Category: photography

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Then and Now Take Two Once More – Sand Bay Bunker

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 the beach at Sand Bay is an old second world war pillbox. It looks like it has sunk into the sand, I am not sure if it has just sunk, or of it had slipped down the beach over the years.

I have taken many photographs of the bunker. This was taken in April 2026 using an iPhone 17 Max Pro.

Here are the photographs from over the years taken of the same view. This was taken in September 2024 using an iPhone 13.

This is the bunker in October 2023, which I took with an iPhone 13.

This was taken in April 2021 with an iPhone 8.

Here is the (same) view in June 2020 taken with an iPhone 8.

This was the view in April 2017 taken with an iPhone 6S Plus.

There appears to be an extra telegraph pole in the 2020 photo, that was installed in the intervening  three years.

I do think it interesting that there are quite a few pillboxes and beach defences at Sand Bay. You wouldn’t have thought that this coastline was under threat of German invasion back in the 1940s. It’s quite a way from the continent and you would need to go around both Devon and Cornwall (going past Plymouth, a major Royal Navy port), as well as South Wales before hitting the beaches at Weston and Sandy Bay. However doing some research about the pillboxes, I came to realise that the British in 1940 did believe that invasion may come from the South West. The Taunton Stop Line was a defensive line in south west England. It was designed “to stop an enemy’s advance from the west and in particular a rapid advance supported by tanks which may have broken through the forward defences.

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Then and Now Take Two – Back to Bristol Airport

So, I have taken this photograph lots of times, literally every time I visit Bristol Airport.

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

This was taken in March 2026 using an iPhone 13.

Bristol Airport

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

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Then and Now Take Two – Portishead Marina

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 Portishead Marina  in March 2026 using an iPhone 13.

The housing complex is so different when the sun is shining upon it.

I took this photograph of Portishead Marina  in December 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Portishead Marina

Whilst writing about the coffee I had, I noted that I had taken this shot in April 2023 (also with an iPhone 13).

Blue skies and reflections.

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Then and Now Take Two One More Time – Killerton Chapel

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 visited Killerton back in June 2023 and made a return visit in May 2025, I also went in February 2026.

This photograph of the chapel was taken in February 2026 using an iPhone 13.

Killerton Chapel

When I made my return visit in May 2025 I took a photograph of the chapel, this was taken with a Canon EOS R100.

When I visited in 2023 it was covered in scaffolding. I took this photograph with an iPhone 13.

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Then and Now Take Two – Where else, but Bristol Airport

So, I have taken this photograph lots of times, literally every time I visit Bristol Airport.

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

This was taken in March 2026 using an iPhone 13.

Bristol Airport

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

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Then and Now Take Two – Dark Bristol Airport

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

This was also taken in February 2026 using an iPhone 13.

Bristol Airport

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

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Then and Now – Portishead Marina

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 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.

I took this photograph of Portishead in December 2025 using an iPhone 13.

Portishead Marina

Whilst writing about the coffee I had, I noted that I had taken this shot in April 2023 (also with an iPhone 13).

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RNLI Lifeboat at Portishead Marina

RNLI Lifeboat at Portishead Marina

Though I start my photo a day officially on Thursday, I thought I should start earlier to get into the habit of both taking a photograph and posting it online.

Every day during 2026 I am aiming to take a photograph and post it to Instagram and this blog. I have done a photo a day before in 2012, 2014, 2016, 2020, 2022 and 2024. I did try in 2018 but I had a few technical issues so stopped after a few weeks.

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Then and Now – Hanbury Hall

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 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.

I took this photograph of Hanbury Hall in December 2025 using an iPhone 13.

What I hadn’t realised was that a couple of weeks ago in November 2025, I took an almost identical shot.

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Then and Now Take Two – Wells Market Place once more

This is a regular series of blogs about photographs of the same place taken years apart. Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

I was in Wells for their Christmas Market in December 2025, so I decided I would take the same photograph of the market place again. I used an iPhone 13.

I took this photograph in Wells in August 2002.

It was taken with a Sony Cybershot. On a return visit to Wells in January 2025 I decided I would attempt to take this photograph again using my iPhone 13.

Where as before there were cars parked, on the day I went there was a market (and a lot more people).