History Preserved

 

My photograph dates back to the 1960s and shows the Mobil petrol station on Winding Road, Halifax. The garage was built on the site of the Old Crispin Inn, which dated back to the 1840s. That inn was itself built on the site of an even older Crispin Inn, a famed meeting place of local radicals and Luddites. When the Old Crispin Inn was demolished, parts of it were preserved at Shibden Hall Museum. When the petrol station was demolished, parts of it weren't.

Sowerby Bridge Station

I must confess that I don't remember the old Sowerby Bridge Station, although I'm sure I must have seen it before it burned down in the late 1970s. If this picture-postcard view is anything to go by, it was a rather grand affair - certainly in a different class from the functional, minimalist building that stands there now.

 

Cut And Paste

 

I created this image of Halifax back in 2018, so it is definitely pre-artificial intelligence. Perhaps it's artificial pseudo-intelligence, as it was created by repeatedly pressing Photoshop buttons without any plan in mind. Nevertheless, the result - a collection of buildings, old and new, grand and gruesome - seems almost as if they have been cut and pasted onto a night view of Halifax.

The Essence Of The Image

I have suitcases full of old photographs - my lost images collection - and sometimes, when I'm sorting through them, one will shout out at me. It's not who the people are (I don't know them) or what they're doing; it's the very essence of the image itself. The lines and shapes ask questions; the light and shadows hint at answers.

View From St Thomas's

Those of us who spend our lives looking at pictures of old Halifax have a range of potential dating pointers: Is Square Church still a church, or just a spire? Is the Queensbury railway line still in place? are there trees on Beacon Hill? I think this photograph of mine was taken in the 1960s, but I can't be sure. One possible clue - whether St Thomas's, Claremount still has a tower - is of little use, as I took the photograph from the churchyard.

Frightening

 

Artificial intelligence took one of my photographs of North Bridge and Burdock Way in Halifax and did this with it. It's frightening. The problem is, it's frighteningly good.

Green Change

 

Whenever I revisit one of my old photographs, I can never resist the temptation to seek out a modern view of the same scene to see what has changed. With this view of the junction between Northowram Green and Land's Head Lane, I assumed it would be much the same, but I was surprised by the number of changes that had taken place. You can check it out yourself by taking a walk through this lovely village or, failing that, by taking a look on Google Street View!

THIS IS BRADFORD

 

Green Clough

 

I took this photograph of Dean Clough in Halifax back in 2017. The profusion of green vegetation provides a date stamp: fifty years earlier, the buildings would have been the same, but the occasional sooty dandelion would have been the only plant life to survive. To be honest, nine years later and the scene will be far less green as the effects of the current heatwave and drought take effect. For a time, however, it was Green Clough rather than Dean Clough.

Happy Birthday Roger

A photograph taken in a Bradford back yard more than three-quarters of a century ago. It features me sitting on my mother's knee, watched over by my brother, Roger. Next Monday would have been my mother Gladys's birthday. Today is my brother's birthday. Happy birthday, Rog - see you in December.

Bronzed

 

We got a new Prime Minister yesterday. We've had quite a lot of them lately. Back in the old days, once you had finished with a Prime Minister, you erected a bronze statue to him or her. These days, that might be a somewhat extravagant use of bronze. Here's wishing Andy Burnham luck in his endeavours. My photo for today is of the statue to the redoubtable David Lloyd George.