AlanBurnett

AlanBurnett, 1 day ago to random

Bus stops are the punctuation marks of life, the points at which you pause, draw breath, and see what comes around the corner. It might be the bus you want, it might be a new direction in life. The bus stop in this case was at the top of Oxford Street in Crookesmoor, Sheffield. The time was 1979.

AlanBurnett, 11 days ago to random

From the mid nineteenth century onwards, every northern town worth its weight in brass has a Commercial Street. To these streets the new generation of drapers, bakers and umbrella makers were drawn. I took this photograph of Brighouse's Commercial Street over half a century ago. It was busy then and, I'm glad to say, it's still busy now.

AlanBurnett, 14 days ago to random

Charabancs were very popular 100 years ago; I've no idea why, they've always looked like the most uncomfortable form of transport I've ever come across. They would draw up outside backstreet pubs up and down the land and transport the entire clientele to the nearest seaside resort, pleasure gardens, or racecourse.

AlanBurnett, 15 days ago to random

Chapels, town halls and banks: northern towns have always done them well. There is something about faith, brass and municipality that fostered the architectural pride of countless northern towns. Here's one of Halifax's entries in the banking class - the palatial Lloyds Bank.

AlanBurnett, 21 days ago to random

These rays of sunlight travelled 93 million miles to reach their chosen destination - the Albert Memorial Water Fountain in Queensbury near Bradford - but it was a journey well worth the effort.

AlanBurnett, 27 days ago to random

Went to a reunion in Sheffield last night, full of folk sharing memories of forty-odd years ago. Here’s my memories - of coffee and cream buses, Kelvin Hall flats, and the sound and smell of industry filling the morning air.

AlanBurnett, 1 month ago to random

I've always been fond of pigs, there is a certain contentedness about them which I have always admired. I think I have to agree with Churchill when he said: "I am fond of pigs. Dogs look up to us. Cats look down on us. Pigs treat us as equals".

AlanBurnett, 1 month ago to random

This stone face looks out at people who enter St John the Baptist Church in Penistone. He, or could it be she, has seen so much: joy, sorrow, hopes, fears. Besieged by the Yorkshire wind and rain they remain watchful, perhaps waiting … but for what?

AlanBurnett, 1 month ago to random

There are some scenes I return to again and again: photographs I have been taking for 50 years. One such is the statue of Britannia which overlooks Elland Bridge from her elevated position on the roof of the former Halifax & Huddersfield Banking Co. Sometimes I try and capture her in an elegant pose, flanked by the pilasters, columns and pediments of the frontage of the now restored building. At other times I sneak up on her and catch her off guard, amid the tv aerials and chimney pots.

AlanBurnett, 2 months ago to random

My parents, like so many young couples in the 1930s, were great motorbike enthusiasts. Motorbikes gave them the opportunity to discover the country in a way that had not been available to earlier generations. Here they are, proudly astride their Royal Enfield, in the late 1930s.

AlanBurnett, 2 months ago to random

One image telling two stories. The top half - the banner - reminds us of the fact that there were times when people were proud of political achievements, a time when the welfare state was something to be paraded through the streets as a badge of social honour. The lower part of the picture is all about faces, faces of the past and of the future. I took the picture in Rotherham 42 years ago, just before the start of the miners' strike.

AlanBurnett, 2 months ago to random

Fifty years ago I was living in London, working in politics, and spending my spare time attempting to capture a photographic record of all the old London Breweries, most of which were in their final years as working breweries. The sites - like the site of Courage's Anchor Brewery pictured here - were in prime locations, ripe for development.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

The image is taken from a 1921 postcard of Cliff House in San Francisco. I saw it amongst a collection of old cards at an Antiques Centre and bought it for a few pence (the postage stamp had already been removed). It appealed to me because we visited Cliff House during a stay in SF in 2013 and I have fond memories of listening to sweet jazz and drinking bitter beer there.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

I took this photograph in Sheffield forty or so years ago. Looking back at it now, there’s not a single curve in sight. Everything was straight lines back in those days - curves were not an available option.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

When my father was born in 1911 and christened Albert, it was not in memory of the late (by then, very late) Prince Consort, but in tribute to his Uncle Albert, who was by far the most successful member of the Burnett family. He managed to escape the woollen mills of Bradford, move to Manchester and become a partner in a motor body building firm which produced works of metallic art such as this baker’s van

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

A few years ago I went through a phase of buying glass plate negatives off eBay. It was a hit or miss pastime as a good proportion of the purchases would arrive in pieces. Luckily this particular image did not suffer that fate and therefore can provide us with an almost perfect phial of pure history.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

This is from an odd little album of some 100 photos from the 1920s and 30s that I bought a few weeks ago. I have no idea where the cricket ground is - but knowing the power of social media, no doubt someone will tell me - along with the date and the name of the batsman - by end of play today.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

Several years ago I bought an old photo album at an antique market. It contained photos taken on a cruise of “The Northern Capitals” in 1925. I decided to republish the album as a book with some background notes on the ship, the cruise and the people. This lovely image is comes from that album. The book*, I am astonished to discover, is still available on Amazon! (*“Heading North: A 1925 Photo Album Revisited, Alan Burnett £7.50p”)

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

I remember asking my father about this photograph of his father - Enoch Burnett sat at the front of this group - and he said that it was taken at the time of the Second Boer War (1899-1902). Enoch was in a reserve group of volunteers and he never got further than a training camp in a Bradford park. The historical span of just three generations never ceases to amaze me.

AlanBurnett, 3 months ago to random

Geologists retell the history of the earth by examining the way rock strata have been formed and changed over time. Archeologists investigate the story of mankind by digger through layers of human habitation. If you happen to live in Wibsey, you can examine the history of the Post Office as a building by looking at the way the gable-end adverts have been curtailed by generations of building projects.

AlanBurnett, 4 months ago to random

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.

AlanBurnett, 4 months ago to random

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.

AlanBurnett, 4 months ago to random

Few do stone like they do in Yorkshire. The way both the stone and the buildings fit together: long stone next to short stone, thick stone abutting up to thin stone - shop next to house, house next to church, church next to sky. Get a sparrow to pose on the chimney and you have perfection.
I took this photograph back in the early 1980s from the waste land between John Street and Victoria Road in Elland, looking towards Bethesda Methodist Church.

AlanBurnett, 4 months ago to random

I took this photo about 40 years ago. Your challenge is to tell me where I was standing when I took it. The challenge is even more intriguing because although I know the city in question, I can't work out where I was standing at the time!