the book of Palladian architectural techniques.

Enjoying an 18th century drawing room transported from an actual house.
A typical stance: holding a camera. :) It's also not a bad way to get a picture of oneselves!

A lovely 18th century Robe à l'Anglaise in a textile exhibit.

An 18th century court dress in the same exhibit area.

The 1786 ticket to a jubilee in Vauxhall Gardens.

A rare ladies' jacket from 1620.

Those galleries closed before we were really finished, so we rushed a bit through the 1500s before walking to the Albert Memorial and Royal Albert Hall to make our way through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. That was lovely – and long. It is no small expanse of park! But it made a pretty romantic scene with the light layer of fog swirling around the rows of streetlamps in the twilight of the tree-lined paths.

Walking across the bridge into Hyde Park.

It was rather a contrast from the lights of Knightsbridge and Sloane Street we next encountered as we went in search of Henry Austen's house in Hans Place. We found it at last, and discovered from my very handy book (Walking Jane Austen's London) that Jane herself would have slept on the third floor where a light happened to be on while we were gawking outside. It was the only light on and I could almost imagine her up there, maybe writing a late-night letter to Cassandra, or out walking around the square, rather like we did when we walked around it and turned a corner to find Harrod's.

Number 23 Hans Place, the former home of Jane Austen's brother Henry in 1813.
It has a Victorian façade now.

There's the light, the place where Jane herself would have stayed when visiting Henry.

A window display in Sloane Street. I especially liked the tea theme. :)

We only went because we were there. It is a rather dazzling sight to see, outlined by those white lights against the black night sky, and we did get some spectacular doughnuts that happened to be half price. :) They were greatly enjoyed while we watched 'Sherlock' after our delicious dinner of stir-fried veggies, chicken, rice and tikka sauce.

Our doughnuts from Harrods! A dulche du leche and
a pistacho flavored.

'Sherlock' and dinner!

    

© 2015 Anna Morton

Historic Clothing in the Victoria and Albert Museum

Mid-18th century "Court Dress"

Here are more pictures of my favorite pieces in the fashion gallery of the Victoria and Albert Museum. (I apologize in advance for all the reflections in the glass - but unfortunately it was impossible to avoid them entirely.)

To be around actual clothing worn by actual people from the past gives me the most incredible feeling. It is the past preserved - a little piece of history that as I stand before it opens up an entire world. Knowing it belonged to a person who was just as human as I am, who wore this piece of clothing as they were living their life, interacting with their family and friends, walking on the streets where they lived and drinking tea in their homes drops me into their life for a moment. To me this is what is so special about a mannequin in a museum with some clothes on it.

Now I am done with my rhapsodizing and philosophizing: on to the clothes! The photo above was oldest piece, dating from the mid-18th century. It is "court dress," which, as you might guess, is what was worn in the royal court. It was even more than the popular style, it was required. I don't know what they did if you failed to meet the requirements, but I suppose they simply didn't let you in. It isn't very practical, but you must admit that it makes a statement!

The gallery was arranged chronologically, so the next piece is from a bit later in the 18th century. This blue damask gown has lots of that gathered trim that I like so well. There is something so distinctly Georgian about it, too.

A Georgian gown, circa 1760s.

Ah, the robe a la polonnaise! Possibly my favorite historic fashion. This was the fashion of Jane Austen's parents, George and Cassandra. It has cleaner lines and a more classic shape than earlier Georgian styles, adding to its elegance and practicality, and giving it a more timeless style than the oversized skirts and plethora of ruffles and trims that preceded it.

Robe a la Polonnaise, circa the 1770s and 1780s.

The typical Polonnaise skirt that can be looped up, as it is here, or left to hang straight.

Even the underpinnings are a work of art in the 18th century! I knew this, as I have attempted my own, but I was impressed by just how tiny everything was. There were dozens of boning channels, and the armhole was lined with what looked like leather, which I think is rather a marvelous idea, since that part of the garment would have a lot of wear and tear.

The work of art that is a set of 18th century stays.

 Here is a most familiar style. If you have seen 'Pride and Prejudice,' you know when we are: the unique and fabulous Regency! Practical, elegant and with a most distinct style, the dresses of the Regency were a result of a sort of revolution in fashion, discarding the more restrictive shapes of the Georgians in favor of more natural (think: Rousseau) shapes. I think women, once they got over the shock, must have rejoiced at the freedom of movement they could achieve in this new fashion. :)

The first dress in the gallery is a day dress of the middle Regency, with a straighter skirt than those of the earlier Regency, and a practical print. Jane Austen may have worn a dress like this when she lived at Chawton Cottage in 1810.

A middle Regency printed day dress.

More of the day dress.

 This is an early Regency style, with a closer resemblance to the portrait dress of the 1790s in its fuller skirt. It was difficult to see or get a shot of the front, but I believe it is a crossover gown made in a simple white muslin.

An early Regency crossover gown.

This early Regency gown illustrates the long classical silhouette of the era.

 This gown illustrates the transition from the Regency to the Romantic style, with the waist being lower and the sleeves larger. It was a spectacular piece! The detail was mesmerizing. I could tell this would have belonged to a very wealthy young lady because of the sheer amount of expensive trim. :) All of that intricate lace and gold work all over the entire dress would have cost a fortune.

A dress circa 1820 transitioning between the Regency and Romantic styles.

Oh, the detail!

A walking dress from the same period. Another point of transition that can be seen in this dress is in the line of the skirt, especially in the hemline. It doesn't just hang from the waistline, there are corded petticoats and techniques used to stiffen the hem so that it has a more unchangeable A-line shape, hanging rather like a bell when the person wearing it is walking.

A walking dress, circa 1820.

 

 And now we come to the fully-fledged Romantic fashions! The sleeves make this unmistakable. The style went back to the natural waist, accentuated by more petticoats (and the big sleeves).

Dresses from the Romantic era, circa 1830s.

A more perfect example of Romantic underpinnings may be impossible to find in this day and age. Upon first seeing this I may have been more excited than I would now care to admit... But it reveals all of the secrets to the silhouette of the Romantic era! The sleeve pads, the stays, the corded petticoat - now it all makes sense. Especially the sleeve pads. It seems almost ingeniously simple, now, but for a long time I wondered how they successfully kept those enormous sleeves puffed.

Secrets revealed: the underpinnings of Romantic era fashion.

I had to get a close-up.

Next in the gallery was the fully-fledged Victorian era with its tiny waists and big skirts. I am by no means an expert in Victorian fashion, so I cannot regale you all with its style details or particularly distinctive elements. I have only seen some period dramas that had these exact same styles in them. For example: this next dress looks almost identical to a dress Margaret Hale wears in the BBC adaptation of 'North & South' (except hers is a print and no skirt ruffles). I have always thought it was a lovely style, so to see an original dress in that same style and in person was quite exciting. :) It was a wedding dress and made out of a fine, thin muslin.

An early mid-Victorian gown, circa 1850.

This one was rather eye-catching... It is quite a fabulous color! This is mid-Victorian, worn in 1869-70, and style has moved on to the hoop skirt. A person can tell that the next style will be the bustle by looking at how the skirt is made. I personally think this style is a bit more elegant than a bustle, but we won't get into that. :) I think hoop skirts would be rather awkward to wear, too, actually. But those were the styles!

Mid-Victorian gown, circa 1870.

If you have seen 'Lark Rise to Candleford' you will understand when I say that this ensemble reminds me so much of Dorcas Lane. It must be from exactly the same era, the late Victorian - probably the early 1890s.

Historic fashion: "It's my one weakness."

Here is an ensemble from the elegant and opulent Edwardian era. This skirt and blouse were worn in 1910-12, just before the Titanic sank and the drama of 'Downton Abbey' begins.

Edwardian ensemble, circa 1910-12

I thought this dress and this hat were two of the most elegant pieces in the gallery. That gown has such exquisite work on the thinnest  of thin white muslins, draping so gracefully. This is another piece in the Edwardian section of the gallery.

I think that hat belongs at the Ascot races in 'My Fair Lady.' :)

Edwardian evening dress and hat.

The roaring 20s! I don't need to point out the distinctive elements of this style or how it changed from the decade before. The biggest change may be the lack of material below the hemline... It reminds me of something Lady Edith Crawley might wear. She does seem to favor green and coral shades.

A dress of the roaring 1920s.

Now we're into the 1940s and the somewhat more conservative wartime styles with straighter skirts and squarer shoulders.

Fashion during WWII

With the arrival of the 1950s came a return to glamor in the every day fashions. That tweedy ensemble is most tempting...

Glamorous 1950s fashions.

We have now reached the end of my photos from the gallery, and I hope that getting to look at the fashions of the past has inspired you to go to London to see it or sew a new historical costume or just do something exciting! (Watching a period drama wouldn't be a bad idea...) Clothing can teach us so much about the past and the people who lived through it, and I am indeed grateful to people who, like the V&A Museum, preserve things like this and put them out for all the world to see.

© 2015 Anna Morton