In dating pictures of old Halifax, there are certain events that - rather like the destruction of the dinosaurs in geological times - mark the changeover between major epochs. One such event was the stone cleaning of Halifax Town Hall, bringing about its transition from soot-black to golden-stone, in 1972.
Tag: Scanned Negatives
St Thomas And The Gasworks
Someone asked me the other day how many pictures of Halifax I had taken over the years. I couldn’t give an answer, but it’s a lot: and that is not because I am an exceptionally prolific photographer, it’s just that I’ve been around for a good few years. Many of the subjects are repeat offenders: … Continue reading St Thomas And The Gasworks
Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns
Luckily the location of this old 35mm negative is obvious from the church notice board and the proud lettering over the portico, but if not I suspect I would have guessed it was one of towns that make up Stoke-on-Trent. The church drips Arnold Bennett : I can see Constance Baines fussily climbing the church … Continue reading Dripping With Bennett – A Sad Tale Of The Five Towns
Halifax At The Speed Of Light
When I look at this photograph I am reminded of those nineteenth century etchings of northern mill towns. But it can't be nineteenth century because I took the photograph and even I am not that old. And if you look carefully there are two blocks of flats in the background. It appears that if you … Continue reading Halifax At The Speed Of Light
Set The Night On Fire
To mess, or not to mess, that is the question. Whichever one you choose, it shows the railway viaduct, part of the Bailey Hall factory of Mackintosh's, and a mill chimney (Clark Bridge Mills, perhaps) with a relatively bare Beacon Hill filling in the gaps between the blackened stone. It is Halifax, of course, and … Continue reading Set The Night On Fire
Back Yard, Sheffield, 1980
I took this photo in the back yard of our house in Sheffield 40+ years ago. It's sometimes said that Sheffield was built on 7 hills, but, in truth, it's more like 70. Most folk had hills in their back garden and washing banners flying from clothes prop flagpoles.
Market Days In Brighouse
My scanning project this week takes me back further than I almost care to remember, back to the late 1960s when England were World Cup winners, Carnaby Street was fashionable, and Brighouse still had a Council. At some stage I was walking around Brighouse with my camera, and I went into the Open Market, which, … Continue reading Market Days In Brighouse
Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!
The wonderful thing about old 35mm negatives is that they come in strips. I used to always process my own, and cut them into strips of six negatives for storage, and this has preserved a degree of continuity when it comes to the relationship between individual photographs, half a century or more down the line. … Continue reading Looking Inside … To Find An Elephant In The Room!
Railway Shed, Halifax
This is a scan from the same strip of negatives I have been featuring this week. Based on clues from its neighbouring shots, it must have been taken in Halifax around 1972. It is clearly an old railway siding, and it could have been in one of two possible locations: either the railway sheds which … Continue reading Railway Shed, Halifax
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