Goole old picture archive

Today has been sunny and fine and for the first time for a fortnight I have been able to sit outside with a cup of tea and appreciate the lovely weather.

The last two weeks at our Junction exhibition at Goole have been very rewarding - but absolutely exhausting. We have been occupying an ideal room at Junction right in the centre of Goole with easy access from the nearby car park,  very helpful staff, an onsite cafe and good disabled access - we have had several visitors in wheelchairs.

Around the walls were displayed framed pictures of Goole and area while in the centre we had our computers showing old pictures and films, artefacts in glass displays and the First World War research group had all their information  available.

But to be honest what people seemed fascinated by were the pictures of Goole people. We had football teams ranging from schoolboy Short cup winners to Lockwoods mens' and Burtons' ladies teams. We had Goole rugby teams, Goole bus trips from pubs, RAOB groups,  Brownies, dockers, midwives and dinner ladies.

And of course we had school pictures. People argued over names, met schoolmates they had not seen for years and brought in their own school pictures for us to copy and display.  And that was without the pictures of docks, railways, the streets and shops.

In fact on Monday I gave a talk on Goole shops. It was very well attended and several kind people brought in pictures of their own family shops for me to copy. Goole, like most towns, had many family run shops which gave personal service to generations of local people. I shall be giving the talk again at the Boothferry history group at the Courtyard in January incorporating these 'new' pictures.

It was sad to take everything down yesterday - we had to take the pictures out of their covers twice as people came in to look at them as we were packing up.

Pippa sold several of her framed prints and we must have printed out around 70 copies of the pictures on display. My printer used all the ink I had bought just before the event - thinking it might last several weeks!

I think we might do it again - but not until next year.

And in the meantime if you want a Goole - or area - picture as a print or framed or as a digital copy you can contact me through my website.

Goole Brownies outside the Market Hall

Above is one of the most popular pictures we had on display. It shows group of Brownies outside the Market Hall and includes Helen and Paula Tawn and Linda Palmer.

Below is the report on the exhibition which appeared in the Goole Times.