Then and Now – Bristol Temple Meads
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.
Bristol Temple Meads is the oldest and largest railway station in Bristol, England. It was designed by the famous engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel and opened in 1840. It’s a major transport hub for the city, connecting Bristol to other parts of the UK and beyond.
This photograph was taken in January 2018 with an iPhone 6s Plus.
I took a similar photograph in January 2020 with an iPhone 8.
I took an almost similar photograph in January 2024, but not quite, with an iPhone 13.
Bristol Temple Meads #366photos2024
Bristol Temple Meads #366photos2024
36. Time Travelling Odyssey 2187
Bristol Temple Meads #366photos2020
Diagon Alley at Bristol Temple Meads
I’ve always liked the look of the Bonapart’s Cafe at Bristol Temple Meads.
As I said at the time it reminded me of the magical Diagon Alley from the Harry Potter series of films.
My top ten tweets of 2018
Last year I posted my top ten tweets for 2017 and I did the same in 2016 which were interesting to see which tweets of mine were popular.
The top tweet back in 2016 was this one for #WednesdayWisdom
Time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana. #WednesdayWisdom
— James Clay (@jamesclay) May 18, 2016
Whilst top tweet for 2017 was this one from the 2017 ALT Conference and it was my sketchnote of Bonnie Stewart’s keynote on openness.
My sketch note of the @bonstewart keynote here at #altc pic.twitter.com/1ZvARS9R7t
— James Clay (@jamesclay) September 5, 2017
My tenth most popular blog was a response to another tweet of mine which was responding to the question:
Men of Twitter, is there a woman that you look up to in your own field or in another one? Who is she and why does she inspire you?
Also @dresdeb @nicwhitton @liz_isabella @RosieJHJones @EdTechYogi @TrabiMechanic @angefitzpatrick @senorcthulhu I learn so much from these people and they inspire you to think differently about stuff. Just one, no there are many.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) July 26, 2018
The ninth most popular tweet was a response to a Jeremy Vine about tweeting and cyclists. My point was that signs don’t work!
This should read
— James Clay (@jamesclay) July 2, 2018
If every sign saying CYCLISTS DISMOUNT was replaced by one saying EAT DOUGHNUTS we would solve the obesity crisis https://t.co/gcMzVpJueM
The tweet at number eight was responding to the question:
Men of Twitter, is there a woman that you look up to in your own field or in another one? Who is she and why does she inspire you?
There are many great women in edtech that I look up to. follow @MarenDeepwell @sheilmcn @DonnaLanclos @LornaMCampbell @sarahjenndavies @bonstewart @audreywatters @KerryPinny @ambrouk @VivienRolfe @chrissinerantzi @suethomas @suebecks @Dr_Black @actualham @WarwickLanguage @jsecker
— James Clay (@jamesclay) July 26, 2018
The seventh most popular tweet was my sketch note of Maren Deepwell’s keynote at the 2018 ALT Conference.
#altc my sketch note of the @MarenDeepwell keynote hare at the ALT Conference pic.twitter.com/Jahr4BWJuk
— James Clay (@jamesclay) September 13, 2018
The tweet at number six was about Bristolian emoji.
https://twitter.com/jamesclay/status/1019686814536421377Fifth tweet was a reply to Andy Ihnatko with a composed image of Andy with Beyonce on the International Space Station.
Okay… Will this help? pic.twitter.com/rFaP0WropO
— James Clay (@jamesclay) January 30, 2018
No real idea why the tweet at number 4 was so popular, it was just a complaint about some issues I was having with Twitter back in April.
Still having @Twitter issues. Unable to access many pages on the web app, and tweets not loading on the iOS App. Tweetdeck working as is https://t.co/jnkaZ1wG4O which is why I can post this. Bizarre.
— James Clay (@jamesclay) April 17, 2018
The third tweet which saw The Range competing with WHSmith on shop floor tidiness.
Ah The Range trying to outdo WHSmith. cc @WHS_Carpet pic.twitter.com/YaUjyEmIpn
— James Clay (@jamesclay) February 8, 2018
Second most popular tweet was about a carpet, a carper in a WHSmith in the Bristol area.
Some great looking @WHS_Carpet here from the [REDACTED] WHS store. All the carpet was like this. It really needed replacing. I felt dirty just walking on it. pic.twitter.com/wTZUY6kLIE
— James Clay (@jamesclay) August 21, 2018
My most popular tweet in 2017 was about the newly revamped WHSmith at Bristol Temple Meads complete with storage cage!
Ooh nicely spruced up new WHSmith at Bristol Temple Meads Railway Station. Compete with new flooring (no carpet), new signs, new shelving. Original storage cage in shop floor though. cc @WHS_Carpet pic.twitter.com/fJg0EgO6f8
— James Clay (@jamesclay) June 21, 2018
44. Game of Cones
Disguised as a huge ice cream, 44. Game of Cones can be found near to the main entrance to Bristol Temple Meads.
I do like the waffle cone feet.
Back in 2015 I attempted to see and photograph all 70 Shaun the Sheeps I managed to get 62. This time I am aiming to get all 67 sculptures. I have created this page to record all the sculptures we find. Download the app to find the sculptures.
Time travelling by train
At Bristol Temple Meads I did wonder if I had travelled back in time to 1976, as there was a British Rail blue and yellow engine on the platform. My train yesterday morning included a very different engine, this was a GWR High Speed Train painted in the original colours when the train entered service forty years ago in 2016.
This was painted up specially for an event in May to celebrate forty years of the HST. I thought it was nice that only was it painted up in the original colours, but is currently being used to pull trains. It’s a pity that they couldn’t paint a whole train in the original colours.