... And They Sailed Away

 

My trawl through my collection of old photographs to find a suitable illustration for St. Valentine's Day came up with this one. As so often is the case, I have no idea who these two are or where and when the photo was taken. That doesn't matter: it perfectly illustrates what Valentine's Day is all about. Whoever they were, I hope they sailed away to a long and happy life together.

Beacon Hill Timeline

 

I sometimes think that one of my most useful contributions to history would be to produce a Beacon Hill timeline. So many old photographs of Halifax feature Beacon Hill as an ever-present dramatic backdrop, and the changing degree of vegetation on the hill could provide a useful timestamp in dating such photos. After consulting the beta version of my timeline, I suspect I must have taken this photograph in the late 1980s.

Photographic History At Its Best

 

This photograph came to me from my Great Uncle, Fowler Beanland, who, during the First World War, was a foreman at a munitions factory in Keighley. The photo shows fifteen female munitions workers - just a small proportion of the many hundreds who worked for Longbottom and Farrar's, which was, at the time, part of the British Shell Factory. Photographic history at its best.

Scale And Emptiness

When I look back at these old photographs of mine - I took this picture of a street in Stoke-on-Trent some fifty-five years ago - it is the scale that seems to stand out. Were the streets really this wide or were the cars small? Were the telegraph poles so tall or were the people short? There's a feeling of almost emptiness about the scene you just wouldn't get today.

Yorkshire Imperialism

 

I don't know which hillside it was. I remember taking the photograph whilst on the Settle to Carlisle line, so there is just a chance that it might even by a Lancashire hillside. It feels like Yorkshire however, in fact, I hereby claim it as part of Yorkshire (I learnt that trick from a chap in America!).

Film Sets

 

Shaw Lane in Halifax back in the 70s and 80s was a bit like a vacant film set: spectacular backgrounds waiting for a drama to unfold. You could have made any number of films or gritty TV series with those granite sets in the foreground, those sooty walls in the background, and the occasional mill tower to add spice to the scene.

Dam Art

 

Another one of those exercises in black and white and straight lines. There should be a name for this kind of art. Dam art, perhaps?

Five Girls And A Kodak

 

The Sepia Saturday theme this week is old photos of even older photographers, and searching through my extensive (if my wife reads this, I mean very small) collection, I found this 1920s photograph. At first I thought the object in question might be a small handbag, but further research suggests it's a Kodak No 1 Folding Pocket Camera. My research involved me finding one that is for sale on eBay, so I bought it! (if my wife is reading this, I didn't).

Paris Pub

 

I've always been attracted to this part of Halifax: the steep hills, cobbled streets, brooding mills ..... and, of course, the delights of the Shears Inn, whose stone-tiled roof features in this photo of mine from 40 or 50 years ago. There's a story which says the area's name - Paris Gates - came about when the final letter "h" fell off the original "Parish Gates" sign. I prefer the idea that it was the entrance to an early attempt at a Channel Tunnel.

From The Archives

 

I've always had a fondness for old newspapers: give me a half-comfy chair and a pile of old newspapers, and I'm a happy man. If I can't get my hands on the paper originals, then the online British Newspaper Archives is an excellent alternative, and it has the advantage of a very effective search engine. That is how I discovered this newspaper cutting from the Lynn News of the 6th of June 1972 and this rather pleasing drawing by my brother, Roger.

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.