Tag Archives: photographs

It’s Alive! Riding Turbinia, 1897

It’s a funny thing, working in a museum.  You get so used to the extraordinary things around you that they sometimes seem to fade into the background.  Then, suddenly, something happens to inspire you all over again.  I come to… Read more

Some Assembly Required

Every so often you come across a story so extraordinary that you can barely believe it really happened.  Such is the saga of the ss Baikal, which I stumbled upon whilst innocently cataloguing a box of old photographs… By 1895… Read more

Reinventing the Wheel

I was having a bit rummage and found this marvellous sepia photograph dated 1880:- At first sight, it appears to show a dastardly Victorian villain attempting to flee the scene of some dark deed aboard a horseless, minion-powered vehicle with feet… Read more

Lost Ralph Hedley pictures

Papers, notebooks, press cuttings, sketches and photos relating to the Tyneside artist Ralph Hedley were left to the Laing Art Gallery by the artist’s great-grandson Julian Brown. Some of the sketches are on show in the exhibition Ralph Hedley: Painting… Read more

“Turbinia” at speed – but who’s on the conning tower?

This iconic image of Turbinia conveys an impression of speed like no other. The rearing stem, the massive bow wave and the foaming ‘rooster’s tail’ wake all play their part, but perhaps the most unusual element for a maritime photograph… Read more