then and now Archives - James Clay Stuff

February 26, 2024

Then and Now – Morrisons

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 Morrisons back in October 2022 for my photo a day project.

It is one of my most popular photographs that I posted to Google Maps.

I found out that I had taken a similar photograph in June 2023.

February 7, 2024February 7, 2024

Then and Now – Grosvenor Hotel

The Grosvenor Hotel in Redcliffe Bristol, which has been an eyesore for ages was demolished this week. I was looking through my photographs of the hotel and realised, I had taken some similar photographs of the ruined hotel.

This photograph was taken in June 2021.

This was a similar shot taken in February 2022.

This photograph was taken in August 2023.

It was a pity it was left for so long, it was a really nice looking building.

January 7, 2024

Then and Now – Never Let Me Go

This is a slight different version of the posts I do, as these are then and now photographs of a location used in the film Never Let Me Go which was released in 2010.

The lives of three friends, from their early school days into young adulthood, when the reality of the world they live in comes knocking.

The film was set in an alternate 1980s UK.

Various scenes were filmed in Clevedon and Weston-super-Mare.

Once scene was set in the Regent Cafe on 13 Regent St, Weston-super-Mare BS23 1AP.

What I always find amusing was that though the film was set in the 1980s they didn’t need to dress the cafe to fit in. Even the interior cafe shots in the film were taken in the cafe, and that was how it was back when it was filmed in 2009.

The cafe closed after the covid pandemic, and has been replaced by Burger Barn.

I took photographs of the Burger Barn, the cafe when it was closed in 2023 and the original Regent Cafe in March 2013. All images cropped to match film scene.

Burger Barn photograph January 2024.

Regent Cafe closure February 2023.

Regent Cafe March 2013.

September 23, 2023

Then and Now – Minehead Engine Shed

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 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).

August 21, 2023August 20, 2023

Then and Now – Cheddar Gorge

I have visited Cheddar Gorge many times over the years and have taken a fair few photographs. So after my most recent visit, it wasn’t too surprising that I had unintentionally taken photographs of the same view over the years.

I took this photograph in August 2023 with an iPhone 13.

I had taken virtually the identical shot ten years ago back in August 2013 with a Canon EOS 400D.

Ten years ago there was a lot less undergrowth.

I had also taken virtually the identical shot back in October 2016 with an Apple iPhone 6s Plus.

Going through my photos I have taken similar photos of the view (not quite the same) on different visits.

This was in August 2017 again with the Apple iPhone 6s Plus.

This view was taken in August 2019 with an iPhone 8. This was taken around the corner, so hence a different perspective.

August 9, 2023

Then and Now – Broadmead

Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place.

After Cabot Circus was completed there was a bridge at one end looking down Broadmead.

I first took a photograph down Broadmead in November 2015. I then used Snapseed to enhance the image. The original image was taken with an iPhone 6s Plus.

I took another shot from the same location in November 2017. This image was also taken with an iPhone 6s Plus.

It was then four years later in November 2021 that I took a similar photograph. This time I took the photograph was taken with an iPhone 8. This was much better at capturing photographs in low light.

The next one was a month later in daytime, in December 2021. Also taken with an iPhone 8.

A year later in December 2022 I took the same photograph again, this time with an iPhone 13.

So when I was in Broadmead in July 2023, so using my iPhone 13 I took the same photograph (this time intentionally).

June 14, 2023June 24, 2023

Then and Now – Brentford Railway Station

Now this has come to my attention I have started to intentionally take photographs of the same place. However sometimes even though I have intentionally taken a photograph, I have found that I had also unintentionally taken a photograph of the same view before.

Back in August 2021 I was staying in Brentford and I caught the train from Brentford Station to Waterloo.

I uploaded this photograph to Google Maps and at the time of writing is my third most popular photograph I have submitted to Google Maps.

So when I was at Brentford Railway Station in June 2023, I took this photograph, with the intention that this would be the same view as the above photograph.

Also I was searching my images for the 2021 image I found this photograph I had taken at the same time with a train in the station.

So there is an intentional and an unintentional photograph of the station.

Back in September 2021 I was staying in Brentford and I caught the train from Brentford Station to Waterloo. I took a similar shot, not quite the same though.

May 12, 2023

Then and Now – Lynton and Lynmouth

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.

Over the years since I moved to the West I have visited Lynton and Lynmouth quite a few times, sometimes whilst on holiday in Devon and sometimes just for the day.

This photograph from a bridge over the East Lyn River in May 2023.

Three years earlier in September 2020 I had taken this photograph.

March 7, 2023

Then and Now Take Two – Birmingham

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.