Tag: Elland

Pretty Good

Let's start a new month with something pretty. This begins with a photograph I took a few years ago of a bit of land near Upper Edge, Elland, known locally as "The Wilderness". I fed that photograph into an AI machine and instructed it to come up with something interesting. This is the image that … Continue reading Pretty Good

Up Gog Hill

This is a photograph I took at the bottom of Gog Hill in Elland about fifty years ago. Because my in-laws were living near the top of Gog Hill at the time, I assume I was about to walk up the hill - which is a substantial climb at the best of times. Of course, … Continue reading Up Gog Hill

Waves And Hills

I think this photograph of mine of Elland dates from the early 1980s, but I can't remember the exact date (oh, how I wish we had metadata back in those pre-digital days). The theme is timeless: waves of stone-clad industry washing up against the natural Pennine hills. I still travel up and down those steep … Continue reading Waves And Hills

Elland Power

Looking back at this photograph, which I took nearly half a century ago from Blackley Road and looking down over Elland, I’m reminded of how the power station used to dominate the landscape. When I took the photo, the power station was relatively new - the official opening took place in 1961 - but it … Continue reading Elland Power

Britannia’s Leafy Crown

It's a photograph I have taken time and time again over the last half century: Britannia sitting atop her eponymous buildings in Elland. During the 1970s and 80s, the scene was stark - stone, soot slate and a few brave saplings. By 2016, when this version was taken, vegetation was in charge and Britannia wore … Continue reading Britannia’s Leafy Crown

Celebration At The Rock

This is a classic image of what has always been, to me, a classic pub. It's not the closest pub to where I live, but it's my local. It doesn't have the fanciest range of real cask ales, but I'll forgive it. It's undoubtedly idiosyncratic, but so am I. My picture shows a 1911 celebration … Continue reading Celebration At The Rock

Conversations With A. I. Lowry

So I said to AI, "What if L. S. Lowry had visited Elland and set up his easel on Saddleworth Road, looking towards Elland Bridge?" "Give me a photo to start me off," said AI. "OK, here's one I took back in the 1980s. Can you do anything with it?" "I'll have a go," said … Continue reading Conversations With A. I. Lowry

Britannia In The Trees

Britannia has sat on top of the rather ornate former bank at the end of Elland Bridge for 133 years. You might think she'd get bored, but I suspect she enjoys the ever-changing view. I've been regularly taking her photograph for the last 56 of those years. I, too, enjoy the view. Here she is … Continue reading Britannia In The Trees

Windows 80

I call this photograph Windows 80, not as a tribute to some upcoming Microsoft operating system, but because it was taken in 1980 looking out of the window of my parents-in-law's house in Bedford Street, Elland. Images can truly transport us, and the sight of those curtains, the bowl of fruit, and those plastic flowers … Continue reading Windows 80