VISITORS can go back in time at this year’s Saltaire World Heritage Weekend and learn about the day-to-day lives of villagers.

The free event, which will take place on April 22 and 23, will feature a Victorian fancy dress parade, archive exhibition, brass band and guided walks during a busy two days.

It will include an exhibition of people’s stories from the Saltaire Archive in Shipley College, including an audio collection of spoken stories of life in Saltaire, held on April 22, from 10am to 4pm.

The archive is owned by Shipley College, in trust for the community, and has a dedicated room in the college’s learning and resource centre.

Visitors can also tell their own stories of Saltaire life to the group’s volunteers at the archive exhibition.

Caroline Andrews, co-event organiser of the weekend alongside Helen Thornton, Saltaire’s world heritage officer, said: “We are hoping it will be a great weekend.

“This year’s theme is people’s stories and we are wanting to hear from people who have a connection to Saltaire.

“People will also be interviewed to get their ideas and stories too.”

Other highlights of the event, now in its seventh year, include Saltaire Primary School who will present an exhibition of the children’s study of Victorian cross-stitch needlework, known as samplers, in Saltaire United Reformed Church, between 1pm and 4pm on Sunday, April 23.

Roberts Park will host activities on Saturday, April 22, between 11am and 4pm, including a children’s craft workshop, a chance to play croquet and traditional boaters’ games and watch a demonstration of blacksmith.

A 1912 archive film of the Easter crowds at Shipley Glen Tramway will be shown at Bracken Hall Countryside Centre between 10am and 4pm. It will also give visitors the chance to take part in craft activities and find creatures living in the garden/pond.

Visitors can also follow the story explorer trail, answering questions at each location to gain ink stamps, which they be rewarded for collecting.

The ink-stamp competition encourages people to explore the whole area of Saltaire Village and up Shipley Glen to the Bracken Hall Countryside Centre.

Volunteers at Shipley Glen Tramway will also dress up in Victorian costume on both days.

A Victorian fancy dress parade will be held in Roberts Park on April 23, from noon to 2pm. Visitors will be encouraged to dress up in costume from the era for the Sunday the around the park. Hall Royd Brass Band will perform in the park between 11.30am and 3pm.

Alpacas will also be available for a meet and greet at the park from 10am to 2pm.

Representatives from the Canal and River Trust will also run a recruitment stand looking for new volunteers by the Leeds and Liverpool Canal on April 22, from 10am to 4pm and the following day between 11am and 4pm.

A five-mile Saltaire Heritage Walk, run by the Bradford Countryside Service, will be held from 11am on April 23, meet outside Saltaire Railway Station on Victoria Road.