Year: 2021

Home 12 : Vale Of Tears And Laughter

This is a photograph of one of the two Sunny Vale lakes, which I must have taken almost sixty years ago. Sixty years before that Sunny Vale Gardens, Hipperholme were attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. A superb 1901 film - Trip To Sunny Vale Gardens - is available on the British Film … Continue reading Home 12 : Vale Of Tears And Laughter

Around The World In Eighty Words : 1 SHORT

"What is it?", said Lucy. "It's more a question of what was it", I replied philosophically. "It could have been corn, it might have been hay, even possibly wheat; but right now it is stubble, and more to the point, it digs into your ankles". "Tell me about it", whined Lucy, "I've got twice as … Continue reading Around The World In Eighty Words : 1 SHORT

In The North

This unused picture postcard - which came into my possession by fair means or foul, originated in France in 1916. It shows a cartoon by the artist, Jean Louis Forain, and is entitled “Dans le Nord - En Esclavage” (In the North - In Bondage). The drawing contains a quotation from the proclamation issued by … Continue reading In The North

Highlight Of The Day

Lined up like a regiment of administrative soldiers, the massed highlighters take to the field, ready to accentuate the positive, even if they can’t eliminate the negative. With one stroke they stream the words and phrases, hand out awards and bestow colourful certificates of credibility.

Around The World In Eighty Words : START

You know what it's like. You've had a drink or two too many, you are on the edge of being bored, Coronation Street is not what it was, you want to broaden your horizons ...... so you get into one of those "I bet I could" conversations. I would like to say that it was … Continue reading Around The World In Eighty Words : START

Plague And Pestilence In Downtown Halifax

My picture today shows the spire of Square Congregational Church, Halifax during the nadir of its fortunes in the early 1970s. Two fires and a gale had already brought this fine Victorian church to its knees - when I took this photograph it was patiently awaiting the inevitable Biblical flood and plague of locusts. Luckily … Continue reading Plague And Pestilence In Downtown Halifax

Matching Moods On Sepia Saturday

I have been participating in the Sepia Saturday project for the best part of ten years and matching themes for most of that time. I have featured pictures of bridges to match bridges and pictures of my granny in a hat to coincide with hat week. After getting on for 600 weeks, however, I now … Continue reading Matching Moods On Sepia Saturday

A Postcard From The Conservatory

This immensely colourful postcard of the conservatory at Akroyd Park in Halifax must date from the first decade of the twentieth century, although it is difficult to date it precisely as it was never posted. Bankfield House, the home of Edward Akroyd, and its grounds, were sold to Halifax Corporation in the 1880s and converted … Continue reading A Postcard From The Conservatory