It was the start of the parade, down a cobbled street at the bottom of Halifax. Flanked by a car park of near vintage motors, backed by a hillside as bald as a Pennine coot, the wagons lined up ready for the annual Charity Gala parade. It was 1966, or maybe '67, or even '68. … Continue reading The Start Of The Parade
Tag: Calendar
A Face For Three Centuries
In a small way, restoring old photographs is a bit like bringing people back to life. Rescuing faces, figures, stances, and backgrounds from the slow decay into faded, sepia obscurity is quietly satisfying. Just look at that face: formed in the nineteenth century, photographed in the twentieth, and restored in the twenty-first century.
Concrete And Graphite
What is it about West Yorkshire that I miss when I'm away? It's not so much the hills and the valleys; other places have hills and valleys. It must be those palaces of industry, the mills, and the shapes they create. Throw in a concrete road and a graphite sky, and you get something that, … Continue reading Concrete And Graphite
Thrift And Guns
Short of funds? Don't let that worry you. These days you'd reach for your credit card; 110 years ago you might reach out to the Brighouse Equitable Self-Help Thrift Society. And if that didn't work, you could always buy a battery, a record and an air gun from Richardson's on Bethel Street.
Des
I'm down south attending the memorial service for a dear old friend. Even down here, the weather is cold, but I'm certain we will all be warmed by the shared memories we have of a lovely man.
Sunny Bunces
By the 1960s, all that was left of the once magnificent Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens was a Go-Kart track, a rubbish-filled lake and a host of memories. There were two lakes - Victoria and Alexandra - and I am not sure which this one was. It is hard to imagine that this forgotten little valley, … Continue reading Sunny Bunces
A Ride In A Car
A car stands outside a back street shop. This is such an unusual sight that a crowd gathers and everyone is keen to be included in the photograph. A boy sits in the car radiating excitement. A girl sits alongside him, confident in the fact that this will be the first of many such journeys. … Continue reading A Ride In A Car
Big Cars And Half Demolished Streets
I'm not precisely certain about the date of this photograph; it could have been any time during the first half of the 1980s. We were living in Sheffield at the time. It was a time of big cars and half demolished streets, empty factories and new technologies, hope and despair.
On Morecambe Sands
By the second decade of the twentieth century, the spread of cheaper cameras meant that it was possible to have picture postcards made from your own photographs, and such postcards became the WhatsApp messages of their day. The message on the back of this card tells us that these children were enjoying a donkey ride … Continue reading On Morecambe Sands
alanburnett.com 