This is another image from fifty years ago, taken in the Shaw Lane area of Halifax. It has been a bit of a challenge to pin down where I was when I took this photograph, because - as far as I can work out - it doesn't exist anymore. However, it appears that this is … Continue reading The Halifax Entrance To The Channel Tunnel
Author: Alan Burnett
Some Of It Is, Some Of It Isn’t
Some of this isn't there any more. Some of it is. I can't be entirely sure what is, and what isn't, because it is a long time since I walked up this narrow cobbled street in Halifax. This photograph was taken over fifty years ago, and I don't think I have been up this little … Continue reading Some Of It Is, Some Of It Isn’t
As Brief As The Click Of A Shutter
Another plunge into the pool of the unknown. Somehow I acquired an album of photographs from the 1920s and 30s. Photographs of people I don't know in places I have never been. Photographs that captured an instant in time, which eventually faded into a memory and then was lost forever. Not quite forever: this tiny … Continue reading As Brief As The Click Of A Shutter
Change
You could still walk down Shaw Lane, Halifax, today and see little change to this view I took over fifty years ago. The mill buildings are still there, the cobbles are still set into the street. The wooden shed and railings are gone, the stone is a bit cleaner and there has been a bit … Continue reading Change
Long, Warm And Dry
HOW TO SURVIVE THE LOCKDOWN : No 34 IN A SEEMINGLY ENDLESS SERIES GLENGOYNE 18 YEAR OLD HIGHLAND SINGLE MALT WHISKY The nose was supposed to be "awash with red apples and ripe melon" I got that, but I also got the slightest hint of a freshly opened bottle of Tippex as well. After a … Continue reading Long, Warm And Dry
Burdock Way Wasn’t But Mack’s Offices Were
As with all of my old photographs of Halifax, the two questions that arose as soon as I scanned this old negative were time and place. Place, in the broadest sense, is relatively easy: that is clearly Halifax in the background, and using a similar approach to the way forensic scientists track a bullet's trajectory, … Continue reading Burdock Way Wasn’t But Mack’s Offices Were
Pin OK Oh!
The origins of large-scale public sculpture in Halifax go back even further than the magnificent Striding Concrete Man (aka Burdock Way). Who can forget the monumental plastic bowling pin of a decade earlier? Built on a scale to rival Charles Barry's town hall, for much of the sixties it stood like a beacon to cultural imperialism in … Continue reading Pin OK Oh!
Photo-Me, Victoria
Some people say that photographs today are as cheap as chips. This is untrue, as anyone who has been to a fish and chip shop recently will know: a bag of chips can set you back the best part of £2. Photographs, captured on smart phones and shared with friends are essentially free goods, and … Continue reading Photo-Me, Victoria
We Called It Burdock Way
Burdock Way Flyover Under Construction (c. 1971) (Alan Burnett) In recent years, large scale outdoor public sculptures which create enduring landmarks have become popular. Examples are Antony Gormley's Angel of the North in Gateshead and Andy Scott's The Kelpies in Grangemouth, Scotland. Few people realise that Halifax was a pioneer of this artistic movement, with … Continue reading We Called It Burdock Way
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