My trawl through my collection of old photographs to find a suitable illustration for St. Valentine's Day came up with this one. As so often is the case, I have no idea who these two are or where and when the photo was taken. That doesn't matter: it perfectly illustrates what Valentine's Day is all … Continue reading … And They Sailed Away
Category: Picture Post
Style
Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week features a stylish 1920s car, so I thought I would give you both a stylish 1920s car and two stylish ladies from the same era. Both look very proud of their car and their lives, and so they should do. No doubt previous generations had style, but it … Continue reading Style
A Face For Three Centuries
In a small way, restoring old photographs is a bit like bringing people back to life. Rescuing faces, figures, stances, and backgrounds from the slow decay into faded, sepia obscurity is quietly satisfying. Just look at that face: formed in the nineteenth century, photographed in the twentieth, and restored in the twenty-first century.
Electric Beauty
Built in 1909, Brighouse's Electricity Works, which is situated on the main Bradford to Huddersfield Road immediately next to the canal, is a functional structure built with a Yorkshire faith in substance over style. The exception is the small stone date plaque, which matches in Art Nouveau elegance anything that can be found on the … Continue reading Electric Beauty
Glory, Side-On
I walked past Bethesda Church in Elland the other day. I must have passed it by a thousand times before without pausing to look and appreciate its fine features. Designed by William Hill of Leeds - the architect of some beautiful town halls including those in Bolton, Yeadon and Portsmouth - and built in 1879-80, … Continue reading Glory, Side-On
Picturesque Scenes
Driving through the Yorkshire Dales last weekend, you didn't have to seek out picturesque scenes, they formed disorderly queues in order to present themselves to you. Around almost every corner would be a history-steeped bridge over a stone-stepped brook, flanked by pubs that would tempt a Son of Temperance. This example was in the village … Continue reading Picturesque Scenes
Shadow Boxing
Last weekend I drove south through the Yorkshire Dales National Park on a day when the sun and the clouds promoted shadow boxing matches between the moors and hills. Unable to stop and take the photograph I sensed was waiting to be taken, I had to wait until I got home and play around with … Continue reading Shadow Boxing
Huddersfield Piazza
I'm not sure how Huddersfield got a Piazza - it might have been near the end of a too-long Planning Committee meeting, it might have been a joke, and it was probably wishful thinking. But why shouldn't the town have a piazza if it wants one? Let it be filled with shops, and people, and … Continue reading Huddersfield Piazza
Mrs Foggin’s Bust
This is a scan of one of the Victorian prints I bought - for pence rather than pounds - when I was in Newcastle recently. On the back is a label headed "The Great Britain Art Co" with a name, Mrs R J Foggin, and a set of instructions for reprinting: "As copy, not so … Continue reading Mrs Foggin’s Bust
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