Then and Now Take Two Again – Fountains Abbey

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. 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.

On my recent visit to Fountains Abbey I decided I would intentionally take photographs that replicated some photographs I had taken back in 1993.

This photograph was taken in 1993, I think it was with a Canon SLR film camera, later it was scanned in as a digital file.

This shot was taken with an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Some of the photographs I had taken were quite difficult to recreate, as I couldn’t always work out what they were of.

York City Walls #50places2026

On my recent short holiday to Yorkshire, my plans weren’t set in stone, I had planned to visit Fountains Abbey and the National Railway Museum, but anything else would be a bonus. On the day I left York I had planned to visit a couple of National Trust properties on the way back (charging the car at the same time as well). However I woke up earlier than I expected. So, after getting washed and dressed and a quick breakfast I headed back into York with the idea of walking the walls.

I walked over to Walmgate Bar and then headed anticlockwise around the city.

I soon lost the walls at the Red Tower.

The walls don’t encircle the entire city, sometimes that was planned as there was the natural barrier of a river, other times walls were lost to development.

Walked along the River Foss and then started walking along the walls again. Came down at Monk Bar, this was the second of the four major gates that York has. 

The next section of wall has some fantastic views of the Minster, as well as the many historic buildings that lie between the Minster and the city wall.

Arrived at Bootham Bar. Here the wall sections are lost, there are some sections in the York Museum Gardens, but these aren’t able to be walked along.

I then went across Lendal Bridge before finding the wall again.

Walked pass the railway station and around to Mickelgate, the fourth gate.

Walked along the walls. This is one of the longer sections of the wall.

Came off the walls after walking pass Baile Hill and crossed Skeldergate Bridge.

Stopped to photograph Cliffords Tower.

I rejoined the walls at Fishergate Postern Tower and then walked around the walls back to Walmgate.

Decided to have an espresso at the Gatehouse Coffee which is inside Walmgate Bar.

I was really pleased I had come back into York and walked the city walls. I then walked back to the car and headed home.

National Railway Museum #50places2026

Back in 1979 I did a school trip to York, as well as visiting Fountains Abbey, we also went to the National Railway Museum. Though I was at the University of York in the late 1980s, I never actually got around to visiting the museum again until 2013 when we went on a holiday to North Yorkshire. I also visited again ten years later in 2023.

The museum is undergoing something of a refurbishment, and the Station Hall, which had been closed for updating, was open again, which is one of the reasons for visiting.

Essentially the place is full of locomotives, steam, diesel, and electric. It covers the history of railways in the UK from their humble beginnings, through expansion, consolidation with the “big four”, nationalisation, and privatisation.

I really enjoyed visiting the museum and for those interested (not just in trains but) industrial heritage it is well worth a trip to York.

Then and Now Take Two Once More – Cheddar Yeo Sword

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. 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 of the Cheddar Yeo Sword in May 2026 using an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Cheddar Yeo Sword

I took this photograph of the Cheddar Yeo Sword a month before, in April 2026 using an iPhone 17 Pro Max.

Cheddar Yeo Sword

I took this photograph in August 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Back in January 2024, I was having a short walk in Cheddar after the storms and the Cheddar Yeo stream was a real torrent of water. I took a photograph of the Cheddar Yeo Sword being bombarded by the water. This was taken with an iPhone 13.

I checked my older photographs of Cheddar after taking that photograph and there was this very similar photograph I had taken in Cheddar in May 2021 from almost the same perspective. This was taken with an iPhone 8.