When you build a town on a hillside, steps become a way of life. Even when the front door faces out at street level, the back door might leave you in near earth orbit. These strong stone steps were on Union Street, Halifax, forty years ago - and they are still there today. Countless bags … Continue reading Union Beyond Hope
Category: Scanned Negatives
Halifax Beyond Hope?
If you go beyond Hope Hall in Halifax, you get to Hope Hall Terrace. If you go beyond Hope Hall Terrace, you get to Back Hope Hall Terrace. That is where I took this photo forty or more years ago. It was cold and icy and for some reason the standpipes were out. You can … Continue reading Halifax Beyond Hope?
Hope
A photo I took 40 years ago and added some colour to 40 minutes ago. It shows what remains of the front of Hope Hall, Halifax, which is now the back of the Albany Club. 200 years ago it was the home of Christopher Rawson of Gentleman Jack fame. It's seen better days - but where there's … Continue reading Hope
Slam And Slide : Towards A Definition Of Culture
The welcome news that Bradford is set to be the 2025 UK City Of Culture got me thinking about what on earth culture is? Whilst definitions abound, they all tend to be constructed from words and concepts that are about as sound and structured as a jellyfish's ribcage. Clearly culture occupies a seat right next … Continue reading Slam And Slide : Towards A Definition Of Culture
Frames Of Reference
Halifax Town Hall framed in stone. Both the town hall and the half-demolished building on Winding Road (which was probably the works of Haigh, Allan & Co, Brass Founders and Finishers) must be of a similar vintage, but when I took this photograph in 1969, one was going, and one, thank goodness, was staying.
Moral Condiments
Another of my photos from 1969, and it shows the two cooling towers - Salt and Pepper - at Halifax Power Station next to North Bridge. Between them can be seen the hill rising to Claremount, with, I believe, St Thomas Street Methodist Church at the top. It is said that it cost more to … Continue reading Moral Condiments
A Bevy Of Beanlands
My mother, Gladys (left), her sister, Amy (right), and between them someone I can't be sure of. The chances are that it is another Beanland relative, and it might be Ada Beanland. I know I must have taken the photograph in 1969, so I need to check whether Cousin Ada was still with us at … Continue reading A Bevy Of Beanlands
Remains And Foundations
A photograph of mine from the late 1960s shows Halifax in transition. It’s the area around Gaol Lane and Ann Street, caught between the remains of pubs, chapels and debtors prisons, and the foundations of stores, colleges and bus stations.
Colouring My Memory
This old photograph of mine from 52 years ago is not particularly inspiring. Unlike others on the same strip of negatives, it does not illustrate changes in landscape or architecture. It does, however, unleash a floodgate of personal memories, and it also illustrates a degree of technological change. The technology in question sits centre-stage on … Continue reading Colouring My Memory
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