When I was young, my Auntie Annie would tell me tales of her cousin Ivy, who played in an all-women's band. I never met Ivy, and her side of the family remained a mythical branch located far away on the other side of the Pennines. A few years ago, I received a box of old … Continue reading Ivy And The Celebrity Ladies Orchestra
Month: March 2026
When Markets Were Markets
This photograph comes from the same strip of negatives as the one I featured yesterday and, we now know - thanks to research by Paul Hartley and Michael Horsfield - was taken back in 1967/68. It shows the old Brighouse Market, not far from where the bus station is today. This was back in the … Continue reading When Markets Were Markets
Time Extinguisher
I've tried to make up for the lack of a precise date on this photograph of mine by going back to the archives of the Milk Marketing Board to discover when this "Thirst Extinguisher" advert was current. No success so far, but perhaps the Bedford van and the three wheeled car are better clues. My … Continue reading Time Extinguisher
Domino Run
I took this photograph getting on for twenty years ago. It shows Cowcliffe Hill Road plunging down towards a suitably undefined Huddersfield. It's that row of terraced houses that captures the attention: stone-slate dominoes lined up, ready to tumble.
Skegness Rock
You can cut this picture up into a dozen pieces, and each one will have Skegness running through it. It will have a bracing wind blowing sand up from the North Sea beaches, it will have slot machines and dodgem cars, plastic buckets, and caravan parks. A bargain bundle for only one pound.
Edwardian AI
This early twentieth century picture postcard image of the approach to Halifax Railway Station has the look of something that has been created by a cut-price AI image colourising programme. It wasn't; it was created by the Edwardian equivalent, a cut-price studio assistant with instructions to make the hills green, the sky blue, and the … Continue reading Edwardian AI
Real People, Real Lives
Whilst photographs may start out life as things that are intensely personal - this is Aunty Vera, this is our holiday - after a century or more pressed in an album and becoming sepia with age and neglect, they become things of interest to us all. The scene, the clothes, who is there (and who … Continue reading Real People, Real Lives
Just Messing
Why do we take photographs? Despite a lifetime of taking them, I am no closer to finding an answer. It's partly about wanting to capture a moment or maybe share a visual thought, but that is only part of the answer. I was walking the dog yesterday and stopped to take a photograph. "What are … Continue reading Just Messing
Three For The Price Of One
I wanted something cheery for Friday the 13th - there is enough bad luck and misery going on around us at the moment without me adding to it. We also have a Sepia Saturday prompt this week that features family groups, so here is my brother (left), my mother, and I (I'm the cute one … Continue reading Three For The Price Of One
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