I came across an illustration the other day of two children being hauled up a mineshaft. After a little research I discovered that not only was the illustration a “real” record of two actual named children, but even more surprisingly, it was based on the practices at a coal mine just a few miles away … Continue reading MINING FOR COAL AND A WARM BATH
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UNDER THE BRIDGE
Like anyone else, I can see the beauty in a natural landscape. Find me a photograph of craggy hills sweeping down to mirror-smooth lakes and I will swoon with the best of them. Get me a picture of ripe-rich grain swaying in an evening breeze against a bucolic green background, and I will pin it … Continue reading UNDER THE BRIDGE
Escape From Heavenly Time
Not that many people know of Salvador Dali's 1968 surrealist sculpture "Escape From Time In Heaven" which was on public display in Halifax in the late 1960s. I did go to see it myself and was very impressed by it - I even took the photograph you see here - but I have difficulty recalling … Continue reading Escape From Heavenly Time
Smoke, Soot And Sweat
I’ve always been attracted to this scene and I have photographed it a number of times over the years. These days it is the tamest of views, the mills, railway viaducts and steam have all gone. Back in the 1960s, however, it belched life along with smoke and soot and sweat.
Halifax
Most of my old photos of Halifax tend to be looking down onto the town from the surrounding hilltops, providing the kind of view that we get from Google Earth and the like. When I abandoned the hilltops the results were layer after layer of chimneys, stacks and towers.
Headscarves And Unwashed Spuds
I took this photo 50+ years ago. I never printed it, it somehow didn’t seem worth the paper. From a technical point of view, it hasn’t improved with time, but it has become more resonant. It speaks of the past - of headscarves and unwashed spuds.
Halfway To Paradise
You’ve got to have a certain sense of humour to name a street “Paradise Street”. You might just get away with it with a row of mansions overlooking a sun-drenched beach in the Caribbean: but not a back street in Halifax. But who knows, a house to live in and a cobbled street to park … Continue reading Halfway To Paradise
Picturesque Halifax
This picture postcard dates from 1918 and is entitled "Picturesque Halifax" although I am not convinced the five photographs live up to that billing. Maybe it is the sepia patina, maybe it is changing perceptions of what is "picturesque", I find it difficult, however, to get excited by Cote Hill or Ogden Reservoir. To celebrate … Continue reading Picturesque Halifax
Under The Clock
An early colour photograph of mine (note the pre-decimal currency) and one where the exposure left a lot to be desired. What it lacks in technique it makes up a little for in atmosphere and in the light from the windows of that cathedral of commerce that was Halifax's Borough Market.
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