I know this photo was taken before my time - though, I have to admit, not that much before my time - but I can still identify with the shopfronts on Crown Street, Halifax. H. Samuel was selling lucky wedding rings, Dolcis was helping to give Crown Street its name - “shoe shop street” - and Boots … Continue reading Gone Shopping For History
Tag: Halifax
Facing Up To Halifax
Someone told me the other evening that I was responsible for them looking up whenever they walked around Halifax. As long as one keeps half an eye out for dangerous lampposts, this is a habit to be encouraged. Here’s a little test for all potential building spotters: where would you find this particular version of … Continue reading Facing Up To Halifax
Earlier
We have friends coming to visit this week - friends of over five decades - who have come to love our little bit of Yorkshire. We will see the sights, revisit familiar places and note the changes, and we will probably take photographs. Here's one I took earlier.
Nostalgia
Ah, those simple summer days of long ago - when Beacon Hill was bare of trees, when charity parades meant kids riding on the back of lorries, when King Street was cobbled, and when mill chimneys still split the sky. (Feel free to insert your own nostalgic meanderings as required.)
Halifax Tram Strike
One rainy Sunday evening in July 1906, the Number 94 tram from Shelf to Halifax ran out of control while coming down New Bank, overturned, and slid over North Bridge. Two passengers were killed and 12 were injured. It is said that the driver, Theodore Chadwick, did all he could to try to slow the … Continue reading Halifax Tram Strike
Escaping The Mill
The telegraph poles provide the date stamp for this photograph of a mill fire escape in Halifax. At some point over the fifty-six years since I took it, I seem to have decided that it was somewhere near Akroyd Place, just outside the town centre. Time, however, has changed the landscape and eroded any meaningful … Continue reading Escaping The Mill
History Preserved
My photograph dates back to the 1960s and shows the Mobil petrol station on Winding Road, Halifax. The garage was built on the site of the Old Crispin Inn, which dated back to the 1840s. That inn was itself built on the site of an even older Crispin Inn, a famed meeting place of local … Continue reading History Preserved
Sowerby Bridge Station
I must confess that I don't remember the old Sowerby Bridge Station, although I'm sure I must have seen it before it burned down in the late 1970s. If this picture-postcard view is anything to go by, it was a rather grand affair - certainly in a different class from the functional, minimalist building that … Continue reading Sowerby Bridge Station
Cut And Paste
I created this image of Halifax back in 2018, so it is definitely pre-artificial intelligence. Perhaps it's artificial pseudo-intelligence, as it was created by repeatedly pressing Photoshop buttons without any plan in mind. Nevertheless, the result - a collection of buildings, old and new, grand and gruesome - seems almost as if they have been … Continue reading Cut And Paste
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