Gog Hill used to be an important thoroughfare in Elland, cobble-climbing from Elland Bridge up the steep hillside to the top of the town. It was lined by houses that clung to the hillside with stoney determination. For many years it has been abandoned by everything but empty lager cans and cheap thrills. The signs live on - testament to a different age.
Sometimes there is no point to be made, no memories to be revived, and no surprises to be released. Sometimes there is just a nice view and the chance to step back and appreciate it. This is just down the road from where I live. This is grand.
This is not one of my photos: I suspect it was taken by my wife's uncle. It is a view over Elland from Dewsbury Road as it makes its way up Upper Edge. It must date from the 1960s or early 70s, the period before the construction of Elland by-pass which, today, cuts across this scene. There is something odd about the fields and roads in the background, they don't seem to fit in with what I know of the area.
This is another from my "Faces Of Halifax" series - Victorian and Edwardian portraits created by Halifax photographic studios. This couple visited the studio of E Greaves on Silver Street, Halifax towards the end of the nineteenth century to have their likeness captured, and what a stunning likeness it is. This is the Victorian equivalent of a selfie.
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