17 replies to this topic

[Team Bubble Tea]

Tasmania: Then and Now

Tasmania has a rich history. And it's interesting to see how much change can happen in a few or many years to a view or a landscape or a building. The idea behind a "Then and Now" series is to recapture a scene taken by an olden days photographer from as close to the original viewpoint as possible. An excellent source of Tasmanian photos from the past is the Archives Office of Tasmania (click "Tasmanian photographs" in the menu to the right) (http://portal.archiv...aspx?search=7). These photos are available for your non-commercial use and can be reproduced here legally.

There are other sources of images from the past and this first post is of a piece of "viewware" showing the look out, at The Sideling, Scotsdale we found. Having found the olden days scene we set about seeing if it still existed.

If would be great if you had any "Then and Now" sets of photos if you could post them here!

Then: The glass display plate.



Then: Close-up



Now: Original view point (?)



Now: Medium shot



Now: Close-up

Cheers, Jon TBT

[Shane V]

Another great idea Jon, thanks. Just having a look at the images of Queenstown...I reckon I could get a couple of then and nows going, but need to write an essay at the moment, so it will have to wait till I have done that.

things do change a lot over the years don't they. Cool shots

[Mystic]

Definitely a great idea, and had the same thought as Shane did Will be taking a closer look at the archives before I head out anywhere and see what I can come up with.

[Team Bubble Tea]

The Gasworks chimney is one of four or five industrial chimneys left in Hobart. It has decorative brickwork in places and a few small lightning rods on top. The "Then" photograph is from comparatively recent times, 1967. The railways lines terminate out of frame to the right at the Hobart Station.

In the "Now" photos you can see the chimney, the rear of the old Royal Engineers Building (middle, right), the old Woolstore roofline, now a trendy spot to stay and have conferences at (far middle right). The view is directly along Macquaire St and directly behind this vantage point is the Cenotaph. We never understood the idea behind the circular shape of the concert hall (centre middle left) but it's obvious now.

Then: View of gasworks and Macquarie St (1967) (Tasmanian Archives)



Now: 2011



Now: 2011 (Greyscale based on the blue channel)

Cheers Jon TBT

[Shane V]

There's a fair bit of change shown there Jon, thanks for sharing your images and info about the spot.

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi Shane. Yes, quite a few new buildings in the last ten years or so. It still remains a fairly industrial area though. There's another chimney on Sandy Bay Rd that has a great history as a brewery and hat factory so we might have a look at getting some images of that.

[Shane V]

That would be cool to see and get to learn a bit more about it's history. Thanks Jon

[Mystic]

Great shots and info Jon. Very interesting about the concert hall

[Team Bubble Tea]

The Australia Cafe. Wild and inovative for its time, it served both midday and evening meals. And cigs.

This Then and Now entry shows change from 1960 to 2011. And it's also got a Ghost Sign. And if we count it as a "52 weeks" entry that's a total of three (3) classes in the one set of pics!

Hobart: 1960





Hobart: Now

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Shane V]

. well caught Jon...hasn't changed too much has it?

[Mystic]

# birds with one stone, ya did well grasshopper . Agree with Shane, not much change at all.

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi Shane and Mystic,

Yes, not a lot of change there and it's interesting to see the modern building on the right-hand side echoing the flat glass style seen in 1960.

We've been looking at several pics (60/70s) from the archives and they all have VW Beetles in them. TBT member Mrs K reckons it was a mad Beetle owner snapping away

[Shane V]

LOL...I reckon Mrs K is on the right track there Jon or maybe there were just a lot of VWs around at the time.

[Team Bubble Tea]

Dead Island (or Burial Ground), Spring Bay, Triabunna.

Triabunna was an interesting but basically forsaken place back in the day. The headstones on the island date from 1826 to 1860. Causes of death of some of those buried there include brain inflammation, jaundice, pneumonia, suicide, palsy, drowning and alcohol poisoning. It's unclear why you would want to bury people on the island, the interpretation board suggests that coffins would be carried to the island by boat. Presumably at low tide the mud made it difficult to carry a coffin to the island.

The "Then" pictures are most likely by Curzon Allport around 1850.

Grey Wash (c1850)




Water Colour (c1850)




Now (2010)

Cheers
Jon TBT

[Mystic]

great then & now set... love the tree on the left that has died but still remains. One would have expected the others to have grown taller and still be in place. Perhaps there has been pesticides used there????

[Shane V]

Very cool set there Jon.

[Team Bubble Tea]

Hi & thanks Mystic and Shane. Your photo of that bird flying at Triabunna reminded me that I had these pics, so thanks Shane .

That dead tree (to the left) seems to be the same one that was painted alive by Allport. If so, it's more than 160yo (or dead). I reckon it may well be the same tree. Regarding the other trees, it's essentially a salt-water environment so lack of growth is more likely due to that than any other factor.

Merry Christmas all.

Jon

[Shane V]

Yep I remember the shot Jon Think you could be right about the tree as well.

Merry Festive Season to you and the TBT Clan Thanks for sharing your knowledge and images.