If someone had undertaken a proper cost-benefit analysis of the construction of the Settle to Carlisle railway line, it would probably have never been built. If someone had conducted a proper economic analysis of the future viability of the line when it was threatened with closure forty years ago, it would probably have never been … Continue reading Uneconomical
Category: Calendar
Mona Lisa-ish
There is something slightly Mona Lisa-ish about this Victorian portrait of an unknown woman. Her eyes follow you like a stalker, and her smile is enigmatic enough for a codebreaker. The Mona Lisa is, of course, priceless and is said to have an insurance value of over a billion dollars. The Victorian photograph cost me … Continue reading Mona Lisa-ish
Waiting For Change
Halifax as it was sixty years ago. If you compare and contrast it with Halifax as it is today, you will find that most of the structures are still in place - but the shops have changed, the signs have changed, the cars have changed, and you can no longer wait for 30 minutes. The … Continue reading Waiting For Change
Lost Treasures Of Brighouse
The beautiful Burne-Jones stained glass window I featured the other day were originally to be found in St James's Church, which stood on Bradford Road in Brighouse (between Tesco and Wellholme Park, where the St James Court flats are today). Not only did the church feature windows by Burne-Jones but also Ford Madox Brown and Dante Gabriel Rossetti: … Continue reading Lost Treasures Of Brighouse
Such Is Life
I must have taken this photograph of the Jessop Hospital in Sheffield sometime around the late eighties. We were living in Sheffield at the time. Perhaps it was November 1989: I can certainly recall pacing around the Jessop Hospital, waiting for my son to be born. The son was born, and he and his mother … Continue reading Such Is Life
Old Friends
I visit this lady as often as I can. She is from Brighouse, but now lives in the delightful Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley. She was created by the great Victorian Pre-Raphaelite painter, Sir Edward Burne-Jones, for St James's Church in Brighouse, and she remained in the town until the church was demolished in 1972. … Continue reading Old Friends
If It Wasn’t For The Trees In-Between
Back in the 1950s, there was a school geography textbook which, in the section on urban geography, had a picture of Halifax, and pupils were encouraged to count the number of mill chimneys. My photo was taken a decade later, but you could still make a decent counting exercise out of it. These days you … Continue reading If It Wasn’t For The Trees In-Between
Pigeon Post
A pigeon on the top of a post. The Lake District, last week. It's pigeon post.
Back Stories, Front Stories
You don't need to know the time, the place or t he names of the subjects to enjoy a good photograph. A degree of anonymity can, in fact, help; you can throw yourself into the scene and construct backstories and front stories to your heart's content. The strange thing about these four is that they … Continue reading Back Stories, Front Stories
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