Back in the early 1930s, German-born photographer Bill Brandt moved to the UK and began to document British society. Part of this work took place in the norther English town of Halifax, and included a photograph of a cobbled snicket (a narrow alleyway) which has become quite famous. Brandt’s version, which can be seen in this article was photographed in 1937, when the mills and factories were still in full industrial operation (indeed, you can see a small cloud of smoke at the top of Brandt’s picture from a chimney obscured by the top of the mill building).

The buildings in the area still exist today, although their occupancy has moved from industry (one of the world’s largest carpet factories at the time) to hotels, offices, and leisure spaces.

Brandt’s snicket still exists too, and has undoubtedly been photographed by many other photographers since, so while I was there, I made my own version. The snicket has a lot more weeds these days!

Yashicamat 124G & Fujifilm Acros. Ilfotec DD-X 1+4 9mins @ 20°.

Taken on 16 August 2025