My mother loved the sea. Go within salt-spray distance of the coast, and you would find her paddling along the shoreline, watching the waves come in. My brother sent me this photograph of her the other day from his island home, way across the ocean. It's been a good few years since I've seen him. … Continue reading The Sea, The Sea
Category: Family Photographs
Photographic History
This photograph came to me from my Great Uncle, Fowler Beanland, who, during the First World War, was a foreman at a munitions factory in Keighley. The photo shows fifteen female munitions workers - just a small proportion of the many hundreds who worked for Longbottom and Farrar's, which was, at the time, part of … Continue reading Photographic History
Albert In A Flap
Our Sepia Saturday theme this week is all about strange shapes, and the closest I seem to be able to get to it is this photograph from almost 100 years ago. I can only be sure about one of the six heads - and that is the third one down, which is my father, Albert. … Continue reading Albert In A Flap
The Other Side
This is the photograph in the other side of the small brooch that must have been handed down from someone within the family. No young Edwardian beauty this one, but she is a woman of character, millstone-grit strong with an unwillingness to countenance nonsense of any variety.
Accumulatae
I found this old brooch whilst sorting through a box of "accumulatae" (not sure if that is a word, but if not, it should be). I assume that it has come from within the family, and therefore the rather charming lady in the large hat is a relative of mine. Precisely who she is, I … Continue reading Accumulatae
Body Building
Our Sepia Saturday theme this week is "Work In Days Gone By". Most of my family worked in the mills and factories of Yorkshire, but my Great Uncle Albert branched out and became a partner in a firm of motor body builders in Manchester. He left a photographic record of many of his creations, this … Continue reading Body Building
Christmas Present
The photograph shows my wife, Isobel, meeting Father Christmas in 1953. Thirteen years later, she met me. We've spent the last fifty-nine Christmases together. It's the best present I've ever had.
Cousin George
My mother always kept a photograph of her cousin George. By the time I inherited it, it had seen better days, having gathered almost a century's worth of scratches, dust marks, faded patches, and creases. If there is one thing I enjoy, however, it is bringing such old photographs back to life. So welcome back, … Continue reading Cousin George
Uncle Harry
Many families have an Uncle Harry. He's the one who doesn't fit in, the one who dares to be different. He's the one they tut-tut about and probably feel slightly jealous of. My Uncle Harry longed for a life on the stage, and in his twenties, he toured the country as part of a Concert … Continue reading Uncle Harry
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