There is a sadness about this woman of two centuries ago. It is as though the instantaneous camera of Mr. William Colton Pearson has captured her in a moment of doubt: not quite knowing what awaits in the new century that lies just around the next bend of Manchester Road.
Month: July 2018
Winking At A Carpenter
At a meeting of the Old Gits Luncheon Club the other day we got to talking - as one does when you've had a pint or two - about the latest developments in geo-positioning technology. There is now a system available, it appears, which has assigned a three word code to every three metre square … Continue reading Winking At A Carpenter
They Sailed Away
I can't decide whether this couple posed for this photograph or whether they were actually asleep and a companion got his or her smartphone out and took a quick picture that would make a fine profile picture on Facetwit or the like. But this was the 1930s and it would take a year and a … Continue reading They Sailed Away
Stone, Chapel And Chimney
In suspect that this photograph dates from around 1970. Whilst the precise date may be lost, the location is undoubtedly West Yorkshire and that part of the county characterised by stone walls, chapels and mill chimneys.
When Boris Says Turn
It was a time of political chaos, when the Government of Britain was wracked by internal divisions and factions. Cabinet meetings were characterised by open hostility and serial resignations, and the Prime Minister seemed to stand back and watch the fighting so as not to alienate one faction or another. The issues being argued about … Continue reading When Boris Says Turn
Up And Down Bold Street With Arthur Medrington
Arthur Stanhope Medrington opened an artist studio at 128 Bold Street in Liverpool in the late 1870s. Like so many jobbing artists of the time, his work was largely confined to providing relatively cheap portraits of Victorian middle class families - the type of work and the type of market that the new invention of … Continue reading Up And Down Bold Street With Arthur Medrington
Raymond At The Sink Works
This is a photograph of my late father-in-law, Raymond Berry, which must have been taken in the 1950s whilst he was working at a ceramic glazing company in Elland, West Yorkshire. Raymond - on the right in the photograph above - eventually left the glazing company and went to work in the local mill. The … Continue reading Raymond At The Sink Works
Art Finished In Penmaenmawr
This delightful print, which I suspect dates back to the 1870s, came into my hands for a few pence via an eBay job lot of old photographs. It is the work of Blas Rangel, an early studio photographer who was born in Singapore in 1840 and was active in several towns in Britain in the … Continue reading Art Finished In Penmaenmawr
Tantobie Footballers
Footballers in those days were a different breed: thick shirts, thick woollen socks and thick heads that could withstand a laced-up leather ball. Tantobie were a village team with quite a reputation: the great Billy Smith (1895-1951) grew up in the same Durham pit village.
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