Category: Postcards From Home

Christmas Greetings To All

For my News From Nowhere Christmas Card this year, I have chosen a vintage postcard of a snow-covered Halifax Parish Church, which forms part of my Postcards From Homeseries. I am having some difficulty in pinning down the precise date of the photograph - the postcard had not been used, which removes one means of dating it - … Continue reading Christmas Greetings To All

Old Market, Halifax

This 1904 postcard shows a view that will still be familiar to any Halifax resident: the grand facade of the Old Market Arcade, looking towards Market Street and the Woolshops area.  The buildings at the bottom of Old Market have changed since this photograph was taken - and are changing again - but the gloroious … Continue reading Old Market, Halifax

Across North Bridge

A vintage postcard of North Bridge, in Halifax, back in the days when it was the main route out of town to the north. Back then, the buildings hugged the side of the road at both ends of the bridge, and it did not have to live under the concrete shadow of the Burdock Way … Continue reading Across North Bridge

Up The Hill To The Stafford Arms

This is a scene which will be all too familiar for Halifax residents of this present age. After the long slog up Salterhebble Hill, and the inevitable wait at the hospital traffic lights, drivers heading for Halifax can now speed past the restaurant that used to be the Stafford Arms Inn, with no tram lines … Continue reading Up The Hill To The Stafford Arms

Postcards From Home : Kirklees, Calderdale

A popular pub quiz trivia question in these parts is "What is odd about the name of the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees?". The answer is that it is named after Kirklees Hall - which is in fact in the neighbouring borough of Calderdale. For most of my life I have lived within an arrows-shot of … Continue reading Postcards From Home : Kirklees, Calderdale

The Blue Skies And Mustard Streets Of Brighouse

There is a modern passion for "colourising" old monochrome photographs and films, and when this is skilfully done, it can provide a more accurate link to the past. Reproducing scenes in various shades of grey was simply a short interlude in our visual history - imposed by the technical limitations of early photographic techniques. Neither … Continue reading The Blue Skies And Mustard Streets Of Brighouse

Changing Times In Elland

In some ways the centre of Elland has changed little since this photograph was taken 100 years ago, whilst in other ways it has changed so very much. The Saville Arms is still open, and still dispensing beer, but the bank opposite has stopped dispensing cash and many of the shops stand empty. The clock … Continue reading Changing Times In Elland

A Case Of Municipal Pride

Back in the early twentieth century, when picture postcards were all the rage, the subjects reflected what people saw as important, what they were proud of, what - to them - represented their home towns and villages. There were, of course,  many pictures of celebrity music hall stars and vacuous views of pretty nothingness; but … Continue reading A Case Of Municipal Pride

A Pint At The Shibden Mill Inn

POSTCARDS FROM HOME : Shibden Mill Inn & Lake There are few pleasanter spots to enjoy a pint of beer on a summers' evening than the Shibden Mill Inn, and that has been the case for the best part of two hundred years. This particular postcard dates from the early part of the twentieth century … Continue reading A Pint At The Shibden Mill Inn