Glasgow Days

 

Some years ago, I acquired a small collection of glass negatives - photographs taken in and around Glasgow between the early 1920s and the mid-1930s. Today’s image comes from that collection and shows the University of Glasgow and Kelvingrove Park. It feels especially fitting, because I’m travelling up to Glasgow today to spend a few days in the city.

Shoulder Of Mutton

 

In a single handed attempt to save the fortunes of that threatened institution, the British Pub, I have decided to embark on a series of visits to public houses. Where better to start than the splendid Shoulder of Mutton in Northowram, the village where I grew up? Spreading over three adjoining buildings, parts of the pub date back to the early seventeenth century, and it also incorporates the eighteenth century Priestley Hall. 

Memory Road

 

This is a scene I am so familiar with that I can almost physically feel its presence just by looking at a photograph. And it doesn't matter that it was taken half a century before I crossed this road - on my way to school, to the bus, to visit friends - or that many of the buildings have changed and some no longer exist. I can still look at this photo and see my future. I can still walk along this road today and feel my past.

A Grand Place

 

I started the week in Anglesey, and today's picture is from that time. So many things seemed to come together, to merge together and to mix together: winter and spring, sun and storms, the wild hedgerows and the concrete highway. It's a grand place, and it has left me with a strong desire to return.

Albert And Gladys

 

This is a photograph of my parents, Albert and Gladys Burnett, which must have been taken just under a century ago (it makes me feel old just writing that!). In his 20s, my father was a keen cyclist, whilst my mother was more of a reluctant one. By his 30s, he had graduated to motorbikes, and by his 40s it was motor cars. Whatever his age, when the sun came out, he would want to be out on the roads of his native Yorkshire. The sun has come out, and I'm thinking of him.

The Birth Of Aphrodite In Cleethorpes

 

There is something about the arrangement of the bodies - the way they stand, the way they interact. You almost feel that if Botticelli were seeking the birthplace of Aphrodite today, he would abandon the seashell in favour of a one-armed bandit. You suspect that Leonardo might seek out The Last Supper in an amusement arcade in Cleethorpes.

The Good Old Days

Ah, the good old days - before they dug up the cobbles. Back when Halifax’s Piece Hall was full of folk, with shops and stalls a-plenty. And, of course, the sun always shone.

Bank Holiday Monday

 

The wind and the rain have finally cleared, so I no longer have to rely on old photographs for my daily calendar. Happy Easter, everyone.

Wind In The Straits

 

Visited the Menai Straits and wanted to take a photograph, but the wind was so strong it blew my tripod over. So here is one I took earlier - eleven years earlier to be exact.

Earlier In Beaumaris

 

Went to Beaumaris. It was raining so I couldn’t manage a photograph. Here’s one I took earlier.

Here's One I Took Earlier

 

Gone to Wales. Not got there yet. So here's a picture I took earlier. Fifty-nine years earlier in fact.