Sir Titus Salt was an industrialist and a canny one at that. His landmark mill was a short stride away from the model village he created. Rows of similar-styled stone terraces occupying streets christened after Salt’s family and associates were at one time inhabited by his workforce giving them no excuse for being late.

Back in the days when transportation links were predominantly water and rail, people didn’t travel far for their entertainment either so Saltaire has always been somewhat self-sufficient.

Corner shops, the proverbial butchers, bakers and candlestick makers, would have thrived here at one time. Salt even built an entertainment venue – Victoria Hall – which remains a popular location for fetes and functions today.

Education and recreation were catered for too. The school he created is now occupied by Shipley College and Roberts Park, the seat of Sir Titus’s statue, recently underwent a multi-million pound restoration funded through Heritage Lottery and other partners to make this tranquil place even more attractive.

Salt wasn’t a pioneer of the one stop shop approach – creating everything you need under one roof, so to speak – but what he did achieve here is his lasting legacy. More than a century after he strolled these streets, his entrepreneurial spirit lives on in the businesses that have set up here and are continuing to thrive despite the country’s economic troubles.

Aside from the eateries whetting the appetites of the thousands of people who come to visit this World Heritage Site there is a mix of creative enterprises serving the local community.

Vicars is a unique place. This social enterprise was established as a cafe. Internally-styled with all things ecclesiastical – furniture is fashioned from old pews – Vicars is more than a place to rest and relax.

The community focus is evident in the chalkboards scheduling the movements of the groups meeting here. Knitters, mums and babies and bookworms. “The vision was to create a community and build relationships within the community,” says Vicars’ manager, Ruth Fisher.

Growing up in Bingley, Ruth has always been fond of Saltaire. “It is interesting working here. Saltaire is very much a community feel. I love the history and the atmosphere. There is already a community here we can build on as a business.”

Three and a half years ago self-styled doyenne of the village Caroline Brown launched her vintage shop in Victoria Road.

Alongside running The House of Rose & Brown, Caroline also organises vintage homewear, fashion, antiques and collectibles fairs at Victoria Hall.

“It’s a natural place for something like a vintage shop to fit in because the people who live there are attuned to history and the very fact they live in a historic village means they may be more into the past and intrigued by Saltaire’s history and items of history as well,” says Caroline.

“I think there are people behind all those lovely rows of Victorian houses who are doing their own bit of enterprise and because it’s such a close knit community you get the support from your neighbours and other shopkeepers. The mill and the Victoria Hall and everyone is quite close really and that helps when you are trying to establish a small business to have that kind of network of people doing similar things and who have the same interests.

“Saltaire has a real atmosphere of almost being frozen in time and yet behind those closed doors there are people who are busy being part of the 21st century and helping things to move forward.”

The Silvers are among the notable people who have shaped the future of Saltaire. Sailing past Salts Mill in his canoe, the late Jonathan Silver never envisaged the task he would take on in years to come.

Transforming a giant redundant textile mill into a creative art and retail space may have been perceived to be too risky, but it was a risk Jonathan Silver was prepared to take.

Jonathan had been travelling abroad with his family when Salts Mill went on the market shortly after it finished production in 1986.

Back in the Eighties and before the boom of turning redundant mills into trendy apartments, the men in suits in the city weren’t interested in investing in such colossal landmarks. “Even in London where the Docklands development had taken place they were struggling because no-one wanted to live in them,” explains Robin, Jonathan’s brother.

Salts Mill looked likely to languish on the market until Jonathan spotted its potential. The boys were born in Manningham and grew up in Shipley. Their father had worked in the textile industry before opening a Wimpy bar.

“This is where we come from. We were born in Manningham but grew up in Shipley so it’s very familiar territory. It’s not like a property company that sees an opportunity,” says Robin.

Robin, who is among the mill’s board of directors along with Jonathan’s widow Maggie, explains his brother had been involved in two previous mills, one in Huddersfield and Dean Clough at Halifax.

The entrepreneurial foresight Jonathan had in purchasing Salts Mill has paid off and his family are now carrying on his legacy long after his death from cancer in 1997.

Showcased within the mill, parts of which are occupied by companies including the international digital technology group Pace Plc, is the artwork of Bradford’s famous artist son, David Hockney. Art enthusiasts flock from far and beyond to glimpse the artist’s work in a mill in the city where he grew up.

Jonathan met David while at Bradford Grammar School. The artist had been a pupil there many years earlier. Jonathan was working on the school magazine and following a meeting with David in his father’s Wimpy bar, David agreed to design the magazine cover.

They remained in touch and the pair agreed the mill would be the perfect canvas to display the artist’s work.

As well as art, the mill boasts a mix of retail space. Books, jewellery, fashionable and functional pieces can be bought within this vibrant setting where looms once clattered.

Back in the Seventies, Robin ran an art and furniture gallery in Manchester with his brother. He has since put his knowledge and expertise into running The Home, an emporium of beautifully designed and largely locally-manufactured lifestyle products, within Salts Mill.

Robin runs The Home with his wife, Patricia, proving Salts Mill remains very much a family concern.

Jonathan’s eldest daughter, Zoe, has recently come on board and is now helping to carry on her father’s legacy.

“Salts is a wonderful place and seems full of sunshine even in these dark winter days. We’re all incredibly proud of what Dad achieved here,” she says.

The story of Salt’s mill is enthralling, from its early origins to the present day, but the two powerful men who shaped and developed this village are still very much in mind.

The largest of Saltaire United Reformed Church’s set of bells, funded by Jonathan’s widow, Maggie, in 2003, is christened Titus. Another is named Jonathan.

Valerie Jenkins, secretary and elder of the church, tells me the church’s location was intentional and that Titus purposely built the driveway directly facing the entrance to the mill offices.

“Titus saw his success and dedication to duty as God-given and part of his Christian ethic was to get people out of the typhoid and diphtheria-ridden city,” she explains.

The church is currently undergoing a renovation scheme. The first phase was renovating the organ; a £100,000 grant from English Heritage funded repairs to the North West gable and roof; the bell tower was restored in the late Nineties and external works to the portico were recently completed.

Valerie explains the next phase is to renovate Titus’s resting place – the mausoleum – and repair the marble sculptures.

“It is such a wonderful building. It is Grade I listed and part of a World Heritage Site,” says Valerie.

“Saltaire has such a wonderful ambience. You walk into the village and it’s like stepping back in time, apart from the cars, but for me it’s been the congregation and the people there, the warmth and hospitality and the tremendous giving of those in caring for the community, and I think that is true not just for me but for other visitors who come to church.”

Researching information about the village for the guided tours he takes around Saltaire as part of the Salt Walks, local historian Roger Clarke developed a fascination with the place.

His latest book ‘A Penny For Going,’ proceeds from which will go towards the Saltaire URC restoration fund, was due to be published when we spoke and follows the history of every single shop that has traded here from Sir Titus’s time to the present day.

Says Roger: “The essential thing to realise is a lot of World Heritage Sites are supported by public funds but Saltaire isn’t. It relies on itself. It’s not a museum, it is a working village and that is the beauty of it for me and that is why I wrote the book. It’s the story of lots of people investing their money, their dreams and their ambitions in enterprises there and no other World Heritage Site to my knowledge is like that. Saltaire is unique.”