Foggy Night In Sheffield

It was over forty years ago, but I can still remember taking this photograph. This was long before everyone had a camera in their pocket disguised as a telephone, so I would have been out and about with a hefty SLR, trying to imagine how the picture might eventually turn out. It turned out quite well, I think. 

Calder Scars

I must have taken this photograph looking across the Calder Valley from Hullenedge Road in Elland about fifty years ago. I was probably trying to capture the freshness of the scar resulting from the construction of the then, new Elland by-pass. Over the last half century, that scar has largely healed, although recent work has created fresh scars further along the by-pass.

 

Tunnel Vision

 

Many old castles have secret tunnels, but the one that runs under the ancient Dénia Castle in Alicante Province, Spain is somewhat different because it is less than a hundred years old. It was constructed as an air raid shelter for the local population during the Spanish Civil War. My photograph was taken during a visit there in 2017. 

The Slow Train

 

At one time, railway lines criss-crossed West Yorkshire like the warp and weft of the very fabrics the area was famous for. Holmfield Junction Station stood at the junction of the line from Halifax to Bradford via Queensbury and the splendidly named Halifax High Level Railway. None of these lines survive, and when I took this photo of the station in the 1960s, it had already been closed for more than a decade.

Stone Passion

Forget Fifty Shades of Grey: let the sun shine in Yorkshire and you get something much better - fifty shades of stone. Those shades don’t come from some manufactured dye (see the brick wall top left and demolish immediately), but from aeons of sedimentary activity, with the occasional added spice of igneous movement. Stone passion.

 

The Picture Postcard

 

Raise a toast to the humble picture-postcard photographers of a century ago. They seemed to spend their lives producing decorative trinkets - bearing inane greetings - sent from aunt to nephew, friend to friend, and lover to lover. What they actually did was preserve the past better than any porticoed museum. They stopped time and saved the past for the future.

Locarno Conference

When world leaders arrive at one of the countless international conferences they seem to attend these days, they might pause for a quick Facebook post or an X tweet, but they are unlikely to pose for, and add their signatures to, a commemorative picture postcard. This card from my collection reflects a different world. Unfortunately, the conference brought peace to Europe for only about ten years. Nice postcard, however.

Howzat!

 

Each week I take the grandchildren up to cricket practice at Green Moor, high on the hills between Sheffield and Barnsley. Each week, as the kids bat balls and catch catches, I look at the scene and try and capture a little of what I see on my phone or my iPad. I never really succeed, but it's fun trying. Here's this week's attempt.

Dark Satanic Mill

As time goes by and memories fade, there is a tendency to romanticise life in the mills of West Yorkshire (and I'm probably as guilty as the next old fool when it comes to this). When they were turning out cloth - or yarn or carpets - by the mile and black smoke was belching from their chimneys, they were dirty, noisy and dangerous places. I worked in this mill back in the 60s for what, I'm glad to say, was a very short period of time.

 

All At Sea

Having just booked a trip later this year to visit my various Caribbean relatives, perhaps I should prepare them for my arrival aboard the Queen Mary. After all, it has been some time since I've seen them. However, as they will discover, I haven't changed at all. 

The Build Up

 

To be honest, I don't remember taking this photograph, but it remains one of my favourite shots of my hometown. Surrounded by hills, Halifax has always built upward: stone needles of mill chimneys, ornate church spires, and concrete-clad boxes of apartments. Scenes like this were made for black and white - colour had no place in Halifax's palette back in those days.