Just to give you a taste of what Consett was like in the early days here’s an early written account from 1844 by Mr.John Calvert: “In passing the Highgate public house I witnessed a sight which was not uncommon in those days. In the lower rooms of the public house, there was not a table or chair but had its legs broken off, and these a number of mad, drunken fellows were wielding to some purpose on each other’s heads. The landlord, Mr.Moore, was in his shirt sleeves, and his arms, from his hands to his elbows, were just as though they had been dipped in blood. I have stood in my own doorway and counted a dozen fights all going on at the same time. The road in front of my house was, in winter, knee-deep in mud and in many places a horse was in danger of disappearing altogether.

“Parts of the houses in Puddlers’ Row were built; as were also one or two of the rows in the rear of what is now called Front Street. Two and three families were then living in each house. A railway, which had been laid along the side of the road, brought the stone from the common quarry to the houses. There was also a railway to the quarry at Carr House. A small engine was used for pumping the water out of it, and one night this was stolen, and it could never afterwards be found. Consett at that time was one of the wildest places to be found in the North of England.”

Consett grew to be the world centre for quality steel production until its sad (arguably politically orchestrated) demise in 1980.

Back in 1973 Brian, together with Sandy Brown, Jeff Walton and Bill Cheeseman, produced a rare single which until now had been lost. Brian has remastered the original and added visuals to create the video you see here.

Now over to Brian:

“Mention Consett to the world and the world relates to Consett Ironworks or Consett Iron Company.  A World leader in the art of iron and steel making.

“Along with its steel, the town of Consett and surrounding area has always been proud of the fact that when it comes to musical ability it can boast of many accolades on the entertainment front.

“The Consett Citizens Choir have recently just notched up a wonderful sixty years of entertaining, the first Salvation Army Brass Band was born in Consett and many of the members of the musical varieties offered, also worked at ‘The Works’.

“In the Sixties, as in many other towns the length and breadth of the country, ‘pop’ bands emerged and were wrapped up in the new musical revolution, with many band members moving on to the heights of mainstream show business.

“From this background of Consett’s musical history came four steelworkers who worked in various departments with the then called ‘Consett Iron Company’.

“Collectively they had an interest in ‘pop’, ‘folk’, and ‘country’ music. Jeff Walton (bass player/vocalist), Bill Cheeseman (Rhythm Guitar/vocalist), Sandy Brown (Vocalist/tambourine basher) and Brian Clough (lead guitar/vocalist) formed a band which they called ‘Country Life’.

“In total the band pioneered Consett’s musical attributes across the whole of the country between 1970 and 1983.

“In 1973 we recorded a song written by Sandy and myself of which only eight or ten copies were made as it was a self financing exercise and quite expensive at the time.

“The song initially called ‘The Consett Song’ (Sandy’s Poem) was originally in a poem type form written by Sandy and inspired by the place in which we all lived and worked.

“One of the ‘spare’ records (a 45rpm/ 7″inch single) became a regular feature on the jukebox in the Freemasons Arms public house in Consett Front Street.

“Almost forty years on, a copy has been found of the original record and with the help of modern technology, it has been remastered back to its original quality.

I’m proud to present it here, complimented by archive pictures of the halycon days of a great town with a remarkable industrial contribution to the world.”

Brian Clough.

Don’t forget to help spread The Time Machine word to your friends, family, colleagues and online social network, It’s so quick and easy to do. If you have a Twitter account then simply click on the green Tweet button at the start of the page. You can also click on the “Share This” link below to flag up the page via email, Twitter (again), Facebook, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Digg and any of your favourite social media networks. Go on do it now, it only takes a few seconds. Thanks:)

Our family lived right next to the main east coast line when I was young and the sights and sounds of these magnificent machines peels back the years.

Many thanks to whitleybayname for sharing this footage. You can play the video below and I’ve also added it as a favourite to Time Machine TV.

Don’t forget to help spread The Time Machine word to your friends, family, colleagues and online social network, It’s so quick and easy to do. If you have a Twitter account then simply click on the green Tweet button at the start of the page. You can also click on the “Share This” link below to flag up the page via email, Twitter (again), Facebook, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Digg and any of your favourite social media networks. Go on do it now, it only takes a few seconds. Thanks:)

Jimmy Forsyth 1913-2009. Click photo to enlarge.

Jimmy Forsyth bought his first camera from a junk shop in Newcastle upon Tyne (North East of England) back in 1954, at the age of 41.

From that moment he started recording the-day-to-day life around him and never stopped… until Tuesday 14 July, 2009, when sadly, he died at the age of 95.

The amazing thing is that Jimmy, who lost an eye in an industrial accident when he was 30, created one of the most important visual documentaries of working-class life in the early 50s on record.

The full extent of his work was only fully realised in the mid-1980s when a fascinating collection of photographs was reproduced in his book ‘Scotswood Road’. I’m not sure if it’s still in print. If so the ISBN is 1 85224 014 8… I’ve just had a quick check and at this moment there are three used copies for sale on Amazon.

In 1986 Derek Smith wrote in the book’s introduction: “Descriptions of ‘the old man who used to go round with a camera’ rarely varied. At South Shields library Doris Johnson remembered him as a frail old man with one eye: Who used to come in with his albums selling prints. His wardrobe looked as if it came from the WVS, and she wondered whether he ever got anything to eat.”

Derek goes on to say: “His sole source of income was the National Assistance. He lived on the margins of poverty. Like the great Paris photographer, Eugene Atget, whom he resembles uncannily both in appearance and spirit, he tramped the streets selling pictures to the neighbours and building workers he had photographed ‘for a few bob’. He always seemed able to sell the odd Boots-processed print to buy the next roll of film.

“His photography in the streets of Newcastle has reached fanatical proportions. He has documented many of the construction projects of the past few years, day and night, and is treated as a celebrity by the many welders, engineers and labourers who have become his friends.

“But his privileged access to Newcastle’s bridges and building sites has sometimes caused problems. More than once the police have been called out by people who spotted a suicide perched on a girder of the new Redheugh Bridge, only to find it was Jimmy taking pictures from one of his usual hazardous vantage-points.

“When Prince Charles opened the new bridge, and was being photographed by the media, the press and official photographers, Jimmy stepped out from the crowd and tapped him on the shoulder without anyone stopping him. The Prince turned around and Jimmy got his picture.”

Click on the thumbnail pictures below to see some of Jimmy’s work from ‘Scotswood Road’.  (In order left to right: Gibson’s Fruit and Veg, Scotswood Road 1958, Pine Street September 21, 1960, Sandy Skinner, Water Street 1959, corner shop April 1957, Teddy Boys Gloucester Street 1957. All photos copyright Tyne & Wear Archives & Museums.

Here’s a short but touching tribute video to Jimmy from BBC North.

Don’t forget to help spread The Time Machine word to your friends, family, colleagues and online social network, It’s so quick and easy to do. If you have a Twitter account then simply click on the green Tweet button at the start of the page. You can also click on the “Share This” link below to flag up the page via email, Twitter (again), Facebook, Myspace, StumbleUpon, Digg and any of your favourite social media networks. Go on do it now, it only takes a few seconds. Thanks:)

In the series Clara shares recipes and describes, with great charm and humor, how she and her family survived and even gained weight during the Great Depression.

Clara’s mini empire includes a website, a widely followed YouTube show, a DVD, and a Facebook page with more than 2,000 friends. St. Martin’s Press also plans to publish her cookbook this October, 80 years after the start of the Great Depression.

Clara has a helping hand with her video project in the shape of 30-year-old grandson Chris Cannucciari.

Chris realised his grandmother’s stories were especially relevant to people struggling in today’s squeezed economy and two years ago, started recording videos of his grandmother preparing the basic Depression-era fare she would eat as a girl growing up in Chicago.

To cook Depression-style, start with a sack of potatoes, a sack of flour, some onions, eggs, tomato sauce, hot dogs, and occasionally, an affordable cut of meat.

I just couldn’t let today end before posting this article and videos of Clara, she is a real gem and you’re going to love her recession busting cooking tips.

Watch a recent CBS report on Clara below and you can view seven episodes from her video series in the Time Machine TV favorites section right here…

We’ve taken the liberty of adding a few of Jack’s photos and a soundtrack to this video reading of the poem “The Price of Coal”.

I hope you enjoy it… Let me know what you think.

Here’s the video.

dfox

PS: Here are two direct links to written versions of the poem in pdf format. Click here to download the fancy version and click here for the plain version.

This could be a great offline solution to publicising your own gallery and also give the forum (and other members’ galleries) a boost at the same time. We’re all in this together, so why not promote your own work and fellow members’ work all at once? The more we promote the forum as individuals, the more everyone benefits.

Here’s the thing. It’s a postcard you can personalise and print off as you like to give to anyone you feel may be interested in your old photo forum gallery… and that is just about everyone you meet… the interest in old photos is gigantic!

This is how it works.

* Download the jpeg file of the postcard to your own computer
* Put your User Name on the dotted line in Step 3 (either by hand or by using software such as PhotoShop)
* Print it off yourself using 4 X 6 inch photo paper in your home printer or have it professionally printed (it’s designed to work well either way)
* Hand it out to everyone and anyone you feel may be interested in Old Photo Forum galleries (particularly yours)

It looks very professional. It’s a great promotional tool and it will get notice

* Hand it out to family, friends and colleagues
* Post in on company notice boards
* Pin it to college or supermarket community boards
* Stick it on library, university and local community centre notices

Basically, hand the thing out to whoever and wherever you can. It will create interest and gain momentum for your photo gallery and spill over
to the Old Photo Forum in time, helping us all to benefit.

Not sure how to do this? Don’t worry click here to see a short (5 minute) video showing exactly how to utilise this great tool to the max.

You can also watch a 2 min video presentation about this post below.

Go here to download the artwork itself.

I’ve just uploaded the first in a series of videos reviewing five of the top digital photo archiving and organizing (US spelling) products.

This first video looks at the one and only free offering, Picasa by our old friends Google.

It shows exactly how to download the software, how to scan your images and upload them to your very own private web page – also free and hosted by Picasa.

It explains how to share your web page with others and briefly explores additional facilities.

The whole thing is a little over 20 minutes long so please give it a minute or two to stream onto your PC before starting up. It will in fact start automatically when there’s enough information for it to do so.

I’d be grateful for any comments you may have regarding any aspect of the video so I can improve, tweak and fine tune following presentations

I’ve also posted this message on the discussion board here.

Here’s the link to the video page right here.