I've called this "Back Street In Elland", but I'm not sure it is. The next couple of shots on the negative strip are of Elland, and I certainly took a lot of photos in the town in the 1970s. However, I can't pin down the location and I have wandered around both physically and via … Continue reading A Bit Of A Back Street Mystery
Tag: Elland
Glory, Side-On
I walked past Bethesda Church in Elland the other day. I must have passed it by a thousand times before without pausing to look and appreciate its fine features. Designed by William Hill of Leeds - the architect of some beautiful town halls including those in Bolton, Yeadon and Portsmouth - and built in 1879-80, … Continue reading Glory, Side-On
Truncated In Elland
As Saddleworth Road runs into the town of Elland, there is a strange outcrop of trees sprouting out of the tops of truncated mill chimneys. This phenomenon is unique to this area and biologists travel from around the world to witness it. My 1980s photo captures it at an early stage of development, but I … Continue reading Truncated In Elland
Background Fit
This is not one of my photos: I suspect it was taken by my wife's uncle. It is a view over Elland from Dewsbury Road as it makes its way up Upper Edge. It must date from the 1960s or early 70s, the period before the construction of Elland by-pass which, today, cuts across this … Continue reading Background Fit
Gog Hill
Gog Hill used to be an important thoroughfare in Elland, cobble-climbing from Elland Bridge up the steep hillside to the top of the town. It was lined by houses that clung to the hillside with stoney determination. For many years it has been abandoned by everything but empty lager cans and cheap thrills. The signs … Continue reading Gog Hill
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
The Walkway
I took this photo of Elland sometime in the early 1970s. It has all the ingredients: kids running across concrete walkways between soulless housing blocks and Elland power station fading away into a memory. Those kids will be in their 50s or 60s now, and the power station's long gone. The walkway is still there.
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