This is the only photograph I have of my grandparents and their four children. It must have been taken in 1917, when my father, Albert (in the sailor suit), was just six years old. His elder brother, John, was behind him in the photograph, dressed in his uniform and about to leave for France. My … Continue reading The Burnett Family
Trunk To Trunk
A walk in the woods around Artmitage Bridge yesterday suddenly brought us to a clearing and a massive stone mill chimney, fighting for light and life in the midst of the tall trees. Its mill was lost in the valley below, and at one time an underground flue connected the two. The mill machines have … Continue reading Trunk To Trunk
Limited Intelligence
One can't avoid being impressed by how well Artificial Intelligence (AI) copes with the automated colourisation of old black and white photographs. Take, for example, this photograph of a back street in Burslem, North Staffordshire, which I took in the early 1970s when I was living in that part of the world. The negative was … Continue reading Limited Intelligence
A Study In Greys
A Study In Greys is by the British artist Walter Hayward-Young (1868-1920) who was also known by the pseudonym, "Jotter". During his artistic career he turned his hand to many different ways of exploiting his talents: he designed posters for organisations such as London Transport and produced a highly popular series of articles on sketching … Continue reading A Study In Greys
Kaleidoscopic Calderdale
A beautiful Spring day and a beautiful Spring walk through the Cromwell Woods that stretch from Southowram down towards Brookfoot and the Calder Valley. For some reason, I kept seeing patterns today and late at night those patterns became almost kaleidoscopic with a little help from Photoshop and a 18 year old Glengoyne Malt Whisky. … Continue reading Kaleidoscopic Calderdale
Arsenic And Old HAlifax
It's time for another helping of mindless rants from some self-obsessed old fool with too much time on his hands. Now, I know what you're thinking - it will be something like "You are being a little too hard on yourself .... but, there again, I can see where you are coming from"; but you … Continue reading Arsenic And Old HAlifax
ARCHAEOTOGRAPHY
As far as I know there isn’t a name for it: it isn’t a recognised pastime, there are no societies for the propagation of it, nor journals that record the annals of its proceedings. I am, however, dedicated to digging up old images. It has the distinct advantage - when compared to its second-cousin, archeology … Continue reading ARCHAEOTOGRAPHY
Memories Within Cardboard Confines
Is it just age that makes you far more susceptible to time travel? Sometimes it can be a word like advocaat, sometimes a pattern like the geometric madness of 1960s wallpapers; most times it is an image. These two photographs were taken at a Christmas Party at my parent's house, sometime around 1965. They are … Continue reading Memories Within Cardboard Confines
Soot And Chrome
A photograph of mine of Halifax in the early 1960s. The Town Hall was still soot-encrusted, the cars parked outside the White Swan Hotel had an over-abundance of chrome, and Pohlmann's still sold pianos.
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