The splendid British Newspaper Archives has just added copies of the 19th century Building News and Engineering Journal. Look what turned up in an 1891 issue - Halifax's New Market and Arcade. Doesn't it look grand! Here's the introductory article. What a bargain for £40,000. True Victorian levelling-up at its best.
Category: Old Halifax
Smokey Elland
I know Elland reasonably well, but it still took me quite some time to work out where I must have been standing when I took this photo fifty or so years ago. The amount of smoke coming out of the Power Station reminds you how much cleaner things are these days.
Theatre Royal, Halifax
A photo of mine from the mid 1960s of the Royal Theatre, Halifax in the days when it was a cinema (and showing that undoubted classic "Girl Hunters!"). You can read a little of the history of the building in my column in October's Skircoat Green Directory and Halifax Directory magazines.
New Bank, Halifax, 1968
A photo of mine of New Bank, leading up to the top of Godley Bridge and Claremount, from 55 years ago. I've added a touch of colour. The good thing about adding colour to photos of Halifax from 50+ years ago is that you don't need to invest in a big palette!
Hard Work And Industry
Steps At Godley Bridge, Halifax 1966 (Alan Burnett) The steps leading up to Godley Bridge, Halifax's answer to a triumphal arch. Built by the Borough Engineer in 1900 out of stone and cast iron; a monument to the power of hard work and industry. My photo dates back 60 years, although the steps are little … Continue reading Hard Work And Industry
Beware: Fake Views!
Elland From Nab End : Early 20th Century Postcard All sorts of things stand out in this early 20th century postcard of Elland. It's all very clean and colourful - full of pleasant green slopes and bright blue water. The buildings are all neat and tidy. Beware: fake views!
Decluttering The Shibden Valley
As I embark on yet another campaign to sort through the endless boxes of "stuff" that occupy my room, I find an old picture postcard of the Shibden Valley, near Halifax. It is a view I know well, having spent my childhood in Northowram, a mile or so further up the valley side from here. … Continue reading Decluttering The Shibden Valley
A Photographic Tale Of Several Wilkinsons
I have a new printer due to arrive today, so I spend a bit of time sorting out a suitable image to test it out with. Eventually I decided on this Victorian portrait of a young lady from the studio of a local photographer, Wilkinsons. A high resolution scan of the old Carte de Visite … Continue reading A Photographic Tale Of Several Wilkinsons
Halifax, 1987
Like most other local photographers, I have always been drawn to Old Lane, Halifax, just for the privilege of walking in Bill Brandt's footsteps. No-one can match his classic 1930s images of the scene, so I have messed about with this 1980s effort of mine to provide a more colourful representation.
alanburnett.com 