From the Burnley Express Archive: There are several clues to the age of this image - can you find them?

The postcard has a number of problems, one of which is that it is very dark, particularly on the left. In addition, what looks to be an interesting view of higher up Manchester Road, near the canal bridge – an area of which there are very few postcards – is not as clear as one would like it to be. It could be that the lens is not good enough but it is a pity that an enlargement appears to be impossible, at least for me.

Then there is the problem that the card has not been used. There are a few clues. First, the tram route to Manchester Road is open and that was achieved in 1904. Notice that the Bull Hotel is still standing, on the right. This building had been demolished by 1933 when the present Burton’s building was erected.

On the left, further along the road from the dark, and perhaps sinister, Old Red Lion is the Savoy cinema. If you look to the top of the building, you will be able to see the neon sign proclaiming that the cinema is open to the public. That became the case in 1922. So, the image was taken between 1922 and 1933.

As you can see, it was a sunny day and I think the photographer must have been at work in the morning, because of the position of the shadow. Had he taken the image in the later afternoon, he would have had, presuming that the sun was still in evidence, to contend with the shadow associated with the Bull.

It might have been best to have taken the picture at mid-day, or just after. The photographer would not have wanted the sun beaming down from the top of Manchester Road.

I wanted to include a Burnley picture in today’s Fragments because Mrs Denise North, from the Burnley and District Historical Society, has asked me to announce a few bits of news that might interest those of you who attend the lectures arranged by the Society.

You will know that the Society meets at what I used to call the Club at St John’s RC Church, on Ivy Street, off Colne Road. The venue is a good one, but Mrs North, together with the Hon. Secretary, Mr Stephen Child, have made an executive decision not to go ahead with the Society’s lectures in September and October.

This is, of course, because of the coronavirus situation. At the present time it is intended to go ahead with the November meeting and the AGM in December, but that situation is under review.

Lastly, a new book is being prepared by the Society. It is on Burnley’s street and place names and is by Martin Child, Roger Frost and James Howell, with an introduction by Mr Ken Spencer. We will be giving you more information about the date of publication when we have it.