Same Day, Same Town, Different Street, Different Washing

Old negatives cut into strips of six allow me to retrace my steps half a century after those steps first climbed the cobbled streets of Horley Green in Halifax. Therefore this, I believe, was Parker Street. Same day, same town, different street, different washing.

A Colourful Cheat

This lovely portrait was part of a collection of old family photographs passed on by a distant relation. I don’t know for certain who it is, but it is a truly stunning photograph. I’ve added a touch of colour, but I make no apologies if you think that is cheating. The real cheating was to take the colour away in the first place.

Washing On The Line

 

This has always been one of my favourite photos from the 1960s. When I put it on Facebook a few years ago, people helped me to work out where I must have been stood - Neville Street in Horley Green - when I took it. The washing makes the photo. It makes my think of the Paul Simon song. “My Little Town” and the line “hanging out shirts in the dirty breeze”

Albert And The "Girl"

We are into the third week of my fathers’ diary from ninety years ago. At the time he was “courting” my mother, and on Saturday he went to see Gladys’s sister (Amy) marry Wilf. You might get somewhat suspicious as to his visit to the New Victoria on Monday with, or to see, “girl”, but worry not, the reference is to the New Victoria Cinema, Girlington, Bradford.

Fading Into Vagueness

I can just about remember taking this photograph, which is not bad as it was more than half a century ago. I was standing at Stump Cross looking up Godley Lane towards Halifax. I can't remember why I took it, however, such detail fades into vagueness - just like the photo.

Dedicated To Uncle Frank

My Uncle Frank was one of my great heroes. He amassed numerous collections of ephemera, without rhyme, reason or even explanation. His collection of 1930s cigarette cards was memorable and his archive of 1940s bus tickets was nothing short of breathtaking. It is one of my ambitions to emulate him. Several years ago I built up a small collection of negatives from film stills of the 1930s, 40s and 50s. Today’s image is from one of them. I dedicate it to Uncle Frank.

Advertising Victory

 

This advert for Osram lamps is taken from one of my collection of old Picture Post magazines. If nothing else it illustrates the timeless desire of advertisers to jump on any passing bandwagon. No doubt there was a “At Waterloo, the Dukes’ wellington boots are made out of Dunlop rubber” slogan flying around in the early nineteenth century.

A Battle Of Shapes

 

OK, it might not be what you had in mind when you asked for a black and white photo of Halifax, but there is no denying that’s what it is. It gets rid of all the grey in-between stuff. It ends up as a battle of shapes - hard to tell which shape wins.

A Watery Pint

 

This is a “Found Photo” - just one of the hundreds of old photos in an album I recently bought for the price of a couple of pints. Those pints couldn’t have been enjoyed at the Dun Bull Hotel - which is featured in this 1920s photo - as it was demolished in 1935 when Mardale Green was flooded to create Haweswater Reservoir.

Birdseye

 

Twelve From Morley