Author: Alan Burnett

Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns

Luckily the location of this old 35mm negative is obvious from the church notice board and the proud lettering over the portico, but if not I suspect I would have guessed it was one of towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent. The church drips Arnold Bennett : I can see Constance Baines fussily climbing the church … Continue reading Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns

Halifax At The Speed Of Light

When I look at this photograph I am reminded of those nineteenth century etchings of northern mill towns. But it can't be nineteenth century because I took the photograph and even I am not that old. And if you look carefully there are two blocks of flats in the background. It appears that if you … Continue reading Halifax At The Speed Of Light

Effie And Agnes Reunited

This is an amalgamation of two separate photographs that were within of batch of unknown old photographs I acquired from somewhere.  The photographs are of a similar age and technique and more than likely they are the outcome of the same visit to a photographers' studio. There is a facial similarity which suggests the two … Continue reading Effie And Agnes Reunited

Discontinuing The Exchange With Halifax Infirmary

This is a picture postcard from the very beginning of the twentieth century featuring a photograph of the Royal Infirmary, Halifax. When this photograph was taken the building will have only been a few years old (it was opened in 1896), and the building remained largely unchanged until it eventually closed in 2001. One of … Continue reading Discontinuing The Exchange With Halifax Infirmary

A Walk Around Halifax

I have been taking photographs of Halifax for the best part of sixty years, but it is something I never get bored with. I happily take every chance I get to walk around the streets of the town I have always called "home", looking for new insights, new frames, new angles and new shapes. I … Continue reading A Walk Around Halifax

The End Of Chapeltown

My image today is based on a Halifax Courier photograph of the demolition of the Chapeltown area of Halifax in 1939. Chapeltown, near the bottom of Pellon Lane, was an area where a large number of common lodging houses were located - along with the town’s dungeon.

Assessing The Lie

My Great-Uncle, Fowler Beanland, was a crown green bowler. In his youth, he played bowls in his native Keighley, in his thirties he played bowls in Cumbria where he was working, and in his later years he returned to the crown greens of Yorkshire. He was also a great postcard collector and his collection of … Continue reading Assessing The Lie

Flying Through The Skegness Skies

This strange contraption perhaps gives a new meaning to the phrase "fell off the back of a wagon"! The wagon was "on the front" at Skegness, more years ago than I care to remember. It was always a blurred picture, it was always slightly unreal. The only thing to do with it was to make … Continue reading Flying Through The Skegness Skies

Halifax Post Office

I have several vintage postcards featuring Halifax Post Office in my collection, which is only right and proper as it is a fine looking building. The building - and the postcards - date from a time when there was a degree of local pride in such public buildings, and post offices were seen as a … Continue reading Halifax Post Office