Category: Old Halifax

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.

Monumental Beer

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, before closing again, and eventually, the building was demolished. The monumental bottle of beer painted on the gable wall should have … Continue reading Monumental Beer

Peeled Away By Time

This is one of those photos where I have to start drawing potential lines of sight in order to work out where I was standing (it was an awfully long time ago!). There's Whitaker's Brewery and there are (I think) the Albion Street flats. And there are numerous layers of industry, most of which have … Continue reading Peeled Away By Time

The Fate Of The Horse

This is one of those photographs where you try to line up buildings and, with all the skill of a CSI officer, work out where I might have been standing when I took the photo fifty-odd years ago. I'm not sure of the answer, but zooming in on the background and seeing which buildings have … Continue reading The Fate Of The Horse

Monochrome Memories

HALIFAX POWER STATION FROM CHARLESTOWN ROAD, 1967 : The clouds can't really have been that dark, the walls that soot-encrusted, the chimneys so stark. Time must have paid tricks on the film emulsion, or my exposure calculations were somewhat inaccurate. As for my memory, part of it says the sun always shined and the sky … Continue reading Monochrome Memories

Crowning Glory

This is a sight familiar to a whole generation of Halifax folk. I took the photo from on top of Godley Bridge, but you got the same view from the front seat of a Corporation bus. There was something quite cinematic about the constrained view as the bus made its way up Godley Cutting, and … Continue reading Crowning Glory

Yorkshire Day

I took this photograph of Halifax nearly sixty years ago. I have used it as one of my calendar images before, but that was back in 2021, and, anyway, the rules say that I can use the same image more than once if it is Yorkshire Day. So celebrate this Yorkshire Day with me overlooking … Continue reading Yorkshire Day

Marching, Throwing And Flowing

The fine proportions of Halifax's Victoria Hall, the town's monument to culture. In the 1950s, I remember seeing a Scottish pipe band march down the theatre aisles during a colour slide presentation about the beauties of the Highlands. In the 60s, I saw endless wrestlers thrown from its canvas-floored, rope-encircled ring, and in the 70s, … Continue reading Marching, Throwing And Flowing