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.
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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
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.
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.
#50places2025
I am pleased I have reached my fifty places in 2025, and I still have three months to go. The final three places I visited in the Netherlands tool my #50places2025 to a grand total of fifty.
- #50places2025
- Amsterdam #50places2025
- Utrecht #50places2025
- Delft #50places2025
- Canary Wharf #50places2025
- Ashton Court #50places2025
- Newark Park #50places2025
- Cheddar #50places2025
- Bristol Balloon Fiesta #50places2025
- Boulogne-sur-Mere #50places2025
- Bristol Harbour Festival #50places2025
- La Coupole Centre D’histoire #50places2025
- Cap Gris-Nez #50places2025
- Bruges #50places2025
- Guines #50places2025
- Nottingham #50places2025
- Plymouth #50places2025
- Brighton #50places2025
- Belfast #50places2025
- Brussels #50places2025
- Killerton #50places2025
- Knightshayes Court #50places2025
- London #50places2025
- Hanbury Hall #50places2025
- Southampton #50places2025
- Weston Woods #50places2025
- Thatchers Cider Tour #50places2025
- Clevedon Court #50places2025
- Anglesey Abbey #50places2025
- Cambridge #50places2025
- Basildon Park #50places2025
- Dunkerque #50places2025
- Parliament #50places2025
- Calais #50places2025
- Dunster Castle uncovered #50places2025
- Bath #50places2025
- Croome #50places2025
- Birmingham #50places2025
- Lacock #50places2025
- Bristol Harbourside #50places2025
- Tredegar House #50places2025
- Portishead Marina #50places2025
- Suomenlinna #50places2025
- Helsinki #50places2025
- Lytes Cary Manor #50places2025
- The Vyne #50places2025
- Tyntesfield #50places2025
- Barrington Court #50places2025
- Wells #50places2025
- Ashton Gate #50places2025
- Glastonbury Tor #50places2025
I will still blog about places I visit, but will start a new series of posts next year with a new hashtag, #50newplaces2026 and it will be the same rules. Each time I visit a place I will post a blog post and some photographs. I can’t repeat places, and in an extra twist I can’t use the fifty places I visited in 2025 in the list as well (though I anticipate visiting some of those places again).
Amsterdam #50places2025
The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2022 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. Having spent a few days in Delft at a conference, and meetings in Utrecht I took the train back to Schiphol Airport where I had booked a hotel. I was flying back the following day, and having decided to take the cheaper but later flight, I had some time on my final day in the Netherlands. I had considered visiting somewhere new in the country, but in the end considering time, I ventured off to Amsterdam for a quick explore before heading back to the airport to collect my bags and catch the flight back to Bristol.
Then and Now Take Two – Kaldi Cafe
The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2023 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. Back then I had some time to explore the city and had a delightful coffee at Kaldi. In September 2025 I made a return visit to the Netherlands for a conference in Delft. Having a few hours before my flight home from Schiphol I went into the heart of Amsterdam for a walk and an explore. When, I was there I took the time to find Kaldi again and have a second coffee. I also took the time to take a similar photograph to the one I took two years ago.
This photograph was taken in September 2025 with an iPhone 13.
This photograph was taken in October 2023, with the same phone.
Utrecht #50places2025
The last time I was in the Netherlands was in October 2022 when I visited Amsterdam for a conference. This time I was attending a conference in Delft and attending meetings in Utrecht as well.
Having spent a few days in Delft at a conference, I took the train back to Schiphol Airport where I had booked a hotel.
I had some meetings in Utrecht which is just over 40km away, and was just over thirty minutes away on the train.
I didn’t have a lot of time to explore but I did walk around for a while.