History is sometimes measured in dynasties - the Tudors or Stuarts, the Tangs or the Yans - but for most folk a more prosaic way of marking the passage of time is called for. Having grown up in Halifax and having lived in these parts for large periods of my life, for me it’s bus … Continue reading Bus Station Dynasties
Month: July 2024
Can’t See The Moores For The Trees
This family photograph from the 1930s perfectly captures a marriage of style and elegance. It also captures a marriage between two people, but I am a little uncertain as to who they are. The one person I can identify is the man seated second from the left, the man with a hairstyle of sculptured grandeur, … Continue reading Can’t See The Moores For The Trees
Sandstone Palaces
Sometimes the lines are better blurred. Usually the signs are better blurred. We can forget the message, be it about fake tans or coffee cups, and concentrate on this stone monument to the gods of commerce, a sandstone palace fit for a Coffee King.
After The Rain
I recently acquired a lovely old 1904 album of photographs taken in and around the Scottish village of Brig o' Turk. Despite the age of the photos, you are not drawn into the usual "then and now" comparisons: as far as I can tell, little has changed. It is the captions that provide the time … Continue reading After The Rain
Daffodil On The Water
When I was young, back in the early 1950s, our family's annual seaside holiday would alternate between Bridlington on the east coast and New Brighton on the west. On those years we headed west, our journey would involve a train to Liverpool and then a ferry across the Mersey to our seaside destination. Sorting through … Continue reading Daffodil On The Water
Special Delivery
For anyone devoted to wandering down the side streets of inconsequence, old picture postcards are an ideal mode of transport. You can spend many a happy hour trying to work out where the old photographs were taken from - where, for example, in Elland was this view taken from 110 years ago - and you … Continue reading Special Delivery
The Stealthy Hebble
The Hebble Brook stealths its way through Halifax, hidden where possible, breaking to the surface only occasionally to spit-wash the shadows of industry gone by.
Soul Ownership
I've never been convinced by the accusation that when you take someone's photograph, you are stealing their soul; just because you possess a photo of someone doesn't mean you can lay claim to their soul. Possessing the negative is a different thing entirely. Thanks to a recent purchase of an original 1940s negative on eBay, … Continue reading Soul Ownership
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