It Is Doubtful How Long Peace May Be Preserved

The chance discovery of an illustration in an old newspaper, brings to light a troubled time in the history of Halifax. The illustration - Scene at North Bridge, Halifax - appeared in the Illustrated London News of the 27th August 1842, and it shows thousand of protestors on North Bridge coming under attack by armed … Continue reading It Is Doubtful How Long Peace May Be Preserved

Magical Moments In The Digital Developing Dish

When I fell in love with photography sixty years ago, one of the great delights was that magic moment when a print would slowly emerge in the darkroom developing dish. The closest to it these days is seeing a digital image emerge following the application of some complex filtering process.  This print started life as … Continue reading Magical Moments In The Digital Developing Dish

DAYS : Snow, Light And With Love From Mary

Weighed Down By The Weather: Occasionally the weather likes to remind you that, whatever plans you have, whatever places you need to go, it can over-rule the lot. It might be March but the snow fell with a vengeance and coated the ground, the trees, and even the washing line. As well as there being … Continue reading DAYS : Snow, Light And With Love From Mary

First Cousin To A Forgotten Memory

The advent of artificial intelligence driven photographic software means that we can now all play around with colouring the past. Such experiments have differing levels of success: sometimes we get a stunning insight into the real beauty of great-auntie Gertie, other times we give our grandfathers purple beards and pink dungarees! Such artificial colourisation is … Continue reading First Cousin To A Forgotten Memory

Dear Daley, Not!

I bought this old picture postcard of Elm Cottages which still stand on Bradford Road between Brighouse and Bailiff Bridge because of the subject matter. The photograph captures landscape I am very familiar with, but captures it 100 years in the past. For those who live in these parts it is full of fascinating detail - the tramlines on … Continue reading Dear Daley, Not!

Daily Calendar : Chairs, Bikes and Steep Hills (4-6 March 2023)

Taken about 40 years ago in Weston Park, Sheffield. Take a seat, move it about, make a pattern. Delivery Boy. Found Photo. This is possibly one of the children of William G Pannett, baker and confectioner, of Horsham, Sussex. Sheffield should be twinned with San Francisco. Sheffield has the trams and the hills: and the … Continue reading Daily Calendar : Chairs, Bikes and Steep Hills (4-6 March 2023)

Cleaning Up The Town Hall

In dating pictures of old Halifax, there are certain events that - rather like the destruction of the dinosaurs in geological times - mark the changeover between major epochs. One such event was the stone cleaning of Halifax Town Hall, bringing about its transition from soot-black to golden-stone, in 1972.

Mary The Beekeeper And The Flight Of Fancy Simulator

The thing about playing around with old, lost and forgotten photographs is that it provides a vigorous workout for the imagination. It is like a well equipped gym of thoughtfulness set inside a state of the art flight of fancy simulator. You can look at a picture that stopped time a century or more ago … Continue reading Mary The Beekeeper And The Flight Of Fancy Simulator