Snapshots in Time

April 2006

Snapshots in Time, an exhibition of people and places in Craven

Photographs of Skipton in the 1950s feature in the latest exhibition at Craven Museum & Gallery in Skipton. Snapshots in Time brings together the work of 4 local photographers whose work covers over 100 years of life in the Craven area. The exhibition opened on Saturday 8th April, and runs until Monday 17th July. Admission is free.

George Bernard Mason was employed by the National Monuments Record as one of the archive’s first official wartime photographers in 1941. He took up the challenge of working to record threatened buildings and came to Skipton in 1957. The photos are a real step back in time and provide a fascinating insight into what the centre of Skipton was like at that time – a great opportunity for people to compare then and now. Local people may well remember many of the shops in the town centre such as Manby’s, Amblers and Maypoles. Visitors to Skipton will have fun spotting the changes! The GB Mason images have been reproduced by permission of English Heritage, NMR.

Visitors wanting a different perspective on the town will probably enjoy looking at Ken Ellwood’s aerial shots of Skipton and the Dales. Ken, who lives in Skipton, has combined two hobbies – flying and photography - to produce a remarkable set of aerial images across the district. By using the best professional equipment available, he has captured some stunning shots of the area. Skipton, Burnsall, Kettlewell, Arncliffe and Bolton Abbey can all be seen alongside shots of other areas.

The earliest images on display come from the Horner Collection, which chronicles life around the Settle area in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The majority of the photographs in this part of the exhibition have been taken from a large collection of glass plate negatives taken by Anthony Horner and his son, Edward. The Horners ran a photography business in Settle and their work is a real glimpse into the past. Lifeboat Day in Settle, primary school children at Long Preston and the building of Giggleswick School Chapel all feature in the collection. The Horner images have been reproduced by permission of J & K Jelley from Langcliffe.

The most recent photographs are those of Stephen Garnett. Working as a press photographer for the Craven Herald, he has captured a wide range of activities that have taken place in Craven over the last few years. Images range from action shots of sporting activities to fun and games captured at local shows through to more serious subject matter such as the reality of foot and mouth for local farmers in 2001.

The exhibition is proving very popular with visitors who are being encouraged to leave their comments and enter a prize draw to win a print of one of the Horner, Mason or Garnett images on display.

Opening times:

Monday, Wednesday to Saturday 10.00 – 5.00
Sunday 1.00 – 4.00.
The museum & gallery is closed on Tuesdays.

Further information:

tel. 01756 706407
www.cravendc.gov.uk

Also see:

ViewFinder (from The National Monuments Record) - an online image resource for England's history. Picture Gallery with illustrations of the industrial age, social history, architecture and archaeology, dating from the 1840s to the present day: www.english-heritage.org.uk/viewfinder

Click thumbnails for a larger image