If there is one thing you would have needed in 1919, it is a bit of a tonic. The memories of the carnage on the fields of Flanders are still raw, and the influenza epidemic is now picking off many of the people who survived. So this old photographic postcard from exactly 100 years ago … Continue reading A Paper Portal To The Past
This picture postcard of the Labour politician and Member of Parliament John Hodge dates from October 1911. He was 51 years old when he was elected as the MP for Manchester Gorton in the 1904 General Election which saw 29 members of the new Labour Party being returned to Parliament. It was a time when … Continue reading John Hodge And The Overdue Stove
The postcard dates back to the first decade of the 20th century and shows the Winter Gardens and Pier in Great Yarmouth. As is so often the case, the message on the back of the card is far more interesting than the somewhat crude image on the front. "Dear Mother, Just a line hoping you … Continue reading Have Bed Ready
This photograph of Elland from Long Wall dates back well over 100 years, but it is still a view that most people familiar with the town will recognise. The tramlines are long gone and the mills are long abandoned. The biggest change, however, is the one that is always noticeable when you compare old photographs … Continue reading Long Wall, Elland : It’s The Trees
1909 Postcard : Free School Lane, Halifax (AB Collection) This is another old view of a road I knew so well. I used to walk down from school and then take a short cut from Clover Hill Road to Well Head and then the Bus Station for the bus home. There won't have been tram … Continue reading The First Tram In Space
The advent of artificial intelligence driven photographic software means that we can now all play around with colouring the past. Such experiments have differing levels of success: sometimes we get a stunning insight into the real beauty of great-auntie Gertie, other times we give our grandfathers purple beards and pink dungarees! Such artificial colourisation is … Continue reading First Cousin To A Forgotten Memory
I bought this old picture postcard of Elm Cottages which still stand on Bradford Road between Brighouse and Bailiff Bridge because of the subject matter. The photograph captures landscape I am very familiar with, but captures it 100 years in the past. For those who live in these parts it is full of fascinating detail - the tramlines on … Continue reading Dear Daley, Not!
I became distracted earlier today, turned a little too suddenly in my chair, and knocked over one of the many piles of old photographs that are stacked on my desk and the surrounding cupboards and shelves. Assessing the perilous nature of my surroundings, I realised that I am in danger of sinking below a tide … Continue reading On The Dangers Of Sinking Under Ashworth’s Merrymakers And Their Like
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