Leeds canal through the ages

Leeds Liverpool canal going through Leeds. This is on the corner of the Royal armories museum that would be built 50 years later. In the distance we can see Mount St Marys high school and church on top of the hill. With Saxton Gardens flats being developed. Much of this area would remain untouched until the 80s and more so in the 2000's where huge blocks of expensive flats and hotels would take the places of the small business that were popular at the time.

Very close to the railway station going through the heart of Leeds city center. A canal lock and barge making its way through the water. Even with all the modern developments a lot of the building have been left and updated into flats and places of work. The architecture remains the same and has a old feel about it. The only boats/barges that come down the canal now are for non commercial reasons.

Leeds in the 40-50s: Trams, University and pubs

Photos of old Leeds. We can see this one has the tram line still active going past the University. The Eldon Hotel/Pub still exists today as well as the clock tower Library / Pub in the distance.  The left side of the street has now changed completely, no individual buildings are there now just one long University structure. Right up until the late 60s this area was residential terrace housing, back to backs and such. A lot of these have been demolished and student flats taken their place.

Leeds in the 50s. Adelphi hotel / pub in the background that still is there today. Tram line going out to Hunslet Leeds. I like the milk poster, claiming it can make you a muscular fit athlete if you drink it. Most of the old buildings in this part of Leeds are being knocked down, the Tetley headquarters being the latest to go. The pub still proves popular with football fans before games.

Winter Warmers: How Chaplin did it?

Lots of talk in the news regarding fuel poverty. One would like to say this is nothing new. As Charlie Chaplin shows there are lots of ways to keep warm over the cold winter months. Got a bog cooker/oven? Keep close to it and spend time in the kitchen, no need to turn on the central heating. Did he really need his Kane sat down?.

 

I have always been a fan of silent movies, more so the Marx brothers but some of the first ones I watched were of Charlie Chaplin. Never realized until recently he was British. I guess that's another fine export from out shores. Remarkable photo of him stripped of his movie attire and makeup. This was taken from 1916.

Kes: Too Yorkshire to make it good

For those that don't know, Kes was a film set in South Yorkshire. It was pretty good, reading the history of the film its amusing how the broad Yorkshire accents put off most people from bothering to watch it.

One of the all time classic scenes from the film was with Brian Glover. a PE teacher educating the boys on the finer arts of footy! Hilarious how its so close to the truth in so many schools at the time. Man Utd top and' all.  Our hero goes in goals and has a reet time of it I tell thee.

 A lot of the film is centered around the relationship of a troubled boy and his kestrel to escape the crappy world he finds himself in.

The school scenes are funny even today, punishment in those days revolved around long sticks and fear!

Ken Loach really has done some brilliant films over the years, a master of his craft. The grim reality of Barnsley in the 60s was excellently portrayed in Kes, just not sure the world was ready for it then.

The American Civil War: The ruins of Richmond, 1865.

Just one of the many Matthew Brady photos of the civil war. This one interested me because it looked like a scene from a bombing more associated with ww2 than the civil war. It is nice to see the cannon balls are all neatly stacked and remain in place to use if and when needed.

WW1 Propaganda Poster: Make 'um feel guilty!

I have seen a lot of Propaganda posters while doing this blog, this one made me chuckle. How to make the average man who has not enlisted yet feel guilty! 

Great stuff. Are you satisfied with what you are doing? as apposed to traveling for months to get shot at in some awful hell hole in Europe.  Are you happy walking the streets seeing men in Uniforms? What are the consequences of staying at home? 

Canada played a big part in the War and I guess in no small part to posters like this.

WW1: Planes in battle

 Standard German Hannover CL which seems to have had a slight problem landing. One thing I did notice looking at photos of planes used on all sides in WW1 that most were tiny! Barely room for a gunner and pilot.

It seems really hard to find an actual photo of planes taking part in a battle. Most of them showed crashed, burnt out or simple static grounded planes with men posing next to them. Here I assume is an unaltered photo a perfect example of planes used in trench battles. Can you image 3-4 planes machine gun or small bombs pounding your trench just as the other sides soldiers where making a charge?

Jack Johnson: Boxing History

Jack Johnson was an American boxer in the early 1900's.

A pretty amazing story of how Johnson become the most famous African American on Earth! The above photo was taken from his fight in Cuba vs Jess Willard in 1915. Just lasting the 26 rounds, Johnson won virtually every round up until his knockout and defeat in the 26th. Jess was hailed as the "Great white hope".

Unable to find boxing opponents after beating Jeffries (dubbed the fight of the century and resulting riots across the country) he turned to racing cars.

Ken Burns made a fantastic documentary "Unforgivable blackness. The rise and fall of Jack Johnson" which is well worth a watch. How times have changed? right.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-y7bdeRDLI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CQqpjYGPUwQ

WW1: Trench digging Training.

When we think of Soldiers training we think of men running their bayonets into dummies and shouting alot. Crucial in WW1 though was trenches! Soldiers would find themselves in them for months on end, both serving as protection and living quarters. Here we see a training camp where the chaps (wot wot) are learning how to build the perfect trench. Not sure its 100% realistic, not as much mud as in the real battlefield trenches and look how clean they all look.

WW1 Propaganda poster: Sportsmen are enlisting!

I have a lot of Propaganda posters on this site, most of them from WW1 and WW2 but today was the first time I have ever seen this one (mild excitement)! It makes sense really, if players from great sporting teams can enlist then the government were keen to tell you about it. 

I have read about whole football teams from the early 1900's just vanishing when all of the brave men enlisted for WW1. No wonder it was around this time that to keep sport going in the country they created lots of women's football teams that sadly disappeared when the War finished.

WW1: Third battle of Ypres

Taking up shells by motor-driven light railway during the phase known as the Battle of Langemarck, near Elverdinghe, 19 August 1917.

This photo gives us today a sense of what happened in the Great War and how different it was from today. Look at the car come train giving the necessary method to transport to take supplies to the front, it cannot be going fast as the man at the back seems to be leaning against it, maybe keeping the shells on or just needing a something to lean on while walking. He must have drawn the short straw as the other soldiers are sat on it.  The background looks rather plush, so it must be a little distance away from the muddy fields, woods, that we associate with Ypres.

Are we downhearted?: 1916

Two disabled soldiers on the grounds of the 4th London General Hospital. Lots to love about this photo, the chair looks like a wooden house chair converted into a wheelchair, well used and comfy. Both of the soldiers look rather happy, pipe in hand the other donning his hat. Happy days indeed.

MGM screen credits: 1928

The beginning of the Hollywood era: the filming of the MGM screen credits, 1928. A really interesting photo of movie history here, we all know the famous lion roar on the credits of so many old movies. Look how deadpan the camera and sound men are, professional to the end.

Reichserntedankfest Nazi rally: 1937

Found this reading one of my favorite forums a few days ago. What gets me is the scale of the rally! How many people were there that day? I think the only thing we have today that can begin to recreate this are the rallies in North Korea. You can find plenty of similar Nazi rally photos from around the same time and equally impressive gatherings.

WW1 Train through Flanders

WW1 and a train carrying British troops through the battlefield in the Flanders region of France. Many a famous battle was fought in this area in WW1. A typical scene of total destruction of buildings, landscape and any life shown here. The train does seem rather basic, standing room only and not cover from the constant rain.