Todmorden Photographic Society
Meetings in the Town Hall
Wednesdays 7.15 for 7.30 start
Centre Vale Park
St Mary’s Parish Church
Stoodley in Autumn
Town Hall
Walsden
Stoodly from Mankinholes
The Founding of Todmorden Photographic
Society
Following
the
felling
of
a
mill
chimney
at
Lob
Mill,
when
a
Gold
Medal
was
offered,
by
the
steeplejack,
to
the
photographer
producing
the
best
picture
of
the
chimney
whilst
it
was
falling,
a
meeting
was
held
at
Sunderland's
Old
Market
Café
on
Thursday
November
29th
1906.
The
meeting
was
well
attended
and
Mr
W.E.
Shackleton
presided.
The
decision
to
form
a
society
was
taken
and
a
committee
of
seven
was
appointed
with
Mr
J.
S.
Atherton
as secretary.
A
public
meeting
was
called
on
Monday
December
10th
when
Rules
and
Objectives
were
considered.
The
objects
of the society were reported by the local press as follows:-
a)
To
promote
a
friendly
and
helpful
intercourse
amongst
all classes of photographers in the Town and District, and
b)
To
extend
the
knowledge
and
practice
of
photographic
processes
by
means
of
lectures,
meetings,
exhibitions
and
such
other
methods
as
may
be
proved
to
led
to
the
culture of the art-science.
The
society
acquired
a
room
at
Roomfield
Buildings,
Halifax
Road
where
on
January
17th
1907
a
formal
opening
was
performed
by
the
mayor
Alderman
A.
Crossley
J.P.,
Alderman
Wm.
Ormerod
was
elected
the
first
President of the society.
The
next
home
was
a
'Studio'
at
Doghouse
until,
we
believe
during
the
1920's,
Wellington
Road
Co-op
Reading
Room
was
acquired
where,
for
£1
per
week
the
society
had
sole
tenancy.
It
had
a
good
sized
lecture
room,
a
small
kitchen
and
a
separate
room
which
was
easily
converted
into
two
darkrooms.
It
was
said
to
be
sheer
luxury,
when
compared
to
the
previous
venues,
and
was
'”greatly
admired
and
envied
by
neighbouring
societies”.
This
was
to be the headquarters of the society for over fifty years.
Footnote
–
The
winning
photographer
of
the
mill
chimney
was a Mr Frank Stenhouse of Carr Terrace, Walsden.
Douglas Simpson writes:
I have many memories of going on Society trips and
attending lectures at Wellington Road and social events
there. A lecture by a war photographer with pictures of
Mussolini hanging from a lamp post and of a concentration
camp (Belsen I think), sticks in my mind. Dad had a
darkroom in the attic when we lived at Hollins Villas,
Henshaw Road, Walsden, and I spent much time in there
with him. Our children Helen and Jonathan have one of his
cameras each, but they are late 35mm from when he had
gone on to transparencies. The ones that mattered to him
have long since gone; a twin lens Rolli and a big mahogany
and brass plate camera, converted to half plate film, which
he use for still life.
He
was
a
haulage
contractor
who
with
his
brothers
Arthur
and Fred operated their business from New Barn, Laneside.
