This is a photograph I took 55 years ago, looking over Halifax from - I think - Bradford Old Road. This is not just Halifax, this is my youth. Part the smoke fuelled clouds and you can see my school, the streets I walked down, and the parks I played in. Walk up the hill … Continue reading Home 9 : My Halifax
Month: July 2021
Dividing Lines
People have always fought over Fixby. It's the Alsace-Lorraine of West Yorkshire, subject to an eternal power struggle between Halifax and Huddersfield. It was originally one of the townships of Halifax, but a state-sponsored land-grab in the 1970s saw most of it transferred to Huddersfield. An old dividing stone showing a clear demarcation between Huddersfield … Continue reading Dividing Lines
Compressed History : Down The Pit
Is it possible to compress more history into such a small space as with cigarette cards? These tiny illustrated cards were given away free with packs of cigarettes back in the mid-twentieth century, so all the family could benefit from the tobacco trade: mum and dad could smoke themselves to death whilst smiling children stuck … Continue reading Compressed History : Down The Pit
Home 8 : Pre-Decimal Market
Geologists sometimes date rocks by reference to seismic events, mass extinctions and the like. I tend to do the same with my old photographs. This photo of Halifax Borough Market fits into the pre-decimal period which means I must have taken it over 50 years ago.
A Hazy Shade Of Summer
The power of this summer heatwave acts like some kind of Photoshop filter: bleaching the strength out of colours, blurring the distance into a hazy shade of summer.
Albert And The Machine
This is one of my favourite photographs from the family archives - or rather the box of old photographs that has been given that somewhat grandiose title. It features my father, Albert, and a group of other mechanics, gathered around a machine that looks like a prop from a 1950s low-budget science fiction film. I … Continue reading Albert And The Machine
What Are You Doing Here?
I have a box in my room full of photographs, negatives, postcards and other odd bits of ephemera waiting to be scanned. Some are my old photographs, some are of family members from generations long gone, but most are unknown oddities I have acquired over a lifetime's fascination with images. When the weather is too … Continue reading What Are You Doing Here?
Home 6 : A Bridge Too Far
The line went from Halifax Station to North Bridge Station via the Gas Works. At one time it carried people and goods to exotic places like Ovenden and Queensbury. It was closed in the 1950s and, thirty years later, the solid stone structure was demolished. It had become a bridge too far.
Another Week
Another week gone and nothing left to show for it but memories. Memories, however, are far the best things to leave behind ... memories and another stack of pages from my daily desk calendar.
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