Faded Impressions Of Halifax

Over time, photographs fade and turn themselves into impressions. I took this photograph from the car park on top of the Halifax Bowl getting on for 60 years ago. The Brunswick Bowl is long gone, as, I am sure, is the car.  The photograph dates back to the mid 1960s: a time when Halifax was … Continue reading Faded Impressions Of Halifax

The Theatre Will Be Well Aired

Christmas is a time for good cheer, festive gatherings, and seasonal entertainment treats: and what better Christmas treat could you imagine than a concert by the Lancashire Bell Ringers! This is the prospect that was on offer to the citizens of Halifax back in 1843, when "lovers of music and novelty" were "earnestly solicited to … Continue reading The Theatre Will Be Well Aired

A Pocket Exhibition Of Elland

One hundred years ago, picture postcards were the equivalent of Facebook, Twitter or the like. If you had a quick message or greeting to send to a friend, pick up a postcard, string together a couple of sentences, and pop a penny stamp on the back.Because some of these postcards have been saved - kept … Continue reading A Pocket Exhibition Of Elland

A Faded Version Of A Faded Memory

The provenance of this picture of Commercial Street in Halifax is interesting. It started life as one of the "real photograph" postcards from the golden age of picture postcards in the years leading up to the First World War, Fifty or sixty years later it was republished by the Halifax Courier as part of a … Continue reading A Faded Version Of A Faded Memory

St James Road

St James Road, Halifax, back in the 1980s. In those days, the bus station was still on the left of the picture, and behind it was (and, sadly, still is) one of the leading contenders for Halifax's ugliest buildings

Rainy Days

One of the advantages of having spent over 60 years taking photographs is that when it is raining outside you can always avoid getting wet and revisit a photo from the past. So here's "one I took earlier" - October 2002 - from Sutcliffe Wood Lane, Brighouse.

Backdrop

The second in my series "Looking Back At Halifax" is in this week's Halifax Courier. This week I look at changes in the dramatic backdrop to the town - Beacon Hill.

Salterhebble

A messed-about version of a photo I originally took back in 1967 which shows the bottom of Salterhebble Hill and Exley Bank. So much has changed : the mill on the right (Nahum's Union Mills) is long gone, and the pub and many of the houses have now gone as well.

Halifax Before The Earth Moved

This started as another of those "where was I standing when I took this" mysteries. The photograph dates from the 1970s, and the quest for my vantage point wasn't helped by the dubious quality of the old negative. Clearly that is Halifax in the distance and there are enough stone-spires and brick-blocks visible to begin … Continue reading Halifax Before The Earth Moved