Year: 2020

A Brookfoot Triptych

After publishing one of my old vintage postcards of Brookfoot - which is little more than a bend in the river a mile or so west of Brighouse - on a Facebook local history site, I started a trawl through my collection to see if I had any more postcards featuring the same spot. I … Continue reading A Brookfoot Triptych

Eminent Victorians

I am not sure if I was attracted to this little Victorian portrait by the look in the eye of the sitter or because in was taken in the studios of Sydney Barton in New Brighton. I remember New Brighton well from childhood seaside trips (the name "New Brighton" was a triumph for positively-spun nomenclature … Continue reading Eminent Victorians

The Lonely Ascent Of Mount Blackley

It was a glorious Spring day today and we were tempted outside. Wanting to respect the Government advice on social distancing and the avoidance of parks and beauty spots, we decided to attempt the ascent of Mount Blackley by taking the old footpath from South Lane in Elland to the top of the hill in … Continue reading The Lonely Ascent Of Mount Blackley

A Direct Line To Halifax

This is an old picture postcard featuring Crown Street in Halifax at the beginning of the twentieth century. Although it dates from an age of horse carriages and gas lights, it is a scene which will be familiar to all those who know the town. Most of the buildings featured in the view are still … Continue reading A Direct Line To Halifax

That Look

A rather old and faded photograph, the victim of too many years stored on damp and dusty shelves. But that look shines through; a look divorced of style and fashion. Beautiful.

Slate-Grey In Brighouse

These are strange times: there seems so much to do in the world and yet we are assured that our best contribution is to stay at home. So what else is there to do other than to turn to the past and set out on a virtual voyage of exploration. By walking in the footsteps … Continue reading Slate-Grey In Brighouse

A Circuitous Route To Huddersfield

I have just acquired this lovely old vintage postcard of Stump Cross, near Halifax. It is a view I am well familiar with, based on a thousand bus journeys home - although those journeys would have been fifty years after this photograph was taken in the early years of the twentieth century. When I regularly … Continue reading A Circuitous Route To Huddersfield

All That Is Given Is The Moment

A classic Picture From Nowhere : I know not who, where or when. Three carefully posed men, three carefully composed faces. You can write their past or invent their future. All that is given is the moment.

Great Questions Of Our Time No. 376 and 377

I know what a burlesque artist is, and I have seen a good few comediennes: but what, in the name of all that is risqué, is a "serio"? Perhaps Miss Mollie May can enlighten us. And whilst we are at it, whatever happened to smoking concerts?