Author: Alan Burnett

Set The Night On Fire

To mess, or not to mess, that is the question. Whichever one you choose, it shows the railway viaduct, part of the Bailey Hall factory of Mackintosh's, and a mill chimney (Clark Bridge Mills, perhaps) with a relatively bare Beacon Hill filling in the gaps between the blackened stone. It is Halifax, of course, and … Continue reading Set The Night On Fire

Click Bait

Twenty-first century media is driven by little other than the remorseless drive to get you to click on some meaningless advert for funeral plans, miracle diets, or mobility scooters. We live in the age of click-bait, and stories that are designed to draw you in, like some digital Venus flytrap, and consume your very soul. … Continue reading Click Bait

Back Yard, Sheffield, 1980

I took this photo in the back yard of our house in Sheffield 40+ years ago. It's sometimes said that Sheffield was built on 7 hills, but, in truth, it's more like 70. Most folk had hills in their back garden and washing banners flying from clothes prop flagpoles.

John King Lane, Brighouse

This vintage postcard of Brighouse dates from the early years of the twentieth century and shows a part of the town that has undergone changes over the last 100 years, but will still be recognisable to those familiar with the town. Just imagine that you are stood near the top of Wilkinson's car park and … Continue reading John King Lane, Brighouse

An Ingbirchworth Walk

A rare combination of blue skies and time to kill saw me take a walk around the lovely reservoir at Ingbirchworth - just over the border in South Yorkshire. I've always been slightly fascinated by Ingbirchworth, whose name always seems to me to have been formulated by a Committee. In fact, the meaning seems to … Continue reading An Ingbirchworth Walk

Market Days In Brighouse

My scanning project this week takes me back further than I almost care to remember, back to the late 1960s when England were World Cup winners, Carnaby Street was fashionable, and Brighouse still had a Council. At some stage I was walking around Brighouse with my camera, and I went into the Open Market, which, … Continue reading Market Days In Brighouse

Messing About On Water Lane

If there is one thing I love doing, it is messing about with old images. Give me a half-decent computer, a reasonably warm desk to work on, and the occasional cup of tea, and I can occupy myself for a decade or two. There is no rational plan, no great scheme, no fixed objective: it … Continue reading Messing About On Water Lane

Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!

The wonderful thing about old 35mm negatives is that they come in strips. I used to always process my own, and cut them into strips of six negatives for storage, and this has preserved a degree of continuity when it comes to the relationship between individual photographs, half a century or more down the line. … Continue reading Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!