Henry's Blog

Archive for April, 2008

I tried my best to recreate (twenty years on) this shot from 1988 of the garrison trees, post-1987′s hurricane / storms. However, the whole area where this was taken seems to have become quite overgrown, as well as there now being a fence in the way of getting a closer look. But I think I managed it – you can be the judge.

This lovely shot from 1988 shows the Bryher Stores in full summer bloom – including my dad and brother, twenty years younger than they are now. In recreating this shot I was compromised by a couple of things – firstly, there seems to be a shed in the way of where i was standing back then, so the angle was wrong. Second, my brother wasn’t with us on this holiday so my sister takes his place. And finally, the shop wasn’t actually open on the Sunday when we last visited Bryher!

Another shot from 1987 on the quay, this time showing John Hicks and the local policeman Pat Martin watching over some holidaymakers, presumably boarding the Swordfish. The more uptodate shot sadly doesn’t include John, as he’s now living in Bristol (and is much missed around the islands).

I found this nice shot in the pile of photos from my first visit to Scilly in 1987, and then received a very similar view from John Leach, from way back in 1967. So, I decided to try to recreate it this month while we were on St Marys. The backdrop of the buildings doesn’t seem to have changed much, between ’87 and now, although you can see a few "improvements" such as the extension of the beachcomber flats (if they’re still called that). The difference between ’67 and now is more obvious though…

Another almost 40-year gap between these two, the old one having been taken by my father back in 1969 on his first visit to the Islands. The recent shot was taken just this month by me, though for a sense of continuity you can just see my father in the 2008 shot too! : )

This is the first of the 2008 series, taken specifically for the site when I was lucky enough to be visiting Scilly this month. This shot show a nice then-and-now (1969 and 2008) contrast of the old Cannons that inhabit one of the many placements on the Garrison walls. It’s nice to see that historic artefacts like these don’t change much!

Whilst on St Marys a couple of weeks ago, we were walking round Penninis Head and came across a section of the footpath near Old Town church that had been largely eroded after the recent storms. As erosion is one of the biggest threats that Scillonians face on their islands, I hope it isn’t a sign of things to come.