The Hebble Brook is a funny old thing. It's not in your face, showy, or boastful; in fact, it prefers to keep itself hidden away as far as possible. It makes few demands: a concrete bridge here and there, the odd culvert or two. It just goes on doing its job, carrying water from up … Continue reading Solid (In A Liquid Sort Of Way)
Category: Old Halifax
Silo Tagging
This is unmistakably Brighouse: the giant Sugden Flour silos are as an effective geotag as any map reference. These two concrete monoliths appear almost timeless, but when I took this photo in 1970, one was just seven years old and the other only a few years older. Many of those buildings and chimneys have now … Continue reading Silo Tagging
Stone
Halifax does stone well. The railway viaduct could be part of a Roman amphitheatre, and the mill could be the business end of a Gothic cathedral. The wall could be an early stone version of Tetris, and the chimney part of a Gormley sculpture. And there, in the background, is the source of it all … Continue reading Stone
Memory
How many memories can you squeeze into a photograph? I crossed the road here each day on my way to junior school, and I caught the bus here each day on my way to secondary school. I bought bags of chips at the corner and comics across the road. I pumped petrol at the filling … Continue reading Memory
Old And New In Halifax
Better photographers than me have clicked a shutter up Old Lane in Halifax, although the great Bill Brandt was facing in the opposite direction. Had he turned round he would have got a nice composition in sooty stone, cast iron and gritstone rock. And if he had returned to Halifax in the 80s he would … Continue reading Old And New In Halifax
Industrial Heights
New housing developments in these parts have wonderfully aspirational names like Victoria Heights and Westminster View. Back in the old days street names were more descriptive than aspirational. Here's one of my photos of Brighouse from the early 1970s showing Industrial Street, which was next to Anvil Street, and not far from Oddfellows Street!
Halifax Escape
36/1001 : This is - or rather was - Halifax, but I'm not 100% sure where exactly. It was over 50 years ago that I took the photo, but I have a feeling it might have been Akroyd Place. I still have a fear of the area based on being made to go to Akroyd … Continue reading Halifax Escape
Underpass
They were a legacy of the 1960s, 70s and 80s, as redolent of the times as any pop anthem or cult movie. Underpasses were the pit shafts of their day - cold and heartless, an assault on common humanity, temples of a subterranean subculture.
Municipal Muck
34/1001 : I took this photo of Halifax Town Hall 50 years ago whilst the stonework was being cleaned. I can understand the viewpoint of those who think it's right to preserve the industrial legacy of layers of soot and grime, but, to me, that's just like leaving an old master mucky!
