I'm still in Halifax, and it's still 1965 (or perhaps 1966). The White Horse is anything but white, nor is it sand-stone clean as it is today. It has Halifax's industrial past seared into its surface, and the man by the lamp post is weighed down by too much work and not enough life.
Category: Old Halifax
A Walk Down Russel Street
As I scan my way through a strip of old negatives, I am constantly amending decisions I have made about when and where some of the photographs were taken. Many of these negatives are over fifty years old, and over the years they have gathered their own collection of scratches, dust spots and blemishes. I … Continue reading A Walk Down Russel Street
Man At A Bus Stop (The AI Wars)
I received an invitation to give Adobe Firefly - their new Artificial Intelligence generated creative system - a try, and at the same time I was trying to work out what to do with a rather tired old photograph I took almost sixty years ago. The photograph was taken in Halifax and shows a bus … Continue reading Man At A Bus Stop (The AI Wars)
Halifax Piece Hall
The last of the "Sketches of Halifax" published in the Illustrated London News of the 5th August 1882 is, appropriately enough, a sketch of what is now the town's most celebrated building - the Piece Hall. When the ILN artist visited the Piece Hall back in 1882, he found a building that was in decline. … Continue reading Halifax Piece Hall
Martin’s Bank And Ford Anglias
Photographs of streets always provide a fascinating insight into the past. The backdrop - the shape of the buildings and the layout of the streets - may last for centuries, but the decorations - the shop names and signs, the parked cars, the people - change all the time. This was Brighouse over half a … Continue reading Martin’s Bank And Ford Anglias
In The People’s Park
Another of the "Sketches of Halifax" from the 1882 article in the Illustrated London News. "In The People's Park: The People's Park, given to the town by the late Sir Francis Crossley ... was laid out with much taste and skill by Sir Joseph Paxton; and its terrace, shown in one of our Sketches, likewise … Continue reading In The People’s Park
A View Over Halifax, 1882
In August 1882, The Yorkshire Agricultural Society held its annual show at Saville Park, Halifax. The event drew considerable publicity, not just from other parts of the County, but from wider afield as well. The Illustrated London News - if you are not familiar with the publication, think of it as a bit like The … Continue reading A View Over Halifax, 1882
Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey
The Duke Of Wellington’s Regiment Memorial, Halifax, by Andrew Sinclair, 2019 Sculpture belongs in towns, on the streets, in the squares; not stuck away atop bronze horses in distant parks. It needs to be touched and spoken to. It needs to be a repository of thanks, of memories, and of empty coffee cups. The Empty … Continue reading Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey
The Halifax Court
The 1851 Great Exhibition Of The Works Of Industry Of All Nations was an attempt to celebrate the advances in science, technology and manufacturing in the new, Victorian era. The exhibition, which was housed in the Crystal Palace in Hyde Park, featured areas devoted not only to different fields of science and manufacturing, but also … Continue reading The Halifax Court
