More Shapes

 

Some shapes are instantly identifiable: the distant sweep of the moor-lined hills and the grand lines of a dye-works chimney that had ideas above its industrial station. The whole scene viewed from a promenade that, even after global warming has done its worst, will never see the sea. Sunset behind Wainhouse Tower, viewed from Albert Promenade, Halifax.

The Shape Of Things Gone By

This is not so much the shape of things to come as the shape of things gone by. That unmistakable shape of 1980s cars, TV aerials, telephone lines stretched across streets - they all spell out the eighties. And note the delicious absence of that most twenty-first century visual blight - the plastic wheelie bin. This was Sheffield in the 1980s.

The Only Decent Place In Fixby

 

This early twentieth century picture postcard has a fine view of Fixby Hall, which was one of the ancestral homes of the Thornhill family, but, by the time of this postcard, it had become the home of Huddersfield Golf Club. The message on the back of the card claims that the Hall is the "only decent place in the district", which is a bit of a cheek as I only live just up the road from there!

Timeless Style

 

The Victorian photographer, John Bell, promised "photography in the latest styles" on the reverse of his classic carte de visites. There is, however, something timeless about the face featured on the front of the card. I feel as if I know this lady, we met in the supermarket the other day.

IN A FLAP

 

Our Sepia Saturday theme this week is all about strange shapes, and the closest I seem to be able to get to it is this photograph from almost 100 years ago. I can only be sure about one of the six heads - and that is the third one down, which is my father, Albert. The photograph will have been taken somewhere close to Bradford, where he was brought up, and the occasion, I suspect, will have been a Boys Brigade camp.

NOSTALGIC THOUGHTS

 

When Greenwoods was on't corner, and Marks at top of town; 

when one day you could wait up, and next day you'd wait down. 

When sun was always shining, and it'd never, never rain 

...... why did folk wear thick coats and rain hats, perhaps you'd care to explain.

SHEFFIELD DAYS

 

There are no cars in this scene which always makes dating it a little more difficult. The clothes don't give many clues either: fashion takes a back seat to insulation when it comes to northern winters. Haymarket in Sheffield looks very different these days, and British Homes Stores is long gone. It must have been about 1980 when I took it - back in my Sheffield days.

A POSTCARD FROM KEIGHLEY

 

A POSTCARD FROM KEIGHLEY

Few things can provide a mirror to social history better than the humble picture postcard. On the one side you have the view, and although, as the 20th century progressed, these became more romanticised and stereotypical, in the early years they were often raw and real: horse muck and gaslights. On the other side you have a message which is worth a PhD thesis. This card was sent by my Great Aunt Eliza to my Great Uncle Fowler in 1905.

IT WAS SNOWING EARLIER

 

CROOKES VALLEY, SHEFFIELD 1980 : It was due to snow today, but it is looking like heavy rain instead, so there will be no snowy scene to share. Never mind, here's one I took earlier. Forty-six years earlier to be exact.

PINBALL WIZARD

 

The colours aren't particularly real, and you can't make out much of the scene (it was taken in Akroyd Place, Halifax). It is the lines, however, that are fascinating: the way they bounce your eye around the scene like a ball bearing in a pinball machine.

Rainy Days And Sundays

 

The photograph of Crown Street in Halifax is from a few years ago, and some of the shops have changed since it was taken. It is still raining however. Rainy days and Sundays - not to mention Mondays - always get me down.