Most car journeys of my youth would involve stopping for a cup of tea. If it was a short journey - one of the regular weekend "runs" around West Yorkshire - there would be a flask of milky tea. Longer journeys - those day trips to Bridlington of Blackpool - might necessitate a Camping Gas … Continue reading The Cuppa Stop
Category: Family Photographs
With Best Love
Sometimes I choose the subjects for my daily desktop calendar, other times they choose themselves. This redoubtable character chose herself. It might be my Great Aunt Ruth-Annie or her sister Miriam or it might be any of a half dozen sisters from a different branch of the family. Whoever she is, she sent her portrait … Continue reading With Best Love
JOHN THE MATE
The time must be somewhere around the late 1920s. The place will have been Bradford. The man on the left is my Uncle John, who was a wagon drivers' mate. Not sure who the wagon driver - the one with the cap - was. The star of the photo shoot, however, must surely have been … Continue reading JOHN THE MATE
Walking Around Egypt
Until we ventured to France in the 1960s, it was my understanding that my father had only ever been abroad once - and that was a day trip to Calais in the 1930s. Thus initially I was surprised to see in his diary for this week in 1934 that he had gone walking around Egypt! … Continue reading Walking Around Egypt
Just Three Generations
I remember asking my father about this photograph of his father - Enoch Burnett sat at the front of this group - and he said that it was taken at the time of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Enoch was in a reserve group of volunteers and he never got further than a training camp … Continue reading Just Three Generations
The Visual Date-Stamp
My parents, Albert and Gladys. The photograph dates from around 1934 or 35, a year or two before they were married. My father was a keen cyclist and my mother was a less keen passenger on the back of their tandem. A great photo, but the bonus is the couple walking in the background providing … Continue reading The Visual Date-Stamp
Nonchalant In Downtown Bradford
Chapman’s Bike
The photograph forms part of a box full of family photographs that may (or may not) feature the family of my grandfathers' brother, Albert Burnett (1884-1963). On the back of the photograph is written: "Mr Chapman, 2 Maze Street, Barton Hill". Barton Hill is part of the modern-day city of Bristol. I have absolutely no … Continue reading Chapman’s Bike
THREE VERSIONS OF UNREALITY
A family group: - a distant family connection I suspect as they are far too posh for any branch of the family I know of. The first version was as the print now appears - fading into a sepia memory. The second version restores it to, what was probably, the original black and white. Version … Continue reading THREE VERSIONS OF UNREALITY
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