Month: November 2020

Quality Street

JOHN MACKINTOSH & SON, ALBION MILLS, HALIFAX (c1974) My father worked at Mackintosh's in Halifax. Every so often, he would bring a bag of what were known as "Throw-Outs" home; misshapen chocolates which were sold off cheap to the factory workers. Whilst this meant a plentiful supply of chocolates for me as a child, you … Continue reading Quality Street

Neon Memories

GEORGE SQUARE, HALIFAX (1960s) This is a photograph of George Square in Halifax, taken - as far as I can remember - in the mid 1960s. You don't get to see much, just a few neon signs and fuzzy shop windows, but you don't need to see much to spark a memory. This is Halifax's … Continue reading Neon Memories

Unknown And Superb

This is one of a batch of old photographs which was sent to me through the post. There was no indication as to who sent them, but the envelope also contained the funeral programme of one of my wife's cousins. I can only assume that the two children featured in this particular photograph are members … Continue reading Unknown And Superb

Halifax Decorations

I must have taken this photograph of Horton Street in Halifax, and the fine spire of Square Church, sometime in the mid to late 1960s. It was at a time when Halifax was still at the shabby end of the shabby-chic continuum. In order to advertise his credentials, the decorator who inhabited the upper parts … Continue reading Halifax Decorations

A Foggy Night In Fixby

Style And Charm

I must have taken this photograph in the mid 1970s: it shows Commercial Street in Halifax, looking towards Wards End and the, then, new headquarters of the Halifax Building Society. There is a sharp contrast in architectural styles: on one side of Commercial Street are the late Victorian facades of shops and commercial premises, whilst … Continue reading Style And Charm

Imaginary Prospecting

So here we are again: locked down and searching for ways of occupying ourselves between box sets. Next to my desk I have a suitcase full of old orphan photographs. These are photographs of unknown origin, things I have bought by the box full, job lots of memories. Whenever I have nothing better to do … Continue reading Imaginary Prospecting

Change And The Wool Merchant

For more than a century a wool merchant has dominated the junction of King Street and Mulcture Hall Road in Halifax. For most of that time the building was the premises of the wool merchant business of H Holdsworth, but more recently it has been the home of the Wool Merchant Hotel. Whether trade or … Continue reading Change And The Wool Merchant