LAST MONTH we looked at the idea of taking current modern-day photographs from the same vantage point and proved how it was not quite as easy as it sounded – with many views totally impossible due to changes to the landscape both manmade and natural.
This month we are pleased to present a number of comparative photographs which, even if little has happened, it is a document recording that. I have to thank my brother Michael Fox, a prolific photographer, for the contemporary views.
Fifty years separates these two views of the remains of Heathfields Mill, Uppermill. The first upper view taken by my father c1959 records the mill as it was then and for us as children a big play area as we lived in the adjacent cottages. The modern view taken this year shows that changes are in hand and we wonder what the scene will look like in even a few years.
These two views of the houses on Spring Bank, Uppermill which overlook Dam Head Mill pond (now ‘Willowbank’ flats) shows that there are still some Saddleworth scenes that remain unchanged with the old view taken c1905 and the present one in 2011.
The people of Diggle were at one time served by their own Diggle Station as the location was an important yard for sorting rail traffic and the old photograph c1905 gives a hint of the traffic that passed through. The station closed in 1968 and the contemporary photograph taken from Harrop Green gives an idea of how much has gone – will Diggle ever get its station back.
Two views looking from King Street towards the Millgate, Delph. The old photograph from c1905 records the buildings serving their original purpose as premises of the Delph Co-operative Society, opened in 1899, whilst buildings on the left serve as shops and the building in the background was the Delph Mechanics Institute. The more modern view from 1992 records the fact that the shops have shut, the Millgate now serves as library and theatre and the mechanics Institute has closed and been demolished.
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