Welcome to the Website of Alan Burnett: writer, blogger, collector of old photographs, and devotee of all things pointless and inconsequential.
St Thomas And The Gasworks (Again)
This is another of those scenes I kept returning to in the 1960s, and I have several versions of it in my negative archive. Perhaps it was fortunate that I did my best to capture the scene in all its glory, because shortly afterwards, not only was the Gasworks frame demolished, but so too was the central feature: the tower of St Thomas’ Church in Claremount.
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Here For The Day
This week, our weekly picture-postcard puzzle takes us to the United States. It is April 1906, and the writer simply tells us that his hand is still improving and that he is…
Shapes, Shades, And Stories
Sometimes you simply go somewhere and take photographs – no theme, no agenda, no expectations. As a record of a day out, it works better than any 5,000-word essay: shapes, shades, and…
Enjoy The View
I wish I could remember taking this photograph, but I can’t; after all, it was a long time ago. I must have been up Clifton way, looking down over the lower Calder…
Leaving The Shed
This 1947 photograph came into my care through family hand-me-downs and shows a retirement party at a Bingley mill in January 1947. It is not clear whether the person retiring…
Electric Houses And Botany Worsted Suits
Two adverts from Halifax newspapers 100 years ago today paint an interesting picture of society in the 1920s. One advert is for new suits, available from Sam Stocks for £5.50.…
