This is a version of a photograph I took back in 1966. It wasn't a particularly good photograph from a technical perspective when I took it, and it hasn't improved with time. It is out of focus, indifferently composed, and of marginal interest as a subject. I can neither remember where exactly in Halifax it … Continue reading That Look, That Question
Category: Scanned Negatives
Fire In Halifax (1968)
I came across a fire near the bottom of Hanson Lane by chance one day back in 1968, when I was walking into town from the Library. The photographs I took were just a record of a chance event, but over half a century later, they have become something of a social record of the … Continue reading Fire In Halifax (1968)
Martin’s Bank And Ford Anglias
Photographs of streets always provide a fascinating insight into the past. The backdrop - the shape of the buildings and the layout of the streets - may last for centuries, but the decorations - the shop names and signs, the parked cars, the people - change all the time. This was Brighouse over half a … Continue reading Martin’s Bank And Ford Anglias
Echoes Of The Past
Echoes of a past when there was no news on the web, but the occasional spider's web strung from the dark corners of the news stand, and when click-bait was the sound of a pair of heels on a stone pavement.
Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey
The Duke Of Wellington’s Regiment Memorial, Halifax, by Andrew Sinclair, 2019 Sculpture belongs in towns, on the streets, in the squares; not stuck away atop bronze horses in distant parks. It needs to be touched and spoken to. It needs to be a repository of thanks, of memories, and of empty coffee cups. The Empty … Continue reading Statues, Cousins And Bill Bailey
Cleaning Up The Town Hall
In dating pictures of old Halifax, there are certain events that - rather like the destruction of the dinosaurs in geological times - mark the changeover between major epochs. One such event was the stone cleaning of Halifax Town Hall, bringing about its transition from soot-black to golden-stone, in 1972.
Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns
Luckily the location of this old 35mm negative is obvious from the church notice board and the proud lettering over the portico, but if not I suspect I would have guessed it was one of towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent. The church drips Arnold Bennett : I can see Constance Baines fussily climbing the church … Continue reading Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns
Halifax At The Speed Of Light
When I look at this photograph I am reminded of those nineteenth century etchings of northern mill towns. But it can't be nineteenth century because I took the photograph and even I am not that old. And if you look carefully there are two blocks of flats in the background. It appears that if you … Continue reading Halifax At The Speed Of Light
Set The Night On Fire
To mess, or not to mess, that is the question. Whichever one you choose, it shows the railway viaduct, part of the Bailey Hall factory of Mackintosh's, and a mill chimney (Clark Bridge Mills, perhaps) with a relatively bare Beacon Hill filling in the gaps between the blackened stone. It is Halifax, of course, and … Continue reading Set The Night On Fire
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