We spend hours walking the streets of that great big architectural theme park that is Newcastle Upon Tyne, in constant danger of walking into lampposts as we gaze up at the ever-changing skyline. Bridges appear from the rooftops of Victorian offices, cathedrals and castles nestle up to Edwardian shopping arcades. It's a grand place.
Author: Alan Burnett
Hello Newcastle
I accept that I am old and therefore I should complain about everything, but I must confess the train journey up here was excellent, the city of Newcastle looks splendid, and the sun is shining like a lifted tariff. Hello Newcastle.
Off Travelling
We're off on our travels for a few days, so a change of scenery from those old, run-down northern industrial views you have come to expect from me. Yes, that's right: Newcastle, here we come.
Curving Away
We are back with the reality of the old after yesterday's brief flirtation with the imagined future! I always call this particular photo of mine (dating from around 1980) "Halifax Before Eureka," as it shows the spot where the Eureka National Children's Museum was later built. The curve of the railway line heads away from … Continue reading Curving Away
1st April 2025
So many of my photographs of Halifax were taken 50 or 60 years ago, so for a change, I thought I might post a more contemporary view. So today, I went to the top of Beacon Hill and took a photograph of Halifax as it is now. You would hardly believe the changes that have … Continue reading 1st April 2025
Surveying The Change
A photograph from the early 198os showing my father watching, somewhat wistfully, as the last remnants of the old Charlestown Railway Viaduct in Halifax are being demolished. This leaves him with a clear view of the Albion Mills and Bailey Hall factories of John Mackintosh, where he spent the last 25 years of his working … Continue reading Surveying The Change
Sharp Find
It is more usual to find Roman coins buried deep in a farmer's field or in the grounds of a Roman villa. This coin, however, I discovered at the bottom of a drawer while carrying out an excavation to find a new blade for my pencil sharpener. I've no idea of the date, but I … Continue reading Sharp Find
Seaside Shutters and Displayed Memories
There is something rather special about a "Walking Snap" - those brief moments of history captured in the click of a seaside shutter. Armies of seasonal photographers would stalk the piers and promenades of endless seaside resorts, snapping holidaymakers and displaying memories in grubby shop windows. Here's my mother and my brother in Bridlington some … Continue reading Seaside Shutters and Displayed Memories
Decapitating Shadows
We are quite proud of our gibbet here in Halifax. For those unfamiliar with the town and its somewhat unique approach to the punishment of petty criminals, a gibbet was an early form of guillotine used in Halifax to decapitate thieves between the 13th and 17th centuries. The gibbet featured in the photo I took … Continue reading Decapitating Shadows
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