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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”.

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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”

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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.

Canal

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…

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Brean Down

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.

Brean Down

A natural pier with dramatic cliffs and Victorian fort.

Current saving £32.35

Parking £6.00

Total saving £6.00

Cumulative saving £172.15

Membership cost £133.80

Net cumulative saving £38.35

I have been to Brean Down many times over the years, the last visit was back in 2020. Previous visit to that was literally the day before lockdown.

After parking you can either take the path, or climb the steps, we climbed the steps. Continue reading “Brean Down”

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The Vyne

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.

The Vyne

A former Tudor powerhouse turned 17th century family home, set in gardens, woodlands, and wetlands.

Current saving  £19.35

One adult £13.00

Parking free

Total saving £13.00

Cumulative saving £166.15

Membership cost £133.80

Net cumulative saving £32.35

The entrance fees go up on the 1st March.

The house was an interesting mix of medieval cellars, Tudor palace, and a 17th century family home. Continue reading “The Vyne”

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Walking down the Welsh Back

On a recent lunchtime walk in Bristol I walked down the Welsh Back.

I started off at Redcliffe Bridge looking down the Welsh Back.

Welsh Back

The Welsh Back is a wharf and street alongside the floating harbour in the centre of the city. It tooks it name due the frequent visits by ships from Wales.

Welsh Back

The Welsh Back has been an important quay since the 13th century, when it was located on the tidal course of the River Avon.

Walking up the Welsh Back you find yourself at Bristol Bridge.

Bristol Bridge

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Wightwick Manor

Wightwick Manor

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.

We went to this house on the way home after visiting a museum in the West Midlands. We arrived around 2:30pm and the last entrance to the house was at 3:00pm. So we walked up the drive to the house. It was an impressive house.

Wightwick Manor

Victorian half-timbered Manor House which was home of the Mander family, with a world-class art collection and Morris and Co. interiors.

Current saving  £5.20

One adult £9.10

One Child £5.05

Parking free

Total saving £14.15

Cumulative saving £153.15

Membership cost £133.80

Net cumulative saving £19.35

As there was a partial house closure, the entrance fees were lower than normal.

The mock Tudor panelling gave the house an older look. Continue reading “Wightwick Manor”

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Then and Now – The Campus

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. I always think I should give them 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. 

The Campus is a local community centre, that as well as a primary school, a specialist school, a library, a cafe, it also is used by local  groups.

I took this photograph on September 22nd 2022.

It was taken with an iPhone 13.

I wasn’t too surprised to find that I had taken a similar photograph four years earlier on October 16th 2018.

This photo was taken with the iPhone 6s Plus.

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Bristol Harbourside in the 1990s Part Seven

Back in the 1990s when I was teaching at a college in Bristol, I use to undertake regular field trips to the Bristol Harbourside as part of a unit on urban regeneration. There was at the time to much happening down there after years of inaction that it was an ideal place to demonstrate the impact of investment and change of use. Bristol had been an important port for hundreds of years, this all came to a halt in the 1970s and regeneration plans were developed. Not much happened for twenty years, but in the last twenty years we have seen major regeneration of the area, massive building of offices, business, residential and entertainment, as well as visitor attractions such as at-Bristol (where incidentally I worked for a while when it opened).

During one of those field trips, I took my SLR camera with me, and digging around a box in the garage I found some more prints, which I have since scanned in. This is a new post on these images, you can find part one, part two, part three, part four,  part five and part six.

This is the car park next the Lloyds TSB building.

It has now been landscaped and is called Waterfront Square and is pedestrianised.

As I find and scan in more photos I will initially add them to this post.