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Then and Now Take Two – Dunster Station Goods Shed

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. The first of the posts in this series was of a council building in Manchester. I always thought I should give then and now photographs a go. However what I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view or perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

I remembered taking this photograph of the Goods Shed at Dunster Station on the West Somerset Railway many years ago, so on a recent visit to Dunster Station I decided I would try and recreate the shot.

This photograph was taken in March 2005 using a Canon EOS 300D digital SLR camera.

Dunster Station Goods Shed

I took the more recent photograph in October 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Dunster Station Goods Shed

Back in 2005 it was quite foggy.

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Then and Now Take Two once more – Bristol Airport

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. The first of the posts in this series was of a council building in Manchester. I always thought I should give then and now photographs a go. However what I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view or perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally. I even took one last month….

This was taken in October 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Bristol Airport

Here are the photographs from over the years taken of the same view.

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Then and Now Take Two Again – Minehead Engine Shed

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. I quite like those Then and Now comparison photographs that you see in books or on the Twitter or Facebook.  The first of the posts in this series was of a council building in Manchester.

I always thought I should give then and now photographs a go. However what I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view or perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

I took this photograph at Minehead Station on the West Somerset Railway in October 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Here are the other photographs of the same place.

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Dunster Castle

Dunster Castle

I made a return visit to Dunster Castle, I had visited Dunster back in March, where I had done an uncovered tour. I have made quite a few visits to Dunster Castle over the years. As a member I don’t pay an entrance fee or the car parking charge

I arrived quite early in the day, so the car park wasn’t too busy and I walked up to the castle. I enjoyed walking around the rooms and afterwards headed to the cafe for a coffee. I then took a stroll through the gardens to the Water Mill.

Dunster Castle

An ancient castle and comfortable country home with dramatic vistas and subtropical gardens

Current saving £217.90
One adult £18.00
Parking £6.50
Total saving £24.50
Cumulative saving £321.10
Membership cost £91.20
Net cumulative saving £229.90

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Somerset in the sixties

Lovely BFI film about various places in Somerset including Weston-super-Mare.

Obviously. bit dated in places, but it does show off many of the attractions of the seaside resort which now no longer exist.

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First man on the moon

The foyer and reception of the ibis Styles Delft City Centre hotel is an eclectic  mix of sculptures, pictures, murals, and a Jurassic Park  pinball machine.

My favourite part though was the mural with human achievements, specifically the first man on the moon in 1969. Did they illustrate it with the lunar module? No they did not. What about the huge Saturn V rocket that got them there? No, that wasn’t used. What they did use was a picture of the rocket that Tintin used to get to the moon!

More photographs from the hotel.

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Then and Now Take Two – Black Sabbath Bridge

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. The first of the posts in this series was of a council building in Manchester. I always thought I should give then and now photographs a go. However what I have started to notice is that I have been doing Then and Now photographs unintentionally over the years and have been taking photographs of the same thing or place from the same view o ar perspective years apart. Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

Over the years I have taken this view from the bridge over the canal to the ICC quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

This photograph was taken in October 2025 with an iPhone 13.

Here are the photographs from over the years taken of the same view.

The Black Sabbath Bridge is a tribute attraction to celebrate the Birmingham metal band, Black Sabbath.

Yesterday I posted some photographs I took from the same bridge but looking the other way.

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Then and Now Take Two Again – Birmingham

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. I quite like those Then and Now comparison photographs that you see in books or on the Twitter or Facebook.  The first of the posts in this series was of a council building in Manchester.

Next door to the ICC in Birmingham is a canal and there is a bridge across there from Brindley Place, and it would appear quite often when crossing the bridge I would take a photograph down the canal looking towards the what was the NIA (National Indoor Arena) and is now known as the Utilita Arena Birmingham.

I have over the years taken a photograph from the bridge.  This photograph was taken in October 2025 with an iPhone 13.

Here are the photographs from over the years taken of the same view.

It’s quite surprising how little has changed over the fourteen years between the photographs.

It would also not surprise you that I have a similar set of photographs looking the other way…

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If you build it, he will come

Yes, I am talking about Field of Dreams.

Quite an old film as it was released in 1989 and yes I am old enough to have seen it at the cinema. Certainly an all time favourite of mine.As it is nearly forty years old now, I am guessing some people may not have heard of it.

So this is not only a film about baseball, but also a film with Kevin Costner.  Now it has to be said that not many people like Kevin Costner, but for me back in the late 1980s and early 1990s there were two films that I really enjoyed, one was Dances with Wolves the other was Field of Dreams.

Field of Dreams did not get a big release in the UK as it was about baseball and though popular in the US, probably wasn’t that popular in the UK. When it came out I was at University (in York) and one of the people in our shared house was an American, Jason. Now he was passionate about baseball and a fair few other things too. I have to thank him for not only introducing my to baseball, not as a sport, but as a catalyst for literature and cinema. He was also responsible for introducing me to Harry Chapin, but that’s another story.

I am pretty sure that I went to see Field of Dreams before reading W P Kinsella’s Shoeless Joe on which the film is based. The film, despite having ghosts and fantastical elements, isn’t your typical ghost story, it certainly couldn’t be described as scary. This is an emotional moving film, about family and the fulfilment of dreams.

Watching it again last night, I realised how much I love this movie, but also that I can quote much of the film as well. I do think Kevin Coster gives a good performance, but is ably supported by great performances from Amy Madigan, Ray Liotta, James Earl Jones and Burt Lancaster. This was Burt Lancaster’s last film. Ray Liotta (who you probably know from Goodfellas) is amazing and gives a performance that is just on the right side of unnerving.

Ray Liotta in Field of Dreams

Even if you don’t know anything about baseball, the history of baseball, or even if you know you don’t like baseball, this film is still a lovely story and an enjoyable experience.

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Then and Now’ish – Citroën

Well not quite a then and now.

The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2023 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. Back then I took a photograph of a lovely Citroën DS23 Pallas from the early 1970s.

Citroën DS23 Pallas

I made a return visit to the Netherlands for a conference in September 2025 and walking around the canals of Amsterdam and saw another Citroën. This was a Citroën Dyane, probably either from the late 1970s or early 1980s. 

Citroën Dyane