I have a box in my room full of photographs, negatives, postcards and other odd bits of ephemera waiting to be scanned. Some are my old photographs, some are of family members from generations long gone, but most are unknown oddities I have acquired over a lifetime's fascination with images. When the weather is too … Continue reading What Are You Doing Here?
Author: Alan Burnett
Home 6 : A Bridge Too Far
The line went from Halifax Station to North Bridge Station via the Gas Works. At one time it carried people and goods to exotic places like Ovenden and Queensbury. It was closed in the 1950s and, thirty years later, the solid stone structure was demolished. It had become a bridge too far.
Another Week
Another week gone and nothing left to show for it but memories. Memories, however, are far the best things to leave behind ... memories and another stack of pages from my daily desk calendar.
Scented Ink And Typewritten Confessions
I don't know about you, but I seem to be surrounded by adverts. The magazines that drop through my letter-box seem to be almost exclusively adverts for dentists, plasterers and barbers. If I attempt to reach out to the rest of the world via the wonders of social media, my browsing is constantly interrupted by … Continue reading Scented Ink And Typewritten Confessions
It Wouldn’t Do For Mrs Read
Vintage picture postcards sent during the great postcard craze of the first decade of the twentieth century not only provide us with a picture of the physical landscape of our towns and villages at this transformative moment in time, but they also provide us with an insight into the everyday lives of the ordinary people … Continue reading It Wouldn’t Do For Mrs Read
Ding, Dong, Bell
Ding, dong, bell, Pussy’s in the well. Who put her in? Little Johnny Flynn. And, meanwhile, Little Alan Stout simply walked past and took a photograph.
Home 5 : Halifax In The Monochrome Age
These days you can get Artificial Intelligence to add colour to old black and white photos, but if you tried it with my picture from 50+ years ago, it would never get it right. It would make the grass green when, in fact, it was a dirty seaweed colour, the stone would be rich and … Continue reading Home 5 : Halifax In The Monochrome Age
Dog-Eared Days
Like memories, old photographs age. They physically fade, get scratched, bent, dog-eared: they interact with life. So when we look back at old photographs we see blurred memories of dog-eared days. Was my fathers’ hair ever that long, was my brother ever that young? But what of the digital generations; those reared on pixel counts … Continue reading Dog-Eared Days
Away 2 : Boating Under The Pier
Boating under the pier is prohibited. So is swimming in the birdbath, cycling down the drainpipe, and painting your toenails in the coal cellar. But, when liberty returns to the world, we will be able to board cruise ships for trips under the great piers of Britain.
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