Author: Alan Burnett

Copy Right

This is a photograph from at least sixty years ago, taken outside the Withens Hotel in Wainstalls, Halifax. The building is no longer a pub; it was converted into a private residence shortly after being gutted by fire in 2001. I have a feeling that I am one of the hooded figures in the picture … Continue reading Copy Right

Desktop Publishing

I seem to have quite a collection of photographs of my desktop. Back in ancient times, these would be means of using up the last frame or two of a film before developing it. These days, it is the result of pressing combinations of keys on a computer keyboard by mistake. This, however, is a … Continue reading Desktop Publishing

All Change At Brighouse

As I drive into Brighouse later today and glance down at the River Calder from Bradford Road Bridge, I will be checking the river levels rather than the aesthetics of the view. Perhaps, however, I should take a moment to compare the current scene with this photo I took almost 60 years ago. The river … Continue reading All Change At Brighouse

Fishy Photos

All photographers have their favourite subjects. With some, it's wild animals; with some, it is beautiful women; some like railway engines, others like mountains. But as far as I am concerned, you can't beat a fish and chip shop. Here is a particularly fine example I came across in Southwold recently.

Beat That, AI

These days, geotags are automatically added to smartphone photos along with the date and the time (and the temperature and your hat size and the state of your bank balance, more than likely). In olden days, you had to depend on penciled captions in family albums. I have no idea who these two were, but … Continue reading Beat That, AI

Melange Messing

Melange Printing is defined as the printing of textile fibres with bands of colour alternating with unprinted areas. This is one of my old photographs taken from North Bridge in Halifax, which shows Fletchers' mill. Fletchers were specialists in melange printing. I have messed with the photo so that we have a melange print of … Continue reading Melange Messing

A Funny Thought

I had a funny thought the other day whilst enjoying a lunchtime pint. Wouldn't it be odd if, after we were born, time went in reverse? Given that I was born in 1948, that would mean it was now 1871! The Franco-Prussian War is just ending, Chicago is on fire and chewing gum is just … Continue reading A Funny Thought

Industrial Superglue

I've always admired the way that builders of mills and factories in these parts were never put off by an inconvenient hill. Industrial workplaces were often almost superglued to the sides of valleys - like Crawford-Swifts on Claremount Road, Halifax in this photo of mine from 35 years ago. Commercial premises of the modern era … Continue reading Industrial Superglue

Baby Burnett

My brother sent this photograph to me the other day - in my role as "the Burnett family historian" - suggesting it was either me or him. I tried doing a facial recognition analysis based on the rest of my family photos and it suggested it was a young Aunty Miriam (which it clearly isn't). … Continue reading Baby Burnett