Category: Calendar

Small And Wide In The Arctic

At first glance at this old family photograph, you might think something went wrong with the print's dimensions: everything appears far too wide for its own good. However, that was my grandmother, Harriet Ellen Burnett, and she really was very small and very wide. And that was the door of her house on Arctic Parade … Continue reading Small And Wide In The Arctic

Ode To A Gable End

This is a proper gable end, not some half-hearted apology for a wall stuck onto the side of an over-delicate bungalow. It's seen life, this gable end: horses and carts, trams and trolleys, bikes and boats. Some might not see its beauty, but I did when I took this photo fifty-odd years ago - and … Continue reading Ode To A Gable End

Pretty Good

Let's start a new month with something pretty. This begins with a photograph I took a few years ago of a bit of land near Upper Edge, Elland, known locally as "The Wilderness". I fed that photograph into an AI machine and instructed it to come up with something interesting. This is the image that … Continue reading Pretty Good

Entering Slaithwaite

For status and gravitas, you can't beat a triumphal arch. Rome has several, Paris has a famous one, and now Donald Trump is getting in on the act in Washington. Few of them can match the triumphal arch you have to pass under when you enter Slaithwaite in West Yorkshire. Here's a photograph I took … Continue reading Entering Slaithwaite

This Is My Space

I know that look; I know that stance. This chap might be in a shed surrounded by pots of this and jars of that, and I might be in my room, buried under piles of paper and layers of ephemera. The message is the same, however: "This might look like chaos to you, but I know … Continue reading This Is My Space

Geometric Ramblings

The cubist painters of the early twentieth century revolutionised art by breaking objects down into geometric, fragmented forms. If Picasso, Georges Braque, and the rest had wanted a real challenge, they could have done a lot worse than coming to Halifax and applying Cubist techniques to Square Church. Once they had finished they could have popped … Continue reading Geometric Ramblings

Up Gog Hill

This is a photograph I took at the bottom of Gog Hill in Elland about fifty years ago. Because my in-laws were living near the top of Gog Hill at the time, I assume I was about to walk up the hill - which is a substantial climb at the best of times. Of course, … Continue reading Up Gog Hill

A Nice Collection

This postcard was sent from Budapest to North Wales 126 years ago, during the height of the early twentieth-century postcard-collecting boom. It dates from the period before the postcard backs were divided to accommodate both the address and the message, so any message had to be squeezed onto the front of the card. No problem … Continue reading A Nice Collection

Bank Holiday Monday

What better way to celebrate a Bank Holiday Monday than to stride across the green fields of Yorkshire, leaving the smoke-filled streets behind, and then scale the gorse-clad valley sides in search of a perfect English pub and a foaming pint of ale? Or, alternatively, you can retreat to the safety of your room - … Continue reading Bank Holiday Monday