In dating pictures of old Halifax, there are certain events that - rather like the destruction of the dinosaurs in geological times - mark the changeover between major epochs. One such event was the stone cleaning of Halifax Town Hall, bringing about its transition from soot-black to golden-stone, in 1972.
Category: Old Halifax
Old Photo, Old Lane, Old Tom
I must have taken this photograph of the Old Lane Inn, Halifax in the mid 1960s, by which time it had already closed (it briefly came back to life as Dicky Mints 20 years later). The monumental bottle of beer painted on the gable wall should have been listed and saved for posterity. The illustration … Continue reading Old Photo, Old Lane, Old Tom
St Thomas And The Gasworks
Someone asked me the other day how many pictures of Halifax I had taken over the years. I couldn’t give an answer, but it’s a lot: and that is not because I am an exceptionally prolific photographer, it’s just that I’ve been around for a good few years. Many of the subjects are repeat offenders: … Continue reading St Thomas And The Gasworks
The End Of Chapeltown
My image today is based on a Halifax Courier photograph of the demolition of the Chapeltown area of Halifax in 1939. Chapeltown, near the bottom of Pellon Lane, was an area where a large number of common lodging houses were located - along with the town’s dungeon.
Halifax Post Office
I have several vintage postcards featuring Halifax Post Office in my collection, which is only right and proper as it is a fine looking building. The building - and the postcards - date from a time when there was a degree of local pride in such public buildings, and post offices were seen as a … Continue reading Halifax Post Office
Set The Night On Fire
To mess, or not to mess, that is the question. Whichever one you choose, it shows the railway viaduct, part of the Bailey Hall factory of Mackintosh's, and a mill chimney (Clark Bridge Mills, perhaps) with a relatively bare Beacon Hill filling in the gaps between the blackened stone. It is Halifax, of course, and … Continue reading Set The Night On Fire
Market Days In Brighouse
My scanning project this week takes me back further than I almost care to remember, back to the late 1960s when England were World Cup winners, Carnaby Street was fashionable, and Brighouse still had a Council. At some stage I was walking around Brighouse with my camera, and I went into the Open Market, which, … Continue reading Market Days In Brighouse
Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!
The wonderful thing about old 35mm negatives is that they come in strips. I used to always process my own, and cut them into strips of six negatives for storage, and this has preserved a degree of continuity when it comes to the relationship between individual photographs, half a century or more down the line. … Continue reading Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!
Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May
A recently acquired vintage postcard of the sundial in People's Park, Halifax provides the basis for a timely New Year's post. The Smith sundial will be familiar to generations of Halifax dwellers, having been presented to the park in 1873 by Alderman Matthew Smith, a partner in the wire manufacturing company, who later became Mayor … Continue reading Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May
