So why would anyone place a milepost on an obscure back road in Rastrick telling people that it was only nineteen and a quarter miles to Rochdale? Who would want to know that? You might want to know how many miles it was to Elland, but that piece of information has worn away. Further research … Continue reading It’s Only Nineteen And A Quarter Miles To Rochdale
Author: Alan Burnett
Carpeting The Calder Valley
The final shot from this strip of negatives places Clark Bridge Mills - at the time the headquarters of Homfray Carpets - at the centre of the action. Henry James Homfray may have been one of the lesser-known carpet barons of Halifax, but with mills in Sowerby Bridge, Luddendenfoot, Birstall and Halifax, he made a … Continue reading Carpeting The Calder Valley
Mill, Church, Gable And Hillside
We do gable ends well in Yorkshire. We're proud of them. Stick a little window in them, give them a bob or two's worth of lace curtains. Let them stand out like giant headstones. These were fifty years ago somewhere down Southowram Bank: within twisting distance of where yesterday's photograph was taken from. This photo … Continue reading Mill, Church, Gable And Hillside
A Mug Of Tea Photo
The next shot on this strip of negatives is a mug of tea photo. Not a passing fancy you can digest with a single glance whilst you sip a mouthful of Lapsang souchong, not even a thoughtful perusal whilst you drink a cup of PG Tips. For this photo you need a mug full of … Continue reading A Mug Of Tea Photo
Cleethorpes, 1984 – Quality Rock
I went to Cleethorpes a lot in the 1980s; for some reason it suited my mood. It was wet and a little bit lost, and like me, trying to come to terms with a new normality. With me it was deafness, and with Cleethorpes it was economic and social change.
Do Old Men Dream In Black And White?
I recall, many, many years ago, having a discussion with my brother, Roger, as to whether we dream in colour or black and white. I was a young lad taking photographs, with a budget that could not even imagine the expenses involved in colour photography. He was older, wiser and a "proper artist" with tubes … Continue reading Do Old Men Dream In Black And White?
A Perspective On Age
Just for a change, I know precisely where I took this photograph from some forty-odd years ago. The houses are still there, pinned to the side of Southowram Bank with all the gravity-defying stubbornness that only a Yorkshire builder can demonstrate. It is Blaithroyd Lane, Halifax, and if you turn to Google Street View or … Continue reading A Perspective On Age
The Classic British Seaside
The classic British seaside: sands, sea, boats and buckets. It doesn't matter where it is or when it is. It can be a precious day snatched from the steam-filled clutches of a Victorian mill, or an escape from a Corona-driven lockdown. I have photographs of my Uncle Frank and Aunty Miriam sat on a beach … Continue reading The Classic British Seaside
Harry Moore At The Piano
Uncle Harry was the nearest you could get to a celebrity in our family. For a time in the early 1930s he "trod the boards", being part of a concert party that did the rounds of the seaside pier halls of Britain. He was never top of the bill, his job was to provide piano … Continue reading Harry Moore At The Piano
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