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Birtley: Images of England
Around Birtley
128 pages, Paperback
First published December 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 3, 2013
I was handed this book from my Mum to give to my Grandma, but I decided to read it first. I think the reason why I read it now rather than later is because I had a feeling that I wouldn't see it in a while.
This book is basically a collection of over 200 old photographs and postcards which record Birtley's streets, buildings, churches, schools, shops, people and events over the last century, which have either been changed, lost or forgotten.
As a Northerner, this interested me because my Grandma and her family came from Birtley and I love nothing more than having an insight into what their day to day lives must have been like back then. And also, I visit Birtley a couple of times a year, as my Grandma's sister still lives there, so we visit for special occasions and the odd catch up day.
For me, there is nothing better than looking through old photographs and trying to figure out what the people in the images would be like if I met them on the street. I love it how you can try and picture someones actual daily life like a film from just one picture.
One photograph caught my attention and I don't know why. It was a photograph of a man standing in his soldier uniform, and with him was his nephew who was dressed in his boy scout uniform. The man had been sent home from war on sick leave, and this made me ask myself a couple of questions. Why was he sent home? Did he return to war? Did he survive?
This is what happens when I look a photographs! I start asking myself questions that I know will never be answered, and then I'll get myself all wound up because my mind will be whirring with the possibilities and the outcomes of what might have happened.
I would recommend this book to anyone who lives in Birtley; who knows that their descendants came from Birtley; who have an interest in social history or anyone who loves old photographs and, like me, tries to delve into the lives of those in the past.
This book is basically a collection of over 200 old photographs and postcards which record Birtley's streets, buildings, churches, schools, shops, people and events over the last century, which have either been changed, lost or forgotten.
As a Northerner, this interested me because my Grandma and her family came from Birtley and I love nothing more than having an insight into what their day to day lives must have been like back then. And also, I visit Birtley a couple of times a year, as my Grandma's sister still lives there, so we visit for special occasions and the odd catch up day.
For me, there is nothing better than looking through old photographs and trying to figure out what the people in the images would be like if I met them on the street. I love it how you can try and picture someones actual daily life like a film from just one picture.
One photograph caught my attention and I don't know why. It was a photograph of a man standing in his soldier uniform, and with him was his nephew who was dressed in his boy scout uniform. The man had been sent home from war on sick leave, and this made me ask myself a couple of questions. Why was he sent home? Did he return to war? Did he survive?
This is what happens when I look a photographs! I start asking myself questions that I know will never be answered, and then I'll get myself all wound up because my mind will be whirring with the possibilities and the outcomes of what might have happened.
I would recommend this book to anyone who lives in Birtley; who knows that their descendants came from Birtley; who have an interest in social history or anyone who loves old photographs and, like me, tries to delve into the lives of those in the past.
December 23, 2020
Lots of facts about my home town that arent all that easy to come by. Thoroughly enjoyed looking through the photos and trying to discern what has replaced each building.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews