This is a wonderful photograph of my father's cousin, Ivy Burnett. She was born in Birmingham in 1906, and this photograph must have been taken when she was three or four. The great craze at the time was the new flying machines, and many photographic studios would have mock-up sets for sitters to use. Thus … Continue reading That Magnificent Girl In Her Flying Machine
Author: Alan Burnett
Crowning Glory
This is a sight familiar to a whole generation of Halifax folk. I took the photo from on top of Godley Bridge, but you got the same view from the front seat of a Corporation bus. There was something quite cinematic about the constrained view as the bus made its way up Godley Cutting, and … Continue reading Crowning Glory
Picturesque Scenes
Driving through the Yorkshire Dales last weekend, you didn't have to seek out picturesque scenes, they formed disorderly queues in order to present themselves to you. Around almost every corner would be a history-steeped bridge over a stone-stepped brook, flanked by pubs that would tempt a Son of Temperance. This example was in the village … Continue reading Picturesque Scenes
Needing A Measure
My mother's uncle, the splendidly named Fowler Beanland, was a great bowling enthusiast, and this is one of his photographs. It has a caption - Bowling At Devonshire Park, Keighley - but no date. I know that he lived, worked - and bowled - up in Cumbria in the early years of the twentieth century, … Continue reading Needing A Measure
Yorkshire Day
I took this photograph of Halifax nearly sixty years ago. I have used it as one of my calendar images before, but that was back in 2021, and, anyway, the rules say that I can use the same image more than once if it is Yorkshire Day. So celebrate this Yorkshire Day with me overlooking … Continue reading Yorkshire Day
Shadow Boxing
Last weekend I drove south through the Yorkshire Dales National Park on a day when the sun and the clouds promoted shadow boxing matches between the moors and hills. Unable to stop and take the photograph I sensed was waiting to be taken, I had to wait until I got home and play around with … Continue reading Shadow Boxing
Marching, Throwing And Flowing
The fine proportions of Halifax's Victoria Hall, the town's monument to culture. In the 1950s, I remember seeing a Scottish pipe band march down the theatre aisles during a colour slide presentation about the beauties of the Highlands. In the 60s, I saw endless wrestlers thrown from its canvas-floored, rope-encircled ring, and in the 70s, … Continue reading Marching, Throwing And Flowing
From Rumtickle To Cheese Bottom
I took this photo several years ago, and I'm not sure whether age has mellowed it or some random Photoshop filter has done it for me. Who cares? This is the gloriously named Rumtickle Viaduct that used to carry the Sheffield to Manchester railway over the valley between the equally gloriously named Cheese Bottom and … Continue reading From Rumtickle To Cheese Bottom
Beer, The Wireless, And Time
The date on the calendar is the 28th of July 2025, but the date on the newspaper is the 28th of July 1925. I'm not sure why I chose these two items from the Halifax Courier of that date; they just seemed to resonate with me. The gentle tone of the beer advert and the … Continue reading Beer, The Wireless, And Time
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