In reviewing my old negatives, it appears as if I spent a large part of my youth walking up and down Shaw Lane in Halifax. Here is a triptych of views from a strip of negatives shot in the 1970s. I am particularly fond of that final image - it sums up so much about … Continue reading A Shaw Lane Triptych
Tag: Scanned Negatives
Monochrome Valley
This is an illustration from a book I have yet to write, which - in my own mind, at least - is entitled "Monochrome Valley". It shows Bank Bottom in Halifax in the early 1970s. Square Church spire and Halifax Parish Church fight to be seen through the industrial smoke. I have a feeling that … Continue reading Monochrome Valley
Stone Trough, Stone Dead
This is a new scan of a photograph I took over 50 years ago, and it shows the Halifax Charity Gala parade in 1965 passing the old Ramsden's Stone Trough Brewery building (RIP) at Ward's End, with the ever-present Victoria Theatre in the mid-distance.
Dark Forgotten Mills
A strip of medium format negatives dating from the 1980s is the next to go on my scanning machine. I took these photographs whilst on a walk down Shaw Lane in Halifax, at a time of transition for the town. The last of the mills that had been at the heart of the economic and … Continue reading Dark Forgotten Mills
Coincidence At Clark Bridge Mills
A strange set of coincidences took me on a virtual trip to Clark Bridge Mills in Halifax yesterday. It started with my never-ending quest to prune my bookshelves - the Good lady Wife keeps threatening to bring in a structural engineer as she believes that the beams and floorboards can no longer support the weight … Continue reading Coincidence At Clark Bridge Mills
Old Lane And Dean Clough (1971)
A classic Halifax scene which has been recorded by many better photographers than I. The grey chimneys fading into the grey skies make good photographers of us all. I must have taken this photograph in 1970, back in the days when Dean Clough was still producing carpets by the acre. The great photographer Bill Brandt … Continue reading Old Lane And Dean Clough (1971)
Lava Flows And Burdock
It is difficult to appreciate the scale of the construction of Burdock Way in Halifax from a modern perspective: new buildings have taken root, trees have filled the empty spaces, the highway has "bedded-in" to the local scenery. I must have taken this photograph in 1970, when construction had just started, and you almost get … Continue reading Lava Flows And Burdock
Devil’s Cauldron Or Cradle Of The Arts?
SCANNED NEGATIVES : HALIFAX FROM THE SHIBDEN VALLEY (c1968) This is one of my photos from 50 years ago and shows Halifax from the Shibden Valley. The town seems to be spilling from the lip of some giant industrial cauldron, or nestling in a cradle of the arts. This particular photograph comes from a time … Continue reading Devil’s Cauldron Or Cradle Of The Arts?
Cobbles And Clotheslines
SCANNED NEGATIVES : COBBLES AND CLOTHESLINES Another of my photographs from fifty years ago. This was one of the many streets that climbed the hill to Claremount, Halifax. Streets of cobbles and clotheslines. Many of the tightly packed streets that climbed up New Bank were swept away when Burdock Way carved its way through Halifax. … Continue reading Cobbles And Clotheslines
