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40,000 views!

Today, timeviews.home.blog went through the 40,000 views barrier for the six months since I started in January 2020. Thanks to all those who have shown an interest in these (so far, 136) comparison photographs, and the comments attached. I will continue to post more of these in the coming months, and to credit the original photographer when I can establish who it is. Thanks again.

London Street, Paddington, London

In 1932, two London taxis are photographed outside the entrance to the underground station at Paddington. The Leslie Green designed entrance is apparent, and the ox-blood red tiles can still be seen in the modern photograph, although the distinctive arch has been lost. Credit: Photographer unknown
A rainy day in January 2019 – the same location. Photograph – © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Royal Observatory, Greenwich, London

Outside the gate at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich is the Shepherd Gate Clock. The clock (an early electric clock) was constructed by Charles Shepherd and installed in 1852. The system was first developed as an exhibit at the 1851 Great Exhibition. This led directly to this installation at Greenwich. By 1866, the time signal from this clock was sent (via cable) across the Atlantic. It was also the first clock to display ‘Greenwich Mean Time’, and is unusual in that it displays a 24-hour dial.
Credit: Photographer unknown
A few changes by January 2020, although the clock remains. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Liverpool Street Station, London

A view of Liverpool Street Station in 1922. The station was opened in 1874 and is one of London’s busiest railway stations, serving the East of England and North London. During World War I (in 1917), a German bombing raid on the station resulted in 162 deaths. Prior to World War II, the station was the destination for the thousands of child refugees arriving from Europe – the Kindertransport. Credit: Photographer unknown
From the same vantage point in May 2017. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Albertinaplatz, Vienna

Sometime during the 1960s, a group of people is photographed walking away from the Cafe Mozart in Central Vienna. From the 14th century, the site where the cafe stands was a hospital. During the late 18th century, it was converted into an apartment building and became a cafe in 1825. A century later (in 1929) it became Cafe Mozart, referencing the statue of Mozart that had stood on Albertinaplatz since 1896. The statue remained there until 1945 when it was moved to Burggarten. Graham Greene lived in the Hotel Sacher (just around the corner from the Cafe Mozart) in 1947 and wrote the screenplay for ‘The Third Man’, which featured the cafe. 
Credit: (c) Vintage Vienna/Rudi Ehrenreich
The cafe is still as popular as ever. This photograph was taken in January 2017. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Strand, London

Taken in 1940 at the height of the Second World War, this view of Strand in London, looks towards the East from the end of Aldwych. The old Gaiety Theatre can be seen on the left-hand side of the photograph, and the St Mary-le-Strand church stans in the centre of the photograph. There is a war savings poster attached to the front of the theatre. Credit: Photographer unknown

The same view in May 2016. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Trafalgar Square, London

Buses stand outside the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square in January 1927. The number 29 is headed towards Palmers Green and the bus in front’s destination is Waltham Cross. The Waltham Cross bus is advertising a P. G. Wodehouse play, ‘Good Morning Bill’, which was on at the Duke of York’s Theatre. Credit: Photographer unknown
I took this photograph of a deserted Trafalgar Square in late May 2020, during the Coronavirus pandemic. The pedestrianised area in front of the National Gallery looks calm with no street performers and tourists. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)

Liverpool Street Station, London

The memorial to the employees of Great Eastern Railway who died in World War I is shown in this 1953 photograph in its original position – in the booking hall. The marble plaque (created by Farmer and Brindley) cost £3,326 and it lists 1,100 names in 11 columns. The inscription above the memorial reads – ‘To the glory of God and in grateful memory of the / Great Eastern Railway staff who in response to the call of their / King and Country, sacrificed their lives during the Great War’.
The memorial was unveiled on June 22nd 1922 by Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson. Later that day, Wilson was shot on his own doorstep by members of the Irish Republican Army (IRA). He died from his wounds.
Credit: Photographer unknown
The memorial was relocated to its current position (above the station’s concourse) when the station was renovated in 1990. Other memorials were also relocated to the new position – including that to Captain Charles Fryatt, executed by the Germans in 1916. I took this photograph in January 2017. Photograph: © Steven Miell (TimeViews)