This is a familiar scene to anyone who knows Halifax, and many of the buildings remain little changed to this day. The clothes are different, the shops are different, and the buildings at the bottom of the street are long gone, but the fine looking neo-gothic building on the right of the photograph is still … Continue reading Mad Dogs And Englishmen Go Out In The Midday Snow
Category: Old Halifax
Wainhouse Tower And The Sea Of Truth
Jacob D Saddleworth in his seminal book "The Principles And Practices Of Pointlessness" stated that the abandonment of objectives need not necessarily lead to the rejection of purpose; especially in the context of linear progression. He used the memorable example of a river in its progress towards the ocean - an example I couldn't help … Continue reading Wainhouse Tower And The Sea Of Truth
Trees And Screens
Here is another of my photographs from the same walk around Brighouse fifty odd years ago. This one was taken from Brighouse Bridge looking down at the River Calder. Brighouse Gas Works and a variety of old industrial units can clearly be seen lining the river banks. So what has changed in half a century? … Continue reading Trees And Screens
A Commercial Death
A strange coincidence brought together a photograph and a story. The photograph was one of my own, and was taken over fifty years ago, just a mile or so from where I now live. It shows Huddersfield Road as it emerges from the town of Brighouse and the junction with Aire Street and Lords Lane. … Continue reading A Commercial Death
HEBBLE SECRETS
After all these years I can't quite pin down exactly where I took this photograph of the Hebble Brook in Halifax from. Obviously it was down by the, then, Rowntree Mackintosh factory, but I'm not entirely sure whether I was looking north or south. Dating it, is another problem. I have been taking photographs of … Continue reading HEBBLE SECRETS
SPRING INTO STYLE
HALIFAX DAILY COURIER & GUARDIAN, 9 MARCH 1932 : Thumbing through a 90 year old newspaper and I find an advert that appeals to me. I think I would look good in that overcoat, and it is a bargain at only £3.15p. But, hang on a moment: according to the Bank of England's On-Line Inflation Calculator … Continue reading SPRING INTO STYLE
A Different Frame Of View
This is one of my photographs from forty or fifty years ago. The building is, of course, instantly recognisable: it is what was then Halifax Parish Church, and is now Halifax Minster. The frame will not be as instantly recognisable: the railway viaduct that carried the line from Halifax Station to North Bridge has been … Continue reading A Different Frame Of View
Negative Vibes In Elland
When the modern world is getting you down, you can always climb aboard your chemical-powered time machine and revisit former times. The chemicals in question include dimezone, phenidone, sodium hydroxide, and sodium thiosulfate - otherwise known as photographic developers and fixers! - and you don't even need to reopen the bottles. Just take an old … Continue reading Negative Vibes In Elland
Market Stalls, Halifax 1981
This new image is based on a photograph I took forty years ago in Halifax. It was taken in the Piece Hall when that fine building was going through one of its early transitions from redundant wholesale marketplace to open-air retail market. It was busy and purposeful, but the location was of secondary importance: the … Continue reading Market Stalls, Halifax 1981
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