D

on’t you wish you had a boss like Titus Salt?

Aside from having an incredibly cool name, the eponymous 19th-century mill owner created all kinds of buildings to make the lives of his workers more pleasant, including almshouses and an institute with a smoking room, gymnasium and drill hall for the local regiment.

Take a trip to this picture-postcard West Yorkshire village and you can see how well he did, with a wander along the neat grey-stone terraces and through the lush Roberts Park.

On Sundays in summer, the atmosphere in the park is all very jubilant, with cricket matches and free music concerts – where the atmosphere often gets rather exciting (depending on who’s playing of course).

And with this being a mill town, there’s a canal, too. The industrial days of the Leeds-Liverpool Waterway may be long gone but the towpaths are still here, so while the cricketers are off having tea (or one of their other umpteen ‘refreshment breaks’), why not head off for a peaceful stroll. They’ll still be at it when you get back.

If cricket and canal walks aren’t your thing, then mid-September is a good time to see the place in full swing, during the annual Saltaire Festival.There are street markets, musicians, dancers and a beer festival. We’ll drink to that.