A Spanner In The Works

I've given this photo the title "Albert and the Giant Spanner". As far as I can be certain, that is my father, Albert, on the left, which would mean that the photograph was taken about 1930 when he was a young apprentice in Bradford. I'm not sure what the giant spanner was used for, but … Continue reading A Spanner In The Works

Old Friend, Old Pub, Old Ship

A very good old friend came to visit yesterday and we went for lunch to a very good old inn. I've been visiting the Old White Beare in Norwood Green for more than half a century, but that's only a moment in the life of this 500-year-old village pub. Some of the timbers within the … Continue reading Old Friend, Old Pub, Old Ship

We Love The Hebble Day

The Hebble Brook has an odd relationship with the town of Halifax. Over history, it has had such a defining impact on the town, carving its valleys and draining its hills, and yet now it slips almost unnoticed towards its rendezvous with the Calder - sometimes above ground, sometimes culvert-deep in the darkness. I demand … Continue reading We Love The Hebble Day

I’m Getting Old

I'm getting old. More and more, I seem to be sitting at my desk messing around with old photographs rather than getting out and about taking new ones. The original of this photo was taken in March 2016 from a train leaving Bradford and heading for Halifax, but this version was created while sitting at … Continue reading I’m Getting Old

Feel The Rain

Grey rain on grey roof slates and smoke dawdling out of endless chimneys: two of the memories of my youth that are encapsulated in this photograph of mine of Brighouse back in the 1960s. Close your eyes and you can smell the smoke; put out your hand and you can feel the rain.

With Love From Hilda And Leo

Another of my "Found Photos", and the only clue is a written greeting on the back of the photograph which says, "With love from Hilda and Leo". You don't need any more information than that; your imagination can write the entire novel. It's a story two people caught in the shifting sands of history.

Power, Religion And Industry

The mills, the houses, and even the blocks of flats seem to conform to the natural contours in this photograph of mine of Halifax forty-odd years ago. Power, religion and industry, however, strike a very different note. Each reaches for the sky in search of its own deity.

A Different Life

1805D10 : Market Place, Doncaster : Vintage Postcard (October 1905) This picture is taken from an old picture postcard and shows Doncaster Market Place in the early years of the twentieth century. A long time ago. I worked in Doncaster during the 1980s and I became very familiar with the Market Place and its many … Continue reading A Different Life

Faces Of Halifax

This is another from my "Faces Of Halifax" series - Victorian and Edwardian portraits created by Halifax photographic studios. This couple visited the studio of E Greaves on Silver Street, Halifax towards the end of the nineteenth century to have their likeness captured, and what a stunning likeness it is. This is the Victorian equivalent … Continue reading Faces Of Halifax