Our Sepia Saturday theme image this week features an illustration from a late Victorian edition of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe. There are all sorts of directions I could go with this theme. My Great Grandmother, for example, married a chap called J Robinson Thickpenny; but that is another story altogether and best left until … Continue reading Sepia Saturday 308 : The Lusty Cloth Dressers Of Halifax

Sepia Saturday 277 : The Puds, The Fat And The Ungodly The small town Grammar School I went to played rugby. They had no time for what we in this country call football - and others call soccer - as such a game was the preserve of the working classes.  And the rugby that was played … Continue reading The Puds, The Fat And The Ungodly

1297 : Just A Lock DOORLOCK, PINOSO, SPAIN There is something rather mysterious about locks. Do they keep things in or things out? That dark chasm, framed by rust, is a kind of sentinel. Or there again, it might just be a lock.

What Makes A Good Pub? The Three Legs, The Headrow, Leeds I was phoned up by Radio Leeds the other day (I was sat in a garden in Spain at the time, but that is another story). They wanted to know what made for a good pub. As far as I remember, this is, more … Continue reading What Makes A Good Pub?

The Wooden Dolly of North Shields is a tradition which was started in the early nineteenth century when a local brewer and shipowner erected an old wooden ship's figurehead as a landmark on the quayside at North Shields (and conveniently close to one of his pubs). The wooden statue of a woman became something of … Continue reading Pointing To The Past : Jack Likes Pears

ORNAMENTAL CARVINGS, CLYDE WORKS OFFICES, THE WICKER, SHEFFIELD The Clyde Works Offices in the Wicker, Sheffield were originally built for the firm of Shortridge and Howell. John Shortridge was one of the main movers behind the construction of the magnificent Wicker Arches. He died in 1869 when his horse bolted and turned his carriage over. … Continue reading Picture Post 1287 : Safer With Elephants

My name is Alan Burnett and I am an hoarder. There I have said it and I feel better now. It took a lot of doing, making that confession: indeed I wrote some notes on a large post-it pad in order to find the right words. Now if you will excuse me a moment I … Continue reading The Lurid Confessions Of The Plastic Box Man

MANCHESTER SUNSET : (c. 1983) A plethora of verticals. Enough to give you vertigo. Bisected by a classic English taxi.

I am taking a walk along the path where history interacts with geography and words rub shoulders with images - the vintage postcard path. The destination doesn't matter and the route is determined by the random selection of old postcards I have bought at antique fairs and auctions. Number 12 in the series sees us … Continue reading The Vintage Postcard Path 12 : On The Ephemeral Nature Of Fame