Year: 2018

Had You Been There

This postcard - dating back to 1913 - appears never to have been sent through the post. It was written by Andrew - who we can suppose is the man in the middle of this group - to Mary Campbell of Cowdenbeath, who fairly obviously doesn't feature in the trio. The message is as follows: … Continue reading Had You Been There

The Last Afternoon At Sea

Over the last couple of months I have been slowly scanning my way through a 1925 photograph album I bought on a second hand stall. Entitled "Cruise To The Northern Capitals of Europe on the SS City of Nagpur, July-August 1925", the album contains over 50 sepia photographs our unknown photographer took on a cruise … Continue reading The Last Afternoon At Sea

1738 : Lee Bank Mill, Halifax

A photograph of Lee Bank Mill in Halifax which I took in the early 1970s. It was an age of closed and crumbling mill buildings - an industrial heartland being reclaimed by vegetation.

Thomas Boxell Of Brighton …

  This small photograph of a seated woman is the work of a Victorian photographer called Thomas Boxell, who - at the time this photograph was taken in the late 1870s - was operating out of a studio in Pickering, Yorkshire. The story of Thomas Boxell is typical of so many of the semi-itinerant studio … Continue reading Thomas Boxell Of Brighton …

Politicians On Postcards : Bob’s His Uncle

 For want of something better to do, I thought I would start a short series entitled "Politicians On Postcards". The length of the series will, no doubt, be determined by how many examples of this rather specialised genre I can find in my collection. There can only be one place to start a series on … Continue reading Politicians On Postcards : Bob’s His Uncle

Instantaneous Sadness

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.

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