The Beehive and Cross Keys in King Cross Street, Halifax was built in 1932 following the demolition of two earlier pubs: yes, you guessed it, the Beehive and the Cross Keys. The new pub was a functional 1930s affair designed by local architects Walsh and Maddocks. Functional it may have been, but in addition to the … Continue reading The Beehive And Cross Keys
Category: Old Halifax
Faith On Rhodes Street
It's a funny thing, faith. It asks you to park reason up a side street and wander the streets looking for meaning. Maybe there is meaning, but there again, maybe there is just an infinite greyscale of uncertainty. Or maybe there is just an old photo of Cross Rhodes Street in Halifax.
Inconsequential Shed
Given enough time, even the most inconsequential images acquire value from a social and historical perspective. Walking under Halifax's North Bridge over half a century ago, I was taken by the hanging measuring bar on the old railway sheds. Within a couple of years, the building, the lines, and the hanging bar were but memories, … Continue reading Inconsequential Shed
Melange Messing
Melange Printing is defined as the printing of textile fibres with bands of colour alternating with unprinted areas. This is one of my old photographs taken from North Bridge in Halifax, which shows Fletchers' mill. Fletchers were specialists in melange printing. I have messed with the photo so that we have a melange print of … Continue reading Melange Messing
Industrial Superglue
I've always admired the way that builders of mills and factories in these parts were never put off by an inconvenient hill. Industrial workplaces were often almost superglued to the sides of valleys - like Crawford-Swifts on Claremount Road, Halifax in this photo of mine from 35 years ago. Commercial premises of the modern era … Continue reading Industrial Superglue
A Photographic Sports Jacket
Someone asked me the other day whether I had any photos of the Daily Tailors shop in Halifax - and going through my archives, I discovered I had one - or at least half of one (think of it as a photographic sports jacket rather than a suit). The photo must be one of my … Continue reading A Photographic Sports Jacket
Waiting For Change
Halifax as it was sixty years ago. If you compare and contrast it with Halifax as it is today, you will find that most of the structures are still in place - but the shops have changed, the signs have changed, the cars have changed, and you can no longer wait for 30 minutes. The … Continue reading Waiting For Change
If It Wasn’t For The Trees In-Between
Back in the 1950s, there was a school geography textbook which, in the section on urban geography, had a picture of Halifax, and pupils were encouraged to count the number of mill chimneys. My photo was taken a decade later, but you could still make a decent counting exercise out of it. These days you … Continue reading If It Wasn’t For The Trees In-Between
Fill In The Faces
Market stalls in Brighouse in the 1960s. Other than the little girl (who is probably just about to become a pensioner!) you can't see any faces. You don't need to. Your mind automatically fills in the missing detail. The faces lined by years of work. The complexions scarred by too much worry.
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