Here is another of my photographs from the same walk around Brighouse fifty odd years ago. This one was taken from Brighouse Bridge looking down at the River Calder. Brighouse Gas Works and a variety of old industrial units can clearly be seen lining the river banks. So what has changed in half a century?
The most obvious answer is – trees. In this modern image, only the electricity pylon manages to break through the tree cover. It is not just nature that has been responsible for the greening of the scene: the Gas Works and mill chimneys are long gone. There is, however, still industry there: a substantial industrial estate hides behind the trees on both sides of the river.
One further difference worth noting is the source of the photographs themselves. The first shot was taken by me, having walked to Brighouse from my home three or four miles away. Once the camera shutter had clicked it was captured on film, and that film was eventually taken home and painstakingly developed and printed in my cellar darkroom. The modern equivalent was a screenshot, copied and pasted from Google Streetview in seconds.
alanburnett.com 