Sad Tidings and a grammar question

There seems to be some confusion about the use of the words passed and past and I’m wondering if its me, or is UK usage different to US usage? Wouldn’t be the first time, I know that, so I hauled out my copy of Fowler’s Modern English, and here’s what it says:

Pass: the verb takes passed for its past tense, as in You passed me by, and for its Past Participle used verbally, as in It has passed out of use.
But use it as an adjective and the

form becomes past, as in past times.

I've added a couple of pictures I took in New Zealand in November, when we visited Christchurch and saw the damage left by the first earthquake .

Such a beautiful country, and so sad that the city has suffered another earthquake. Both pictures were taken on the South Island, the first at the Cloudy Bay refinery, and the second on the coast road between Cloudy Bay and Picton.