My Granada Years

Stewart Darby of the Boydells Vocal Group recalls his years as a young stills photographer with Granada Television in the sixties.

My career as a photographer moved up a gear on the 15th March 1965 when I moved from the Stockport Express, and took up a position with Granada Television as a photographic Technician.

Most of my time was spent in the dark room, and involved developing and printing photographs of shows like Criss Cross Quiz and Coronation Street.

Sometimes on busy days a studio might need a spare photographer, and the dark room technicians were given the opportunity to help out on the studio floor. Their responsibilities included photographing celebrities on shows like ‘Scene at Six Thirty’, and various pop shows. That was when I got my first taste of working with up and coming artists like Sandie Shaw, Hermans Hermits, the Rolling Stones, and many, many more now famous entertainers.

I was the youngest in the department which proved to be a big advantage. I had a lot more in common with the artists I photographed, and was therefore given the majority of this kind of work.

I will always have fond, and ever lasting memories of an unforgettable era.

Images courtesy of Stewart Darby