I took this photo at the Halifax Charity Gala nearly sixty years ago, and it still gives me pleasure now. There are so many things going on, so much social history on display, so many eyes looking in so many directions. The face of the little girl, bottom left, makes the picture complete.
Tag: Halifax
15 August 2024 : Beacons
They used to hang bodies up there, or light beacons to warn of invading Spanish armadas or French onion sellers. They had fancy beacons to shine down on the folk of Halifax below. What they should have had, however, was a good old cast iron gas light, that would have been a beacon befitting Halifax … Continue reading 15 August 2024 : Beacons
14 August 2024 : Green
100 years ago you would have had difficulty seeing the hills that surround Halifax because of the smoke and the smog. 50 years ago you would have seen them but they would have been bare and battle-scarred, testament to what industry can do to land. Now they are green with stone-coloured highlights. You can say … Continue reading 14 August 2024 : Green
13 August 2024 : Patterns
The second of the series of photos taken while waiting for my wife to emerge from the dentist's. These are the steps leading up to Broad Street Plaza in Halifax - a delightfully curve-less concrete and steel prospect that faces off against the classical elegance of Halifax's Victorian Town Hall on the other side of … Continue reading 13 August 2024 : Patterns
Stone
Halifax does stone well. The railway viaduct could be part of a Roman amphitheatre, and the mill could be the business end of a Gothic cathedral. The wall could be an early stone version of Tetris, and the chimney part of a Gormley sculpture. And there, in the background, is the source of it all … Continue reading Stone
THE CLEAR OUT
I remember coming across this scene whilst walking, up Southowram I think, well over 50 years ago. It was almost as though someone had set out the various objects with a composition in mind. I like to think that the pictures were priceless antiques. I left them there.
SUNNY VALE
I know these are supposed to be 1001 Photos I took before I died, but I can't be absolutely certain whether I took this or my brother did. It was the late 60s and Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens were already in terminal decline - as this picture of one of the boating lakes shows.
Fading Into Vagueness
I can just about remember taking this photograph, which is not bad as it was more than half a century ago. I was standing at Stump Cross looking up Godley Lane towards Halifax. I can't remember why I took it, however, such detail fades into vagueness - just like the photo.
Paris, Halifax
Another of my photos from that walk down Boys Lane, Halifax forty-odd years ago. The wonderful Shears Inn is still going strong and always well worth a visit. Paris Gates sounds a romantic location, but I understand it was originally known as the slightly more prosaic "Parish Gates".
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