Welcome to the Website of Alan Burnett: writer, blogger, collector of old photographs, and devotee of all things pointless and inconsequential.
The Celebration
This photo has been in that suitcase of memories I call the “family archives” for as long as I can remember, and I always assumed the cake was celebrating the birthday of one of my relatives born in 1851. On closer inspection, it doesn’t say 1851 on the cake – it says 85. Given that the photo must have been taken around 1920, that means I’m looking for someone born around 1835. I haven’t found her yet.
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Revealing Dress
You can have great fun with artificial intelligence by asking it to transform a familiar picture of your favourite relative into an image of a 19th century Victorian gentleman – or whatever…
Long And Winding Path
It’s the end of the month, and here is a path leading somewhere – but who knows where? Whilst this is true in a literal sense (I have no idea where I…
Dirty Old Town
I frequently met my love by these gas works walls; they were opposite the carpet mill where I was working at the time. Around then, I may have walked a little way…
The Maid And The Watchers
This photograph, which I suspect dates from the 1920s, was in an old album I bought on eBay. The first thing to capture your attention is the maid, enjoying a…
The Sirens Of The Gas Works
I know what you’re going to say – you’re going to say, “You cheat; you’ve used that photo on your calendar before!. What about 1st August 2024?” . It is…
The Quiet, Rhythmic Beauty Of Cleethorpes
There is a quiet, rhythmic beauty to the seaside that only reveals itself when the tide retreats, and this photograph captures that fleeting interval with striking architectural precision. The image…
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