Post by PeterW on Aug 29, 2007 17:19:08 GMT -5
Hi,
Some time ago I was given two pictures of old Ashford, discovered in a box in the attic by a friend whose family lived close to us when the houses were first built in 1884. I put them by and have only just got around to doing anything about them.
I would judge they were taken at least 100 years ago, possibly 120. Unfortunately they were stuck to the back of glass and framed to hang on the wall, and they are VERY faded. The outside of the glass was so filthy and covered in grime from years of coal fires that it took me ages to clean it with window cleaner before I could see the pictures at all. The size is 6 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches, what usd to be called half-plate. That isn't a weak sun in the sky, its an impression of the cardboard hanger stuck to the back of the mount that has somehow found its way through to the front of the picture.
These are my first scans of them, through two layers of glass, and there are a few Newton's rings. All I've done so far is to adjust the levels and use some local dodging to bring out the details a little. Later I think I'll scan them again with something to hold the glass off the scanner glass, convert them to black and white, work on them in PS and then tone them sepia again. I think that will get a better result than trying to work on restoring them in their present faded sepia. Anyway, here they are.
This is the lower (east) part of Ashford High Street. As scanned, the buildings and trees in the distance were hardly visible. The drinking fountain has long since gone, but on the left you can just make out a shop Headley Bros, next door to number 46. This was still there when we first moved here nearly 36 years ago, but without looking it up in an old local directory I can't remember what this shop sold. The Headley family was one of the families that founded trade in 'modern' Ashford, with fingers in quite a few pies, and still owns a printing works. When I've restored the picture so more of the detail is visible I'll take a picture from the same viewpoint for comparison.
This, as it says, is Ashford parish church, taken with quite a wide angle lens from the look of it. That would have been needed as the old buildings that surround the churchyard are only 10 or 15 feet from the railings. Again, when I've restored it, I'll take a modern picture for comparison, but it hasn't altered much, if at all.
PeterW
Some time ago I was given two pictures of old Ashford, discovered in a box in the attic by a friend whose family lived close to us when the houses were first built in 1884. I put them by and have only just got around to doing anything about them.
I would judge they were taken at least 100 years ago, possibly 120. Unfortunately they were stuck to the back of glass and framed to hang on the wall, and they are VERY faded. The outside of the glass was so filthy and covered in grime from years of coal fires that it took me ages to clean it with window cleaner before I could see the pictures at all. The size is 6 1/4 by 4 1/4 inches, what usd to be called half-plate. That isn't a weak sun in the sky, its an impression of the cardboard hanger stuck to the back of the mount that has somehow found its way through to the front of the picture.
These are my first scans of them, through two layers of glass, and there are a few Newton's rings. All I've done so far is to adjust the levels and use some local dodging to bring out the details a little. Later I think I'll scan them again with something to hold the glass off the scanner glass, convert them to black and white, work on them in PS and then tone them sepia again. I think that will get a better result than trying to work on restoring them in their present faded sepia. Anyway, here they are.
This is the lower (east) part of Ashford High Street. As scanned, the buildings and trees in the distance were hardly visible. The drinking fountain has long since gone, but on the left you can just make out a shop Headley Bros, next door to number 46. This was still there when we first moved here nearly 36 years ago, but without looking it up in an old local directory I can't remember what this shop sold. The Headley family was one of the families that founded trade in 'modern' Ashford, with fingers in quite a few pies, and still owns a printing works. When I've restored the picture so more of the detail is visible I'll take a picture from the same viewpoint for comparison.
This, as it says, is Ashford parish church, taken with quite a wide angle lens from the look of it. That would have been needed as the old buildings that surround the churchyard are only 10 or 15 feet from the railings. Again, when I've restored it, I'll take a modern picture for comparison, but it hasn't altered much, if at all.
PeterW
