For today’s @hiddenbraford #bradfordphotoaday challenge I had been thinking of photos of sheep up on Baildon Moor or something made of wool but I decided that I would submit a photo of the Baildon Coat of Arms. See here for my first posting about this challenge – marfell.me.uk/wordpress/?p=266 Unfortunately events conspired against me and it was not until after 11:00pm, and one or three pints, that I was able to get the photo. And even then it was with my pocket Canon with flash. Taking that into account it is not a bad picture really. It is nowhere near what I had hoped for but the idea was there.
You can read more about the Coat of Arms on the Baildon Wiki here.
The text here is an extract from one of the Baildon Urban District Council’s handbooks from the 60s
The Crest consists of a Skylark with a sprig of gorse in its beak, allusive to the Moors in and surrounding Baildon. The Crest stands on a Wreath of gold and green and this rests on a Helm (or helmet).
The Helm appropriate to a local authority is that of an esquire, being of steel, unadorned by gold or silver, set in profile.
The Shield is of green (vert) and at the top, known as the “chief” appears the Golden Fleece, allusive to the rearing for wool of sheep on the Baildon Moorlands. The Golden Fleece formed an integral part of Baildon’s unofficial badge and which badge has been used for very many years. Its origin is unknown but it was an unauthorised badge and not in any way heraldic.
The Golden Fleece is in ‘Or’ as are the three Chevronels. These three chevronels point to the fact that Baildon is a three-tier Town.
The Motto, “SURGAMUS ERGO STRENUE”, means “Let us arise with Vigour”, a motto which would have appealed to the civic pride of the hillmen of Baildon and appears to be taken from a hymn attributed to St. Ambrose.
And this is a scan of part of the front cover of the handbook that shows the Baildon Coat of Arms.
During the Baildon Urban Village Initiative of 2005/6, that was worked on by Jessica Matthews (now clerk to harden Parish Council), it was decided to create two oak Baildon boundary signs. These signs were created under that initiative but it was Bernard Stone who contacted me, as a member of the newly formed Baildon Parish Council, so that we could put a proposal forward for them to take on ownership of the signs and get them put up. As a result the signs were erected on 23rd April 2009. We now have the signs on Otley Road, one near Baildon Bridge and the other near the top of Hollins Hill.
As part of the same initiative two stone signs were created and put in place on Baildon Moor. One near the cattle grid at the junction of Glovershaw Lane, Bingley Road and Glen Road and the other where Potter Brow Road becomes Hawksworth Road as you go by Moor Cottage – not too far from Sconce Lane.
When thinking about the photo to submit for this challenge I also thought about the signs around Salt’s Mill that indicated what the industry was based on. The Baildon Coat of Arms has the Golden Fleece but Saltaire is associated with the Alpaca. There is evidence of this around the mill. The window above the stairs near the revolving door entrance on the Victoria Road side of the mill is etched with an Alpaca:-
A few of the other windows have the Pace plc logo on them pretending to be etchings but they are `plastic sheets stuck to the inside of the glass.
An Alpaca is also carved into the stone, along with a lion, on the railway side of the building that is currently All Terrain Cycles – the building next to the chimney.
A much more recent reference to the link between Alpacas and Saltaire are the bronze Alpacas outside the Half Moon Cafe in Robert’s Park. These were added as part of the recent Robert’s park refurbishment.
All these are only links to Wool or the fibres that supported the industry of Bradford so I have decided to include a photo of something that is a little more closely related to Wool.
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