Then and Now Take Two – Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park

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 was back at Loughborough University for a conference. I have visited the university a few times before. I took this photograph of a view of the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park from the first floor of the Holywell Park Conference Centre in September 2007. It was taken with a Nokia N73.

When I looked at the image a few years ago, I couldn’t recall where I had taken it, I knew I had taken it at a MoLeNET planning meeting, but I really couldn’t remember where we had met. MoLeNET was the Mobile Learning Network, which was created by the Learning and Skills Network (LSN) in 2007 to facilitate and deliver a range of mobile learning projects for further education. As well as running projects, I was also a MoLeNET Mentor and helped to mentor other projects in the initiative. We had a fair number of planning meetings, which took place across the UK, sometimes in London, Leeds and this place. Having worked out that this September 2007 meeting was probably in Loughborough, I did a Google Street View search. It wasn’t Burleigh Court (where I had been as recently as October 2016) and I think that’s why I initially I didn’t think it was Loughborough.

So in March 2024 I was back at Holywell Park Conference Centre I realised I could take a similar photograph, so I did with an iPhone 13.

Then and Now Take Two – Grassmarket

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.

Though I have visited Edinburgh lots of times, it has always been for work. My first holiday to Edinburgh was in 2021. Then we had a lot more time to explore the city and I took this photograph of Grassmarket. It was taken on a lovely sunny day in August 2021 using an iPhone 8.

So when I was back in a damp Edinburgh in March 2024, and was walking pass the same area, I took the same photograph using an iPhone 13.

Broke the Camelbak

Over the weekend I went out and bought myself a new backpack. I use a backpack on a regular basis and my trusty Camelbak backpack has started to fall apart and needed to be replaced.

In December 2009 I was invited to speak at a conference in Auckland in New Zealand.

I flew out there and took two bags with me, a large suitcase and a carry on suitcase. Having arrived in Auckland and checked into my hotel, the following day I had some time to explore the city. I realised very quickly that a carry on suitcase wasn’t going to cut it. I went out and on one of the shopping streets in a basement was a shop selling kit for outdoor activities, hiking, and so on. I was looking around for a suitable bag, if I remember correctly there was a few to choose from. I saw the Camelbak and it was reduced. I have no recollection of how much I paid for it, but I thought at the time it was good value.

What I didn’t know or realise was that Camelbak was a brand of backpacks that could be used for hydration. So the bag came with water bottles and tubes. When I got back to my hotel room the first thing I did was remove all of that.

What I liked was the bag, though relatively small, had two pockets and could carry quite a bit of stuff.

My usual load was a laptop in a padded laptop bag, as the Camelbak had no protective padding for an unprotected laptop. I did once dent my laptop when not using the padded bag.

The bag was well used over the years. I did actually semi-retire it for a while in 2016 with a Berghaus rucksack. I remember trying to find a replacement Camelbak, but I couldn’t  find one. I did use both bags for a while, one for work, and one for non-work stuff.

However the zip broke on the Berghaus bag a few years later and as it was frustrating, despite a temporary fix, it finally wasn’t going to be practical anymore. 

The Camelbak I did notice was getting rather tired. Recently I noted that there was rips around the zips, and then in the sides as well.

I did look on the Camelbak website, but alas no joy. So I headed into town to buy a new backpack.

My new bag is a dedicated laptop rucksack, the Vic Laptop Bag from Mountain Warehouse.

The Vic Laptop Bag was made for work and travel. With a modern design and plenty of features, including a zipped laptop compartment with padding, an organiser pocket and a padded mesh back, so you can carry your belongings comfortably and securely. 

What really sold it to me was the padded 15″ compartment to keep your laptop/tablet safe in transit.

It also holds thirty litres. I may use this if I am staying away and travelling by train, rather than take a suitcase. It also says it is cabin friendly so might be useful when flying as well.

First test will be a trip to London and Edinburgh.