Month: January 2021

For Me Alone

If, during my lifetime, I had accumulated paper money with the same skill and dexterity that I have accumulated paper ephemera, I would be a rich old man. As it is, I am an old man surrounded by plastic boxes full of old papers of every description, united only in my ability to find a … Continue reading For Me Alone

Sea, Salt And Sparks

There is something about seaside funfairs - something about the noise and energy of them, and the way  that gets mixed with the smell of fish and chips and seasoned with gusts of salty North Sea spray. The dodgem cars add an extra sensory perception - that spark of raw electricity that leaks from the … Continue reading Sea, Salt And Sparks

A Fire In Halifax

I can't be certain, but it must have been around 1967. I had been to the Central Library - which, at the time, was perversely located about a mile from the centre of Halifax - and I was walking back to the bus station, down Hanson Lane. I had my camera with me (which was … Continue reading A Fire In Halifax

I Liked Right Well

My home-made desk calendar today features an image from a postcard - sent 110 years ago by my Great Aunt Eliza to her brother, Fowler Beanland. The view is of Fleet Street in Bury. I must admit, I don't think I have ever been to the town - an omission that I will try to … Continue reading I Liked Right Well

Making My Mind Up About AI

I still can't make my mind up about AI. Artificial intelligence (AI) colourising programmes are all the rage: smart little apps where you can feed a monochrome image in at one end, and a beautifully realistic full-colour rendition emerges from the other end. To be honest, sometimes it is beautiful, sometimes realistic and sometimes it … Continue reading Making My Mind Up About AI

On The Seventh Day

And on the seventh day, somebody said, don't write anything, just give us a photo.

Two Girls With A Parasol

My calendar today features a photograph from over ninety years ago of two girls posing in a seaside studio with a parasol. The photograph was taken in Cleethorpes on the stormy east coast of Britain, where parasols tended to be confined to the photographers' studio. The date of the photograph I estimate as 1929 or … Continue reading Two Girls With A Parasol

Where?

If you ask me where I come from, I will say Halifax: even though I was not born in the town. For the first five years of my life, I lived far away in Bradford, and we only moved across the border when I was five. Even though I wasn't born in the town, and … Continue reading Where?

When The Song Thrush Sang

My calendar image today features a view of Throstle Nest Farm in Shepherd's Thorn Lane, Rastrick, which is only a few minutes walk away from where I live. The farm is long gone, all that remains is part of a vaulted cellar, and therefore this chance to see it as it would have been 100 … Continue reading When The Song Thrush Sang