Brief Account of Photographic History (from a 1966 article, NRO)  When Walter Alexander was a young man, a camera was considered a professional's tool or a rich man's luxury. Small wonder that he had little or no encouragement when he wanted to own a camera. His first camera, therefore, was homemade, a cardboard box three inches square with only a pin hole for the aperture. His next cost a shilling and his third 5s. 6d. The fourth was presented to him by the late Mr. C. H. Battle at the Corn Exchange, Northampton, as a prize, valued at 10s. and won in an arts and crafts competition organised by the Band of Hope. Mr. Alexander then progressed to a quarter plate camera with tripod and, after doing extra part-time work, purchased his sixth camera, the half plate camera and tripod he still has today. This has produced some 5,000 plates over a period of 45 years and he regards it as an inanimate friend. With this and later cameras he has produced many prize-winning photographs and has exhibited throughout the Midlands as well as having his work published. His subjects have been landscapes, vegetation and architecture that were usually taken while he was on cycling trips around the county, burdened with the camera and tripod. Some items stand out in his memory. For example, taking photographs of German prisoners at the end of WWI. By profession, Mr. Alexander was a horticulturist but an unfortunate unlucky bomb in World War II damaged his greenhouses at Blisworth. Due to other circumstances many of his historic half plates were lost and that included some of his earliest canal photographs.

The most recent coverage of his achievements appears in a newspaper article dated Feb 1966, which describes an exhibition of his photography held in the Sun, Moon and Stars "Gallery" when Walter Alexander was 80.  The Alexander family put on a show of some of his photographs in the Baptists Chapel lecture hall in 2011.  There was however not much space because of other displays and only a few photographs that have not been displayed before were hung.  Nevertheless the reminder was a pleasant one.