Those who are familiar with Skipton today will instantly recognise this scene from a vintage postcard. The streets were perhaps a little wider then, the shops a little neater, and I wouldn't advise anyone to stand in the middle of the road these days. The postcard was sent to my great uncle, Fowler Beanland, from … Continue reading Skipton High Street
Category: Vintage Postcards
8th November 1905
This image of Doncaster's Corn Exchange is taken from a Vintage Postcard in my collection. The only thing written on the card is a single date - November 8th 1905. That was the day Alfred Buchi was granted a patent for his invention of a turbocharger, the day London was beset by a thick fog, … Continue reading 8th November 1905
Off Travelling
We're off on our travels for a few days, so a change of scenery from those old, run-down northern industrial views you have come to expect from me. Yes, that's right: Newcastle, here we come.
In Praise Of Picture Postcards
I miss picture postcards: that unique combination of image and words and that alignment of the public picture and the private message. They have survived a century or more and provide us with a bookmark for all our history and for all our yesterdays. This one - featuring the Scottish town of Alexandria - was … Continue reading In Praise Of Picture Postcards
A Different Life
1805D10 : Market Place, Doncaster : Vintage Postcard (October 1905) This picture is taken from an old picture postcard and shows Doncaster Market Place in the early years of the twentieth century. A long time ago. I worked in Doncaster during the 1980s and I became very familiar with the Market Place and its many … Continue reading A Different Life
The First Tram In Space
This is a view of a road I knew so well. I used to walk down from school and then take a short cut from Clover Hill Road to Well Head and then the Bus Station for the bus home. There won't have been tram lines there in my school days, but somehow the memories … Continue reading The First Tram In Space
The Distracting Pole
This image is from a picture postcard of Halifax which dates back, I think, to the 1930s. I've tidied it up a bit and got rid a a distracting tram pole, which makes the scene much more attractive. It might, however, result in the tram having difficulty proceeding any further along Commercial Street!
Snakes And Branches
This view of Elland is taken from an old picture postcard, published more than 120 years ago. Of course, Elland has changed; most of those mill chimneys have gone, and blocks of flats stand where back-to-back houses once clung to the hillside. The river remains, and those roads that either snake along the valley bottom … Continue reading Snakes And Branches
Having Fun At Hall End
It took me a few moments to fit the scene depicted in this 1908 postcard of Hall End, Halifax, into my late twentieth-century perceptions of the town. "Hall End" was not a description I was immediately familiar with, nor were the buildings in the center of the scene. The rather grand building which is center-left … Continue reading Having Fun At Hall End
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