Author: jamesclay

Posted on

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…

Posted on

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.

Posted on

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

Posted on

#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.

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).

Posted on

Amsterdam #50places2025

Amsterdam

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.

Posted on

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.

Posted on

Utrecht #50places2025

Utrecht

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. 

Posted on

Delft #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.

So I flew from Bristol to Amsterdam and then it was a short train journey from Schiphol Airport down to Delft. After finding my hotel and checking in, I went for a walk around the heart  of Delft.

It’s a beautiful city with canals, lovely building, pretty churches and an amazing windmill.

I love how the main railway line through Delft was buried underground to improve the look of the city.  There are numerous cycle paths, as well as trams and buses, making it easy to get around the place.

I visited the Netherlands a few times in the early 1980s. I don’t recall the exact date of my first visit to the Netherlands, it may have been in the late 1970s. We went a few times, sailing from Aldeburgh down to Ramsgate, heading across the channel to Calais. The sailing up to Ostend and then up into the Netherlands. We would then sail back to Aldeburgh crossing the North Sea. 

In the 1990s, I was on two college trips to Amsterdam, one was a bit of a nightmare, but the other one was better.

The next time I was in the Netherlands was in 2006, but only as I was changing planes at Schiphol Airport on my way to Helsinki.

Posted on

Then and Now Take Two – 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.

This was taken in September 2025 using an iPhone 13.

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

Posted on

Why no helmets?

parked cycles in a cycle rack

It would appear that everyone in the Netherlands has a bicycle and cycles everywhere…

On a recent visit to the Netherlands I had first-hand experience of Dutch cycling. There are numerous cycle paths across the country and in Delft where I was staying there were loads.

One thing that really stood out for me was the complete lack of cyclists using helmets.  Alongside that was the huge number of cyclists as well, especially at peak hours, at some points it felt like the cycle path was part of the route of the Tour de France.

Now I am not saying they should wear helmets, mandate it, but the thought of crashing at 20kph would make me wear a helmet if I was cycling in the Netherlands.

So, why don’t they wear helmets?  Searching online, the key reason appears to be cultural.  This article from The Guardian explores the Dutch thinking.

When 42-year-old Myrthe Boss gets on her bike to go shopping in the Dutch town of Ede, she pops on a helmet. This act, considered essential in many countries, marks Boss out as something of a radical in the Netherlands, where helmet-wearing is rare.