All that's gold doesn't glitter.

If I could time travel I'd go back and have a look at what life was like in the supposed glorious Victorian age.  Never one to believe the hype about how great the past was,  (I grew up in the seventies and eighties and despite what others my age say, I know it was mostly a bit rubbish) I do think the Victorian Era might have been a bit special.

Researching my family history, I know it was a good time for lots of people.  The railways and shipping brought prosperity to many who hadn't had it before.  There were new, exciting foods and ideas and life seemed hopeful.

One of the main reasons that I'd like to go back, though, it to take photographs.  

I want to photograph everything metal thing that is now painted black.  I want to see what is underneath all that black.

Some people think that when Prince Albert died and Queen Victoria went into mourning, good loyal subjects painted their green, brown, and purple railings black.  Others think that they were painted black when Victoria died.  Then there is the theory that they were all painted black in the 1950s when quick drying black paint was invented.  Whatever the reason, I would like to see all the colourful railings.

Our town clock is painted in this thick black paint.  I have often wondered if it was always that colour.  At the weekend I was told that there is a suspicion that before Victoria died it was gilt covered: a shiny golden clock, chiming on the quarter hour and glinting in the sun.

I would have liked to have seen that.