As far as I know, this is a family member; it was part of a collection of family photographs handed down to me by my Auntie Annie. That means she is probably a Burnett - and she has that kind of broad, Yorkshire, slightly eccentric look that is common to our family. The photo carried … Continue reading Great Aunt Ruth-Annie
Tag: Calendar
Bad Old Lane
It's not easy to take bad photographs these days. The dullest of smartphones can deliver a perfectly exposed image with the click of a pretend shutter in the most challenging conditions. You do, however, miss out on those odd occasions when a bad photograph turns out good - this grainy, dull photo of Old Lane … Continue reading Bad Old Lane
Skipton High Street
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
Lilly Lane
For almost 150 years, the Lilly Lane footbridge has carried people over the busy railway lines and over the Hebble Brook next to Halifax Station. These days it provides safe passage over a car park, but that doesn't detract from its importance nor for what can pass for beauty on a grey rainy day. My … Continue reading Lilly Lane
That Certainty
A moment snatched from history: a gathering of objects, people and places. At one time they meant something to someone - your Aunty Bess, or Jean's mother before her stroke. Now the objects and people rearrange themselves and mean something about the passage of time - that lamp, those hills, that certainty.
Tasty Halifax
Looking Up At Halifax 4 : Three buildings, three styles - let your eyes wander over this rich architectural tapas. On the left the former Halifax Post Office (solid and serious). In the centre, Post office Chambers and the west entrance to the former Arcade Royale (grandiose and rich). On the right, the white Marmo … Continue reading Tasty Halifax
Rejoice, The Market
Looking Up At Halifax 3 : Any picture of Halifax's beautiful Borough Market risks opening the floodgates of nostalgia. Why can't it be full of lovely, quaint shops selling biscuits from large tin boxes? Why can't you get divi by quoting your Co-op number anymore? Forget all that for the moment; just look at the … Continue reading Rejoice, The Market
Another Grand Building
Looking Up At Halifax 2 : To me, this will always be the Halifax Building Society Headquarters. I was leaving the town as the new Trinity Road HQ was arriving, and by the time I returned, everything had changed names. This was the building I got my pass book from and it was here I … Continue reading Another Grand Building
G-Plan Style
The first of a little Easter mini-series, "Looking Up At Halifax". This building on Silver Street is one of my favourite buildings in the town. It is sad and empty now, but I remember it in the 1950s and 60s as a thriving furniture store. If I won the lottery, I'd buy it tomorrow and … Continue reading G-Plan Style
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