Amputation At Salterhebble

On old picture postcard of the Lock House, Salterhebble. This is the point where the old Halifax Arm used to leave the canal. The arm is long gone - perhaps it's the fault of the guillotine lock!

Halifax From Beacon Hill

Much of my early life seems to be in this old picture postcard. My father worked at the factory on the left; for a time I worked in the mill on the right. My school is on the horizon, my youth on the soot-coated streets around the market.

Regeneration

I took this photograph of Shaw Lodge Mills in Halifax in the early 1980s. Then it was dark and rather satanic, now it seems to have a new lease of life with shops, galleries and offices. It's nice to see regeneration at work.

Halifax As I Almost Remember It

Postcards From Home : Southgate and Town Hall, Halifax Mock-marble Burtons; the line of Armstrong Siddeleys outside the White Swan; polished pianos in Pohlmann's window: Halifax as I almost remember it if I let my imaginations stretch back far enough.

Cold And Shabby

I must have taken this photograph of Halifax Piece Hall in the late 1970s: a period when the building was host to a rather shabby market and a flock of cold, empty, stone rooms.

Getting Lyrical About The Old Bridge

We had a meal out at the Old Bridge Inn, Ripponden last night. Lovely pub, glorious food and drink, and special friends. I could have got lyrical about it, but then I realised I did 9 years ago. Here's what I wrote then:- Imagine the scene. You are walking through a West Yorkshire village. The … Continue reading Getting Lyrical About The Old Bridge

Halifax Town Hall – Saved By The Banks!

This old picture postcard was never used and therefore we don't have a postmark to help us date it. It was published by a Halifax firm - Ryley's of 27, Southgate - but I have been unable to trace when they were active in business. The photograph appears to have been taken at eight in … Continue reading Halifax Town Hall – Saved By The Banks!

Where There’s Muck There’s Culture

Holdsworth's Wool Merchants, Mulcture Hall Road, Halifax (Alan Burnett, 1970) This is a scan of a negative of mine from 1970 featuring a Wool Merchant's warehouse in Halifax. The building is on the corner of the delightfully named Mulcture Hall Road. I always think that the word Mulcture sounds like a West Yorkshire mixture of … Continue reading Where There’s Muck There’s Culture

A Prospect Of Halifax

Halifax From Prospect Street (c1970) Alan Burnett You could base a whole town planning conference around this photograph, or keep a classroom of kids occupied for a month. What colour is the Town Hall? How many mill chimneys are there? Why the large-scale demolitions? I must have taken the photograph in about 1970, just as … Continue reading A Prospect Of Halifax