Month: April 2018

High Street, Dundee : The Motorist’s Nightmare

High Street, Dundee A picture postcard from 60 years ago, back in the days before pedestrian precincts had been thought of. The names are the names of all high streets of the time - Burtons, Samuels, Woolworth

Northern Capitals 7 : Wonderful Copenhagen

We are on to page 7 of the 1925 photo album of a tour of the "Northern Capitals" and we are in the heart of one of those capitals - Copenhagen. The view of a city street looks like any other street in a major European city in 1925 - cars are beginning to take … Continue reading Northern Capitals 7 : Wonderful Copenhagen

Ten From The Pub 9 : Saloon Bar Friars

Saloon Bar Sign, Black Friar, London   The Black Friar in Queen Victoria Street, London is one of my favourite pubs. Back in days long gone by, I used to take groups of overseas visitors there as part of a tour of old London pubs. It is not only a fine pub, it is a … Continue reading Ten From The Pub 9 : Saloon Bar Friars

The King, The Prince And The Prestwich Photographer

I would guess that this little Carte de Visite from the studio of W H Martin of Prestwich, Lancashire is Edwardian rather than Victorian. I know nothing about the subject of the photograph other than he seems a bright young fellow with a rather distinctive horseshoe pattern necktie. I don't know much more about W … Continue reading The King, The Prince And The Prestwich Photographer

Northern Capitals 6 : Church of England

So typical of the English - they sail all the way to exotic European capitals and the first thing they do is to look for a typical English parish church. Our 1925 visitors to the northern capitals found St Albans Church in Copenhagen - they might as well have stayed in St Albans, Hertfordshire.

Manchester With A Shiny Surface

I was in Manchester last week with a group of friends - the famous Old Gits Luncheon Club - and we were walking along the Rochdale Canal en-route to a splendid public house called The Briton's Protection, when I spotted two buildings, separated by a few hundred yards and a few hundred years in economic … Continue reading Manchester With A Shiny Surface

Ten From The Pub 8 : Say Cheese

The Cheshire Cheese, Fleet Street, London (1987) I have just realised that I have got to number eight in this ten part series on pubs and all I have shown is buildings. Buildings in themselves - whatever their architectural merit, however much their timbers have absorbed centuries of malt and hops - are not pubs. … Continue reading Ten From The Pub 8 : Say Cheese

Northern Capitals 5 : The Elsinore Kipper Factory

This particular picture is captioned "The Castle at Elsinore from Marienlyst" and if you direct your attention to the left of the photograph there is a castle which I assume is the castle in question. It is, however, also a photo of what looks like the kipper factory at Elsinore, and, towards the right of … Continue reading Northern Capitals 5 : The Elsinore Kipper Factory