Author: Alan Burnett

Nine Distilleries. 1. Laphroaig

I have just returned from a week on the beautiful island of Islay during which I managed to fit in a visit to each of the island's eight distilleries. Add on to that a quick trip over to the neighbouring island of Jura, and that is nine distilleries in total.  The first visit was only … Continue reading Nine Distilleries. 1. Laphroaig

Fire In Halifax #2

Fifty years ago I took a series of photographs of a fire in Halifax. It was just a relatively small fire in one of the mills; none of the photographs actually show the fire itself. It was the fire engines, the hose pipes and, in particular, the watching crowds that fascinated me then, and still … Continue reading Fire In Halifax #2

Overlooking Halifax

This is a new scan of a negative I must have taken fifty or more years ago. It was taken from the churchyard of St Thomas' Church, Claremount, and shows the bottom part of Halifax back in the days when the buildings were still soot-black and the chimneys that made them so were still smoking. … Continue reading Overlooking Halifax

Talking To Gladys

Scanning and retouching old photographs is a little like doing a jig-saw puzzle - it allows you to get up close to detail. Cast a passing glance at a photograph from eighty-odd years ago - you can use this photograph of my mother, Gladys, on the seaside sands as an example - and you might … Continue reading Talking To Gladys

Voyage Into West Yorkshire

My brother Roger and I have been discussing book publishing recently. He is about to publish a book he wrote nearly fifty years ago and, for one reason and another, never got published. The book tells the story of a voyage through the canal system of Ireland at a time when "old Ireland" was fast … Continue reading Voyage Into West Yorkshire

Hashtag Boring

  This is the alabaster tomb of James Montagu who was the Bishop of Bath and Wells between 1608 and 1616. The tomb is in Bath Abbey and Jimmy was another of those lifeless figures that stopped me and asked for a selfie. On returning home, I Googled James Montagu in order to discover something … Continue reading Hashtag Boring

Clinging To A Fashionable Youth

I visited the Fashion Museum in Bath last week and, whilst the features exhibits were all very interesting, they tended to concentrate on the clothes being worn by Kings, Queens, Dukes and the like. If I have an interest in fashion, it is as a means of dating photographs - and the photographs I am … Continue reading Clinging To A Fashionable Youth

Woman In The Round

Portrait Of An Unknown Woman : This is a late Victorian, or more likely Edwardian, studio portrait of an unknown woman. It is small - about two inches in diameter - and surrounded by a substantial cardboard mount which itself has been cut back. The sitter seems to have a mark or blemish just below … Continue reading Woman In The Round

You Can’t Say No To A Goddess

We went to the Roman Baths at Bath last week. The rain forced me to leave my camera back at the hotel, but I still had my iPhone with me. As we walked around the museum this splendid bronze head of the goddess Sulis Minerva asked me to take a selfie. You can't say no … Continue reading You Can’t Say No To A Goddess