As I continue my exploration of the area around Rhodes Street, Halifax - time travel by courtesy of a series of photographs I took almost fifty years ago - I find faith on Rhodes Street. Before too much celebration is embarked upon for the salvation of my lost soul, let me add that the faith … Continue reading Finding Faith In Rhodes Street
Category: Scanned Negatives
Gas Lights And Atmosphere
I know I have featured this particular image from my negative archives before, but I like it, so I will wheel it out again. I took it almost fifty years ago and it is one of the street around Rhodes Street, which ran (and, indeed, still runs) between Gibbet Street and Hopwood Lane in Halifax. … Continue reading Gas Lights And Atmosphere
Abandon Hope
I read somewhere that the Vikings called their new discovery Greenland in full knowledge that it was anything but green, but in the hope that it might attract settlers. The same principles were obviously used by nineteenth century town developers who gave endless rows of smoke-black terraces names such as Paradise Street and Bellevue Road. … Continue reading Abandon Hope
Goods Composition
North Bridge, Halifax used to have two stations: a passenger railway station on one side, and a goods station on the other. The goods station, which stood where North Bridge Leisure Centre was later built, was closed in 1960, but the buildings remained - in a somewhat dilapidated state - for a further fifteen or … Continue reading Goods Composition
That Was, This Is …. Halifax
Looking through my negative archives, certain scenes keep recurring. One is this view of Bank Bottom in Halifax. I have photographs of it in rain and shine, with or without added bursts of industrial steam. At times the background of mill chimneys and church spires stand out like a fist of sore thumbs, at other … Continue reading That Was, This Is …. Halifax
Fitting A Square Church Into A Rectangular Hole
The early 1970s were critical years in terms of the preservation of the built heritage of Halifax. Not only was the future of a dilapidated Piece Hall being determined (see Faded Jewel), but right next door to that jewel in the crown was a diamond in the tiara - Square Congregational Church. Most of the … Continue reading Fitting A Square Church Into A Rectangular Hole
Faded Jewel
These days we are used to saying that the Piece Hall is the jewel in the crown of Halifax (or Calderdale, or Yorkshire, or England, or Europe: depending on the degree of our xenophobia), but it was not all that long ago that the building was facing an uncertain future. Those with long enough memories … Continue reading Faded Jewel
Beacon Lights
I think this is the fourth in my Halifax At Night series which must date from the late 1960s. The location is fairly easy to pin down - it is looking towards the junction of Northgate and Broad Street. You can just make out the imposing frontage of Northgate End Chapel hiding in the darkness on the … Continue reading Beacon Lights
Shaw Syke Redemption
These two photographs of mine fall into the "I think" category. I think I took them in the mid to late 1970s and I think they feature the old railway goods yard at Shaw Syke, Halifax. They look like railway buildings and that is unmistakably Beacon Hill looming in the background. Shaw Syke is just … Continue reading Shaw Syke Redemption
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