Month: May 2019

Coincidence At Clark Bridge Mills

A strange set of coincidences took me on a virtual trip to Clark Bridge Mills in Halifax yesterday. It started with my never-ending quest to prune my bookshelves - the Good lady Wife keeps threatening to bring in a structural engineer as she believes that the beams and floorboards can no longer support the weight … Continue reading Coincidence At Clark Bridge Mills

A Halifax Alms Race

Although this postcard was not postally used - and therefore has no convenient postmark on the back to help date it - we can be reasonably sure it dates from that first decade of the twentieth century, when picture postcards were the Twitter of their day. The card shows Sir Francis Crossley's Almshouses which are … Continue reading A Halifax Alms Race

Fancy Goods And Photographs

In Search Of Edward Gregson Part 2 My research into the life and times of Edward Gregson, photographer, of Halifax and Blackpool is both illogical and unstructured: flitting between odd facts and unrelated times, and punctuated by portraits of anonymous Victorian worthies. It is a journey of discovery in which gazing out of the window … Continue reading Fancy Goods And Photographs

There’s Tons Of Money At The Palace

Walking To The Palace (1924)  : Taken from a photograph album of unknown origin. It is August 1924 and we are walking to the cinema to see Leslie Henson in his latest film, "Tons of Money". Where the cinema is and who we are is unknown, but film itself provides a date stamp. The advert … Continue reading There’s Tons Of Money At The Palace

Postcards From Home: Crown Street, Halifax

This is a rather odd little postcard which dates from the early years of the twentieth century and features a view of Crown Street in Halifax. For some reason, the publishers - the famous W H Smith & Son - have chosen to print the photograph in a murky black on a dark silvery grey; … Continue reading Postcards From Home: Crown Street, Halifax

Cliffe Castle, Keighley

I finally made it to Cliffe Castle Museum and Park in Keighley on Thursday and I am so glad that I did. I went there to see the fabulous stained glass windows by William Morris, Burne-Jones and Rosetti, that were from the former St James Church in Brighouse. They are displayed magnificently along with many … Continue reading Cliffe Castle, Keighley

In Search Of Edward Gregson : Part 1

There is an advert doing the rounds on television at the moment for some new family history database service which is supposed to make tracing your ancestors as easy as sending a Paypal transfer for £100. Just press a computer key and: "Oh goodness, my grandmother was the daughter of the Duke of Beaudung", says … Continue reading In Search Of Edward Gregson : Part 1