The Armin Grewe Homepage

I'm not sure where I first came across this idea, but when I saw it I knew I had to do this with some old Islay pictures as well: You take an old picture (I'd say ideally 30-40 or more years old, alternatively something from your childhood or youth), print it off, then visit the location of the picture and holding the picture into the view take a new picture in the current surroundings. It is a variation of the ‘Then and Now’ pictures many will be familiar with, only here you have what I call a ‘Window into the Past’.

This collection focuses purely on Laphroaig distillery on the south coast of Islay. I would like to thank Marcel van Gils, also known as the Laphroaig Collector for his invaluable help. When I asked if he could help me with a few pictures he sent me several which were perfect for my purposes. With that let's start the journey:

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing Laphroaig distillery seen from the shore

I believe this is a view from 1965 in the settings of 2011. The famous warehouse no.1 on the right as it looks in 2011, the maltings, workshops and other buildings on the left as they looked in 1965.

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing the still house at Laphroaig

This is of course the still house. I'm not sure when exactly the old picture was taken, I'm guessing in the very early 1980s or before, as the stillhouse was rebuilt in 1982-83.

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing Laphroaig distillery from the south

A view from the south-west. This one was very tricky to align and I had to cheat slightly to make it work. The rocky knoll you can see at the bottom of the picture is the one I stood on when taking the picture and can be seen to the right of my hand as well. At least I got the rest aligned quite well, I think …

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing Laphroaig distillery from the hill to the south east

We're now on the top of the hills on the south eastern side of Loch Laphroaig. Note that the warehouse only had one floor when the picture was taken, I believe the second floor was added in the 1930s.

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing the maltings at Laphroaig

A view of the maltings and neighbouring buildings. This is another one which was incredibly difficult to line up, I spent ages trying all kind of different angles and locations. I think this is probably the best attempt I've got.

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing Laphroaig distillery from a hill

Another view from the hills, this time further from the east. This view has actually changed relatively little, as the counterpart picture shows. The chimney has moved, but the rest looks very similar:

Composite picture of two pictures, old and new, showing Laphroaig distillery from a hill

This is the last of pictures I thought worth showing, this time you get to see the old warehouses against the current maltings and related buildings. I hope you enjoyed this series and found the views interesting.