then and now Archives - James Clay Stuff

December 1, 2023December 4, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Where’s Santa?

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.

I have taken this view at Cabot Circus a fair few times, one big difference this year is that there is no Santa. This photo was taken in November 2023.

This photograph was taken last year on the 26th November 2022.

I remembered I had taken a photograph in the same location, back 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 and in that post I used an image I found searching Flickr from December 2012. It would seem I am not alone in taking photographs from that vantage point outside House of Fraser.

Cabots Circus by David X Mitchell via Flickr CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

I have written a few times about how I have taken photographs of this view of Cabot Circus.

Then and Now Take Three – Cabot Circus

Then and Now Take Two – Cabot Circus

Then and Now, but not alone – Cabot Circus

Then and Now – Cabot Circus

Then and Now Take Two – Cabot Circus Christmas Changes

Cabot Circus Christmas Changes

November 23, 2023

Then and Now Take Two Again – Bristol Airport

Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

I was flying to Glasgow in November 2023, so I took my usual photograph.

I was flying to Amsterdam in October 2023 so I took a photograph from the window next to the balcony at the departures lounge. The balcony itself was closed, it was rather foggy.

When travelling from Bristol Airport in August 2023 I took this photograph from the balcony at the departures lounge.

When I was at Bristol Airport on the 14th November 2022, I intentionally took a photograph from the same vantage point.

I had taken a similar picture in February 2017.

I took this view of Bristol Airport from the departures lounge on an early morning in August 2016.

November 21, 2023November 20, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – A really BIG crane

Staying in Glasgow last year for a conference, I was impressed with the Finnieston Crane, so took a photograph of the crane.

The Finnieston Crane is a disused giant cantilever crane in the centre of Glasgow, Scotland. It is no longer operational, but is retained as a symbol of the city’s engineering heritage. The crane was used for loading cargo, in particular steam locomotives, onto ships to be exported around the world.

So when I was back in Glasgow I intentionally took a photograph of the crane.

I took this photograph in November 2022 and then edited it using Snapseed.

I took this photograph a year later in November 2023 and also edited it using Snapseed.

October 23, 2023October 23, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Sand Bay Bunker

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.

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

I realised checking my photo collection that I had also taken the same photo (probably intentionally) 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.

October 10, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Bristol Airport

Over the years I have taken this view at Bristol Airport quite a few times, both unintentionally and now intentionally.

I was flying to Amsterdam in October 2023 so I took a photograph from the window next to the balcony at the departures lounge. The balcony itself was closed.

When travelling from Bristol Airport in August 2023 I took this photograph from the balcony at the departures lounge.

When I was at Bristol Airport on the 14th November 2022, I intentionally took a photograph from the same vantage point.

I had taken a similar picture in February 2017.

I took this view of Bristol Airport from the departures lounge on an early morning in August 2016.

September 23, 2023

Then and Now – Minehead Engine Shed

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 at Minehead Station on the West Somerset Railway on the 4th September 2004 using a Sony Cybershot digital camera.

It is one of my all time favourite photographs of a steam engine. I even printed it out once at A2 size.

Visiting the West Somerset Railway nearly twenty years later in September 2023 I decided I would try and take the same shot again. However looking through my photographs on Twitter (no GPS EXIF data on these older photographs) I found I had taken a very similar photograph on May 27th 2013 using a Canon EOS 400D.

Here is the photograph from September 2023 that I took with an iPhone 13.

Not too surprising that I have these similar photographs as this part of the station you will often see a steam engine.

September 20, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Heslington Village Main Street

York is a place I have visited and lived in over the last forty five years. I first went to York on a school trip in 1979 and we did lots of different things. We went to the Railway Museum, the Castle Museum, went up Clifford’s Tower. We visited Mother Shipton’s Cave and Fountain’s Abbey. I made a return visit to York in the summer of 1987 when we had some Yugoslavian Scouts over.

In October 1987 I studied Economics at York University for three years.

I made a return visit to York in July 1993, I stayed on campus and did various things including a return visit to Fountains Abbey.

It was quite a few years later before I visited again, and this time it was a fleeting visit to the university in March 2006 for a meeting. I had flown up to Leeds and hired a car to drive to York and then drove back, all in the one day.

I also was there for a mobile learning workshop in April 2009, and stayed at the hotel by the Railway Station. We did a family holiday to York in March 2013.

It was on the March 2006 trip that I drove into Heslington Village next to the university and took this photograph of Heslington Main Street with a Sony DSC P200 digital camera.

On a return visit to York in September 2023 I took the opportunity to retake the photograph, this time with an iPhone 13.

Apart from some greenery not much has changed. However in the 2006 photograph in the background are two bank branches next to the Post Office. In 2023 the Post Office is still there, but both bank branches have closed and are now empty.

I also took this view in March 2006 from pretty much the same vanatge point.

So I took it again in September 2023.

Again not much has changed, well apart from the greenery on the house.

September 14, 2023September 14, 2023

Then and Now – Clifford’s Tower

We did a family holiday to York in March 2013 and I took this photograph of Clifford’s Tower with an EOS 400D SLR Camera.

Clifford’s Tower was the keep of York Castle. I first went to York on a school trip in 1979 and we went up the tower. I didn’t have a camera back then. I made a return visit to York in the summer of 1987 and visited the Tower then as well.

In October 1987 I studied at York University for three years and saw Clifford’s Tower on a regular basis as I went in and out of town. I made a return visit to York in July 1993. It was quite a few years later before I visited again, and this time it was a fleeting visit to the university in March 2006. I also was there for a workshop in April 2009. We did a family holiday to York in March 2013 and I took this photograph of Clifford’s Tower with an Apple iPhone 4.

Ten years later in September 2023 I was back in York and it was pouring with rain and I quickly took a photograph of Clifford’s Tower with an iPhone 13.

It wasn’t too surprising that it was a similar view to the photo from 2013 with the iPhone 4 (and with the Canon EOS400D).

September 9, 2023September 9, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Harbourside

After going through some old photographs I found some of the Bristol Harbourside, so decided to go back to where I had taken these then photographs and take some new now photographs.

I took this photograph at the same time as I took the one of the industrial museum. It was taken either in 1995 or 1996. It was taken with my Canon SLR using film.

I wasn’t exactly sure which vantage point I had taken the original image.

Now we can see Peros Bridge which opened in 1999. The old Bristol and West building is now a hotel with new cladding.

The sheds are now bars and restaurants, back in 1995 we had the Watershed.

September 7, 2023September 7, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – The Industrial Museum

After going through some old photographs I found some of the Bristol Harbourside, so decided to go back to where I had taken these then photographs and take some new now photographs.

I took this photograph of the Industrial Museum on the Bristol Harbourside either in 1995 or 1996. It was taken with my Canon SLR using film.

I wasn’t exactly sure which vantage point I had taken the original image. The broken guardrail had been fixed.

Of course the Industrial Museum as was, was closed and replaced with the MShed

The railway tracks have also gone.

Find it interesting that the Balmoral is in both photographs in roughly the same place.