Right next to the Grade 1 listed All Souls' Church in Halifax, there is a statue of the Halifax mill-owner, social reformer, Member of Parliament and church-builder, Edward Akroyd. On the plinth of the statue are a number of decorative panels showing key events in his lifetime, one of which is the laying of the … Continue reading Tired Souls
Tag: Halifax
Forsooth
Shakespeare Street, Halifax : A lane obscure, yet bearing a name of renown, once did serve as a stately portal to a playhouse, a haunt for souls who sought diversion and wisdom. Long hath it languished in adversity, and now is it haunted by sots and knaves.
Times Certainly Change
Getting somewhat annoyed the other day by some toxic pronouncement by a global potentate, I banged my fist down on my desk, and my smartwatch informed me that it looked as if I had taken a fall and that it would send for an emergency ambulance. Just think, sixty years ago I would have had … Continue reading Times Certainly Change
Any Lane
My photograph dates back to the early 1970s and shows one of those streets near the bottom of Lister Lane and Hopwood Lane in Halifax. The precise location doesn't matter - it could be any lane in almost any northern town: with cobbled streets and an obelisk of a mill chimney.
Treasured Map
My brother contacted me from the other side of the world yesterday to suggest that my "monumental sculpture" photo was not taken in Sowerby Bridge. I have since been able to persuade him that it was. His memory of Sowerby Bridge and the Calder Valley is not what it used to be, so here is … Continue reading Treasured Map
Monumental Sculpture
One should be able to nominate buildings as items of monumental sculpture, thus ensuring their preservation not for what they contain, but simply for the way they look, the shape they make, and the emotions they engender. I would like to nominate this group of buildings in Sowerby Bridge. Let's pickle them in aspic and … Continue reading Monumental Sculpture
Picture History
My photo dates back to the 1960s and shows the junction of Cripplegate and Mulcture Hall Road in Halifax. There's a textbook-full of history in the buildings and a library's worth in the names of these two historic streets that run next to Halifax Minster. From healing wells to tolls for grinding corn, there's history … Continue reading Picture History
The Cauldron
On countless occasions in my youth, I would walk through Northowram village, along Howes Lane to the point where the earth ends and Shibden Valley begins. I would focus my camera on the lip of the cauldron that was Halifax, on the other side of the valley, and try to capture the smoke, soot and … Continue reading The Cauldron
A Beacon Hill Timeline
I sometimes think that one of my most useful contributions to history would be to produce a Beacon Hill timeline. So many old photographs of Halifax feature Beacon Hill as an ever-present dramatic backdrop, and the changing degree of vegetation on the hill could provide a useful timestamp in dating such photos. After consulting the … Continue reading A Beacon Hill Timeline
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