Month: May 2019

Fly On The Wall

A fly on the window and not on the wall. A tiny, moth-like fly, which turns out to be a miniature work of art: picked out against a Yorkshire sky.

A Grand Old Age

This is an old sepia photograph of a seaside resort, which was taken, I suspect, in the early twentieth century. I don't know where it was taken: I am sure it is somewhere in England, but there are few clues in the photograph itself. There is what looks like a ruined castle on the top … Continue reading A Grand Old Age

Tramcar Obscenities

YORKSHIRE EVENING POST 17 MAY 1919 People today just don't know how to behave. There is no discipline. Fighting, swearing, misbehaving on a Corporation tramcar - we didn't act like that when I was young.

Graveyard Art

There is something rather lovely about this old gravestone, standing snug against the sandstone walls of St Martin's in Brighouse. Perhaps it's the almost Pre-Raphaelite design, perhaps it is the challenge presented by the Roman numerals. It stands out not by its size or dominance of the graveyard, but by the fact that it hides … Continue reading Graveyard Art

History In The Sun

What better way to spend a sunny day than wandering around a Yorkshire churchyard, looking for history and finding it under every stone slab.

Postcards From Home (School)

The old Crossley Orphanage - now the Crossley Heath School - remains one of the most handsome buildings in Halifax. Nevertheless - almost 50 years after I attended it - I still have nightmares about getting lost within its labyrinthine corridors.

Seven On A Wall

UNKNOWN GROUP OF SEVEN AND A WALL Seven people and a wall. Seven mid-century faces: post-war, post-depression - all tweed jackets and Oxford bags. That first, troubling half century is behind them - the future is awaiting them.

Stone And Sun

Forget love and marriage, fish and chips, Cagney and Lacey: surely the finest combination of all is a warm spring sun on solid Yorkshire stone.

Stone Antiquities And Tree Trunk Props

This little Victorian Carte de Visite dates from a time when photographs were for special occasions, rather than the result of a selfie-click on a smartphone. Young men or women would have their photographs taken on birthdays and holidays, wearing their very best clothes, and posing against a background of stone antiquities and tree-trunk props (the props … Continue reading Stone Antiquities And Tree Trunk Props