Two columns by Roger Clarke, Saltaire people and The History of Victoria Road, appear regularly in this paper, although limitations of space, together with the fact that, wherever possible, subjects are selected to be of some particular topical interest, mean that local people who have been good enough to grant an extensive interview often have to wait a considerable time before seeing the results in print.

A popular feature which we hope to reinstate soon is Through the Saltaire Keyhole, a series of excerpts reproduced from the Shipley & Saltaire Times, edited and often annotated by Clive Woods. Always of particularly local interest, the reports are from the same month a hundred and twenty-seven years earlier. This timing was actually cleverly thought out: It meant that in our first year we could ‘report’:

“On Saturday, June 24th, 1876, Benjamin Allsop, printer and publisher, started the Shipley & Saltaire Times and Airedale Reporter at 4, Victoria Road”

Dave Shaw’s HERITAGE QUIZ had readers researching (or perhaps guessing) from Issue No.3, with questions like: “Whenever Sarah Bray is seen sitting in Roberts Park, she is always next to the same person. Who is that other person?” In place of the Quiz, from March 2004 to May 2006 local history (and geography) fans were treated to Barlo & Shaw’s A-Z of Saltaire Street Names, which looked at every street in the Village, one a month in alphabetical order, and explored the stories of the people behind the names. We look forward to launching a new series, in the very near future, of vintage advertisements which Dave has kindly offered to share with us from an almanac dated 1900.

Historians Barlo & Shaw are perhaps best known for their book Balgarnie’s Salt. [Nemine Juvante (Saltaire) Publications: 2003], available from local outlets or via the Saltaire website.
(It can be downloaded free.) They can be encountered in person at the History Club.

DONKEY’S YEARS
“Whether you are one of the many tourists we welcome you to Saltaire, or you’ve lived here for donkey’s years … There’s always something to either discover or look at in a new light.”
Sentinel No.1 January 2003

BACK NUMBERS
Although the supply is limited, copies of most issues of the Saltaire Sentinel are obtainable on request. Individual articles and other items can be made available either electronically or as ‘hard’ copy.

CRICKET
A particularly memorable story was front page headline news in December 2004: ‘PARK IMPROVEMENT – Club to Make Half Moon Shine’. Thanks to Geoff Porter of Saltaire Cricket Club, the Sentinel was the first paper to break the news of the club’s exciting plan to renovate the historic building in Roberts Park. Earlier, in May 2003, our first photograph showed Julien Young proudly holding aloft the Sentinel Ball, which he had just fished out of the river. (It has since become a tradition for the paper to sponsor the first ball of the season at Roberts Park – and the Sentinel Shield is contested annually in September.) First team fixtures appear in The Sentinel throughout the season.