I was attending a conference in Cambridge, and having arrived, I took a walk around the heart of the city centre.
Portishead Marina
It was a nice sunny day, so we headed to Portishead to have a walk around the marina (and probably stop for a coffee).
It had been a while since we were last there, looking back across my old photographs, it was August 2020.
Though my first visit to the marina was only in July 2020. I had been to the Waitrose in the area a fair few times (before the branch in Weston opened), but had never noticed or even being to the marina area.
The original docks closed in 1992 and the area underwent regeneration. It is now very different to the power stations that dominated the area before then.
We walked up to the pier end of the marina.
On our recent trip, the sun was shining, but it wasn’t as warm as it might be with a chilly wind blowing in from the sea.
There are a really variety of boats and yachts in the marina.
We stopped for coffee and croissant at Mokoko Coffee and Bakery.
There are a few information signs around the marina which shows how it use to look in the 1970s and 1980s.
Then and Now Take Two – Cabot Circus
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.
Back at Cabot Circus this week (April 2023) I took this photograph.
I have taken photographs of this view before. This photograph was taken not long after Cabot Circus had opened. The shopping centre had opened on 25th September 2008, this photograph was taken on the 21st October 2008.
Going through my collection I also had taken this similar photo on the 4th July 2016.
I took this photograph on December 8th 2019. I was on my way to do a pick up from the Vue Cinema, so I took a photograph of the festive Cabot Circus. I also wrote about it back then as well.
This photograph was taken on the 26th November 2022.
It would appear others also like this view.
Cars on Marine Parade
So let’s be frank about this, I really don’t know that much about classic cars, however I have thought in the past it would be nice to own an old classic motor.
These photographs were taken at a car event in Weston-super-Mare today, I can guess what some of them are, but please add a comment if you are more confident than me in what they are (and correct me if I got it wrong as well).
1. Dodge ?
2. Pontiac?
3. Pontiac Firebird
4. Ford Consul
5. Vauxhall
6. Mini Clubman
7. Mini Pickup
8. Jaguar
9. ?
10. ?
11. ?
12. MG
13. ?
14. Morris Minor Police Car
15. Triumph Herald
16. Volkswagen Beetle
17. ?
18. Ford Torino “Starsky and Hutch”
19. Hot Rod ??
I didn’t go to Tyntesfield
For Christmas I got a National Trust membership. It’s being a few years since I was last a member, but now looking forward to visiting new places and going back to places we have been to before.
Back in 2016 I did start to keep a note of how much we saved with the membership, but looking back over the blog, I never kept up to date with that, but with this membership I am intending to blog about the visits we do this year and the savings we made.
I didn’t actually go to Tyntesfield, but my daughter used our membership to visit with a friend’s family.
Tyntesfield
An ornate Victorian Gothic Revival house with extensive garden and parkland, just a stone’s throw from Bristol
Current saving £67.35
Child Ticket £8.50
Parking n/a
Total saving £8.50
Cumulative saving £209.65
Membership cost £133.80
Cumulative saving £75.85
Then and Now Take Two – Liverpool Big Wheel
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 was in Liverpool recently, and I reflected I have been to Liverpool quite a few times, not as many as Manchester or London, but certainly a fair few times. What I did feel though was that I wasn’t as familiar with Liverpool as I was with parts of Manchester and London. I think part of that reason is I was last in Liverpool in August 2019 staying close to the University of Liverpool. I also went to the ALT Conference in Liverpool two years earlier in September 2017, again this was up by the university campus.
Back in February 2015 we were on holiday in the North-West and we spent a day visiting Liverpool, spending time around the Albert Dock and visiting the Museum of Liverpool. I took this photograph of the big wheel one evening. It was taken with an iPhone 6 Plus.
So when I was in Liverpool for a conference in the Royal Albert Dock area, I went back to the Museum of Liverpool to take this photograph with an iPhone 13, obviously I took this photo during the day and not in the evening.
Visiting Chirk Castle
For Christmas I got a National Trust membership. It’s being a few years since I was last a member, but now looking forward to visiting new places and going back to places we have been to before.
Back in 2016 I did start to keep a note of how much we saved with the membership, but looking back over the blog, I never kept up to date with that, but with this membership I am intending to blog about the visits we do this year and the savings we made.
Chirk Castle
A 13th-century Marcher castle, that from 1595 became the home of the Myddelton family for over 400 years.
Current saving £52.35
One adult £15.00
Parking free
Total saving £15.00
Cumulative saving £201.15
Membership cost £133.80
Net cumulative saving £67.35
There is a lovely view as you drive to the car park. Continue reading “Visiting Chirk Castle”
Then and Now Take Two – Museum of Liverpool
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.
This week I was in Liverpool, and I reflected I have been to Liverpool quite a few times, not as many as Manchester or London, but certainly a fair few times. What I did feel though was that I wasn’t as familiar with Liverpool as I was with parts of Manchester and London. I think part of that reason is I was last in Liverpool in August 2019 staying close to the University of Liverpool. I also went to the ALT Conference in Liverpool two years earlier in September 2017, again this was up by the university campus.
Back in February 2015 we were on holiday in the North-West and we spent a day visiting Liverpool, spending time around the Albert Dock and visiting the Museum of Liverpool. I took this photograph of the building on the damp wet day it was back then. It was taken with an iPhone 6 Plus.
So when I was in Liverpool for a conference in the Royal Albert Dock area, I went back to the Museum of Liverpool to take this photograph with an iPhone 13.
The scupltures are still there, but the bin has gone “missing”.
Hughenden
For Christmas I got a National Trust membership. It’s being a few years since I was last a member, but now looking forward to visiting new places and going back to places we have been to before.
Back in 2016 I did start to keep a note of how much we saved with the membership, but looking back over the blog, I never kept up to date with that, but with this membership I am intending to blog about the visits we do this year and the savings we made.
Hughenden
Red brick manor set in the Chiltern Hills. Former home to Benjamin Disraeli and a secret World War Two operation.
Current saving £38.35
One adult £14.00
Parking free
Total saving £14.00
Cumulative saving £186.15
Membership cost £133.80
Net cumulative saving £52.35
After parking at the top of the hill, you walk through a wood, past the stables (where the cafe and shop are) and find yourself at the house. Continue reading “Hughenden”
Then and Now Take Two – 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 was the view in May 2011 in the early evening.
In the preceding years the NIA had undergone refurbishment and renovation and had had a glass facade added. It was renamed the “Barclaycard Arena” in November 2014 after Barclaycard won the naming rights. This was the view in March 2015 over lunchtime.
Here we are four years later in October 2019 in the morning.
This photograph was taken in March 2020, also in the morning.
I wasn’t in Birmingham in 2021 due to lockdown, but was back in March 2022.
This is the scene in the morning.
This is the scene in the evening.
My most recent visit was in March 2023.
It’s quite surprising how little has changed over the twelve years between the photographs.
It would also not surprise you that I have a similar set of photographs looking the other way…