Excelsior Forgotten

This photo of my mother sat on my fathers' Excelsior motorbike dates, I think, from the 1940s. It was taken at our house on Southmere Drive in Bradford, and I recognise that path and that fence, even though we moved away from Bradford in 1953 when I was just 5. The fence I remember well, but I have no memory of the motorbike.

The Leaving Of Halifax

This is a recent "messed-about" version of a photo I originally took back in 1968, which features the railway line out of Halifax. My father worked in the factory on the left and for a time, I worked in the mill on the right. Around the time I took this photo I left Halifax for the first time. I have been coming back - coming home - ever since.

It's Snowing In Andermatt

At last, the snow and ice are becoming a memory. The snow in today's photo is a memory from 100 years ago. I've no idea who these two are, but the photo is captioned "Andermatt, Switzerland". It's a joyous image - despite the snow.

Neon Memories

This is a photograph of George Square in Halifax, taken - as far as I can remember - in the mid 1960s. You don't get to see much, just a few neon signs and fuzzy shop windows, but you don't need to see much to spark a memory. This is Halifax's answer to Times Square or Piccadilly Circus: a tobacconist and a pram shop. You might not be able to hear it, but there is a soundtrack playing in the background to this picture: something suitably smokey and jazzy. The rain is falling, and you are on your way home from the pictures; heading for the bus stop hoping to make the last bus home. Neon memories.

Arctic Coral

I managed to get out today for the first time in a week. It was only to the corner of the street, but even that short journey was treacherous. Since the snow fell a week ago, layer upon layer of ice has formed on top of it. Sunken footprints are fossilised in ice and arctic coral lines the streets.

A Different Picture

If you go to Sheffield these days, one of the most vibrant parts of the city is Kelham Island - an area awash with bars, restaurants, and modern apartments. If you go back 40 years, it was a different picture - as my picture shows.

The Distracting Pole

This image is from a picture postcard of Halifax which dates back, I think, to the 1930s. I've tidied it up a bit and got rid a a distracting tram pole, which makes the scene much more attractive. It might, however, result in the tram having difficulty proceeding any further along Commercial Street!

Lost Compositions

I like to think that I can remember where I took all my photographs, that there is some process linked to pressing a shutter release that attaches a geo-location to my brain. The best I can do with this one, however, is that it was somewhere in Ireland. I remember standing in the middle of the road; I remember composing the shot, but the name of the town is sadly lost.

Copley Conversation

Extracts From A Conversation 60 Years Ago: Someone Else : "Why are you taking a photograph of Copley Bridge?" Me: "I don't know, perhaps it wont be there one day and it will be interesting to look back and see a picture of what it used to look like". SE: "Don't be silly!"

And Then They Left

It was 1982, a couple of years before the miners' strike. It was the annual Yorkshire Miners' Gala which, that year, was taking place in Doncaster. The pit banners had already been paraded through the town to the tune of a dozen brass bands. And then they left.

Fire, Fire!

Yet another photo from that "Fire In Halifax" sequence of mine from 59 years ago. Do firemen still have helmets like this? Do kids still gather around to watch the excitement? These days they would be filming it for a TikTok video - but wan't I doing just that all those years ago?

Snakes And Branches

This view of Elland is taken from an old picture postcard, published more than 120 years ago. Of course, Elland has changed; most of those mill chimneys have gone, and blocks of flats stand where back-to-back houses once clung to the hillside. The river remains, and those roads that either snake along the valley bottom or branch daringly up the Edges.

Enjoy The Music

A family sat outside a cottage relaxing and listening to music streaming from a wind-up gramophone. It's a classic "found photo" - dripping with detail and asking more questions than any government census form. We'll never get answers, but that doesn't matter: sit back and enjoy the music.

Messing About

I've been messing about again, starting the new year as I mean to go on. Those who are familiar with these parts might recognise Halifax Minster somewhere in there and the mighty spire of Square Church. The rest isn't really a photograph and it certainly isn't art - it's just messing about.

Digging For Memories

This is my father digging the back garden at our house in Northowram back in the late 1950s. He might as well have been digging for memories because there are so many of them in this picture: that lethal asbestos hut, those granite sets liberated from the nearby quarry, and that youth perched on the wall.

Keeping Watch

I've been taking this picture for 60 years. I've watched the names change, and I've seen the stone soot-black and bleached pale. I've seen the Hebble flow fast and slow. I've seen carpets and spreadsheets, dyers and diners. Here's hoping for another year to keep watch over this glorious Halifax.