2025 in pictures

As we reach the end of 2025, I take this opportunity to look back over the photos that I have taken and thing about the year. This year I published 1,064 photos to Flickr with, of course, at least one photo every day as part of my Project 365.

The lovely thing is that my photos remind me what happened during my year and I remember many good times through them as I’ve seen friends and family over the months. I’ve done for many years now and you can see them all in my Year in pictures category.

January

I started the year visiting the Severn Valley Railway and took some photos of steam trains. I also visited PHP Stoke which was fun.

February

I attended three community events in February, starting with FOSDEM at the very start, PHP UK mid-way through, and then Fusion towards the end. I really like catching up with the community and learning from them in the hallway track! I also photographed planes with Stuart!

March

I had a quick trip to Spain this month which was very cold and wet and then spoke at Drupal Mountain Camp; my first time attending this conference and I loved the community vibe here. I was also enjoyed my visit to the KVWR with Kevin.

April

In April, I went down to London to take care of my dad while my mum visited her sister in America. I fitted in a trip to the SVR Spring Gala, and also spoke at PHP Berkshire, sharing the bill with Dave Liddament

May

We celebrated lots of birthdays in May and visited Dudley Canal & Caverns. I spoke at phpday in Verona and later the PHP Oxford user group. The community at both events are fantastic and I enjoyed all the great conversations. My wife and I also enjoyed a visit to Charlecote. Most importantly, Crystal Palace won the FA cup this month for the first time in their history!

June

The Nintendo Switch 2 was released this month and it’s a great sequel to the original Switch. We spent most of the month on holiday in Spain, where I ate lots of ice cream.

July

July was all about family and friends. My aunt and cousins from America visited, so we moved our family meet-up to July. We also had our regular lunch with friends in Crewe as that’s half-way between us. We also celebrated our youngest’s graduation of a first class degree in mathematics.

August

There was a big railway event in August celebrating 200 years of the modern railways. I visited mum & dad and I took dad out for breakfast at the local café which turned out to be the last time that dad and I will do that. We also visited our friend in Estonia.

September

The big news in September is that my dad’s wellbeing deteriorated far enough that mum was no longer able to care for him. He was taken to hospital and is now living in a care home. I’m pleased that the transition seems to have gone smoothly for both of them. Later that month, I attended apidays London and then took a few days to take photos of trains in Yorkshire, while catching up with good friends in the evenings. The Moors really are a lovely place to spend time.

October

In October, my aunt from America visited again which was lovely as she stayed with my mum, arriving a few days after dad had moved into a care home. I also spoke at Nordic APIs Platform Summit in Stockholm. I was surprised to be on the main track and the conference as a whole was excellent. Finally, we celebrated another graduation as my wife graduated with a first class degree in Computing.

November

A quiet month, where I spoke at SymfonyCon which celebrated the 20th anniversary of the framework.

December

I finished the year attending apidays Paris, my first visit to this very large conference, where I met some amazing people and learned things. We had a lovely Christmas at home where lots of cake and mince pies were consumed. Then, right at the end of the month, I visited the SVR for the final time this year to take photos of heritage diesel locomotives. I also bought a new camera for next year!

Looking back over 2025, it was a bittersweet year with some excellent times with family, friends and community folks, but it was tinged with my dad’s transition to a care home. As always, I also very much enjoyed my railway photography and trips with Stuart.

Who knows what 2026 will bring, but I will continue to take photos throughout!