by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | A Golden Age, Gallery, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This lovely photograph, taken in the 1890s, captures a moment of tranquility and solitude. The young lady has found a spot by an old mill, perhaps to read a book. A few water-powered mills and factories remain in the UK, most as heritage attractions and a handful as... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | A Golden Age, Gallery
This lovely photograph, taken in the 1890s, shows part of the haymaking process. The grass has been cut by hand with a scythe and is being gathered into haycocks, which are easier to load onto a cart than loose hay. This photograph was posed (the young ladies are... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | A Golden Age, Gallery
This delightful photograph, taken in the 1890s, shows two women passing the time of day, chatting, waiting for a ferry. This would have been a familiar scene in many rural areas, where a ferryman used a rope to pull his boat across the river. This particular... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Goose Fair is one of the UK’s largest and oldest fairs and has been held annually, in the Autumn, for more than eight-hundred years. Originally located in the Old Market Square in the centre of Nottingham, it started as a traditional, livestock-trading market... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus, Transport
Early photographs of railway stations are always interesting. This one in Skipton, Yorkshire, shows a scene typical of thousands of stations across Britain in the early 1900s. There are at least twelve station staff wearing smart uniforms. Many of them are porters,... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, Transport
This photograph of an AA patrolman was taken between Watford and St. Albans, probably in the 1920s. He is saluting the passing motorist because the car has a badge on it which shows that the driver is a member of the AA and the driver, who is a chauffeur, is saluting... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, Places, Transport
This extraordinary photograph was taken on 15th April, 1919, shortly after the end of the First World War. The crew had surrended a couple of months earlier and the boat was being towed through the English Channel when it came adrift and ran aground on Hastings Beach.... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This photograph was taken on the Isle of Man in the early 1900s. Such scenes were repeated at fishing ports all over the UK. The boats have returned to harbour with their catch and having unloaded the fish, girls would gut them (remove the inedible bits) and pack them... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
We use peat today as a fertiliser in our gardens but for centuries, in rural communities in Scotland and Ireland, peat was used as fuel for warmth and cooking. By its nature, it’s full of moisture and heavy and digging it out of the ground was back-breaking... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 3, 2021 | Gallery, Places, Sport, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
It’s helpful when Victorian photographers caption their images. Most didn’t, of course, but this one did, so we know that it is North Berwick golf course, on the coast to the east of Edinburgh. The date is probably the 1880s and, by then, the Club had... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, NFT Photo-Art, Sport
In Victorian times, some wealthy holiday-makers made regular trips to Switzerland and the more adventurous amongst them climbed mountains. Here we see a young lady crossing a crevasse (which is goodness-knows how deep) on a ladder, with a thin rope and the... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, Places, Transport
In the early 1900s, many UK cities, towns and even villages had electric tram services. This one in Dundee, Scotland, shows the driver, an inspector and a very young conductor (ticket seller), all looking very proud of their, probably new, electric tram. Long before... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
British seaside piers were originally built to enable steamers to call at resorts regardless of the tide and depth of water. However, they immediately became attractions themselves, be it for a stroll ‘on’ the sea or for the various pleasures they offered.... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This Victorian photograph shows a young girl looking longingly at sweets in a shop window. It is deliberately-posed, rather than taken at random by the photographer. We know it’s Winter as there is snow on the ground and there might be a clue to the location, as... 
by Andrew Gill | Aug 1, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Before the formation of the NHS in 1944 and free dental treatment, most people couldn’t afford to visit a private dentist, so resorted to any means available to them for treatment. This usually meant removing the tooth that was causing the pain. This photograph... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 31, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, NFT Photo-Art, Transport
Cycling in the late nineteenth century was very popular with men and women. Most women’s hobbies and pastimes prior to that, had been in the home, so this was a new freedom. It was liberating to be able to cycle where and when they chose although, in practice,... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 30, 2021 | Gallery, Transport
This is Cunard’s ocean liner RMS Aquitania. ‘RMS’ stands for Royal Mail Ship, which means she had a contract to carry mail between Great Britain and the United States. The ship was launched in 1914 and scrapped in 1950, having worked as a... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 30, 2021 | Gallery, Places, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
This delightful photograph from the 1890s captures a touching moment between father and son. The boy, perhaps twelve years old, is already a seasoned fisherman and will grow up to follow in his father’s footsteps. In the background, we can see Scarborough Castle... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 30, 2021 | A Golden Age, Gallery, NFT Photo-Art
What could be better than lazing in a punt, in glorious Summer sunshine? This posed photograph dates from the 1890s. The photographer has attempted to recreate a carefree time which, if it ever existed, was only for the wealthy few. Nevertheless, he captured a moment... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 30, 2021 | Gallery, Sport, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Football clubs were big business in the 1890s. Whilst many of the players would have been amateurs and paid very little, the sport had, by then, been organised into leagues with national competitions and the marketing and merchandising that we’re familiar with... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 29, 2021 | Celebrities, Gallery
Charles Dickens’ died in 1870 but his work continues to entertain and amuse us today. There are surprisingly few portraits of him, given how famous he was in his lifetime. In this one, from our archive, he has posed very deliberately for the camera, giving him... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 29, 2021 | A Golden Age, Gallery, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Britain in the 19th century was an industrial nation but also had a rural economy employing vast numbers of men, women and children in labour-intensive, physically-demanding work. At harvest time, whole families shared the task of cutting, gathering, transporting and... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 29, 2021 | Gallery, I didn’t expect that!, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Coal was the fuel that powered industrial Britain and mines were dangerous places to work in a pre-health-and-safety world. When disaster struck, as it often did, one of the main hazards for rescue workers was the presence of toxic gases. Here we see miners wearing... 
by Andrew Gill | Jul 29, 2021 | Gallery, The Man on the Clapham Omnibus
Many middle-class families employed a nanny to care for their children. This young lady has taken her charge to a park in a rather fancy perambulator. This particular type of pram was known as a bassinet. They don’t seem to be having much fun but maybe that... 