THAT WAS MY OCTOBER BUSES TRAMS ET AL

A model post box with guy on e bay , lots of sales on e bay
























My grandfather Shoves sister Charlotte, a little family history

NICE FEEDBACK IN A STESSFUL WEEK

Its ben a hectic week both at 'proper' work and with our hobby, sometimes people still forget that we only share our interest we are not a public corporation!

We recall the superb weekend in Glasgow at the GVVT Bridgeton and got this message, we again commend the museum and its events and hope to add more photos

Hello Dave
Just a quick note to thank you for your newsletter, and for all the good things you say about our SVVT open day. This is useful publicity for us, and we are grateful for it. We are very pleased that most of the stall holders and attendees seemed to enjoy this year’s event; without you all, there would be no event. It looks as though next year’s open day will be 14th October, to avoid a Parkhead football match the previous weekend. We do hope you will be able to come along again, and look forward to welcoming you then.
Yours sincerely
Douglas

the Potteries running day was a successful first time event, again positive feed back

Hi Dave,

Many thanks for your support on 22nd October. Both sites have confirmed that they're already 'up for next year', which is good news. Is there any chance you could email me a few stills for personal use please.

Thanks again
Mark

we have of course sent Mark some pics and again hope to add some more for you all to enjoy.

We have started work on The Best Ever Bournemouth Trolleybus album which should be finished by next week. Also in progress The Best Ever London Trolleybus Album icluding the three axle jobs sent to Spain. Bus Marque Swifts and Merlins is also on the table as are regional archive features.

I hate winter and short days, the mild spell looks as if its ending, the begonias are being lifted from the garden so it must be winter!
Dave

MELBOURNE TRAM CENTENNIAL

News from our outspoken PMP source in Australia!

Dear Dave Spencer,

Now I am back in Canberra - even if only for a few days! - I thought I would send you some information regarding the Electric Tram Centennial in Melbourne.

There has always been some discussion regarding the actual inaugural date of electric trams in that city. Firstly, there was the Doncaster - Box Hill put down in 1888 but which was dismantled after going broke in the 1890s Depression.

Secondly, the Victorian Railways began their 5' 3" gauge services from St Kilda to Brighton in May 1906. The last section of this line was closed in 1959. But the 3 "modern" cars built in the early 1940s were purchased at closure by the M & MTB. Numbered 52, 53 and 54 they somewhat resembled the W6 Class trams on the main system. To non enthusiasts the main difference was their having only two piece windscreens rather than the usual three piece. Although not a worry to the the VR drivers, the window break right in front of the controls was not well liked by the M & MTB motormen.

Anyway, Nos 52 and 53 were regauged and had modifications to the doors and other bits and pieces over the years - but two section windscreens remained. No 54 was never regauged and used as a source of spares for the other two cars.

Stationed at Essendon Depot these two cars normally worked the Footscray - Moonee Ponds line. For those who mourned closure of the VR lines, it was a chance to relive at least a little of the "good olde days". A number of fan trips were organised over the years utilising one or both of these trams. Until advent of the Z Class, they retained their former VR numbers but were then assigned new ones so there would be no confusion with the new trams. Finally they were "retired" but saved for preservation. During 2006 VR 53 was taken to the Bendigo Tramway Workshops where the staff did a good job of taking it back to original condition as much as possible. A special tour day was held in Bendigo during July for those interested. I was not there but understand the day was a great success.

Finally, the first portion of what is the present system was opened 11 October 1906. This was the Essendon Depot with two lines which are now parts of the present West Maribyrnong and Airport West routes. Some minor changes to them have been made over the years but essentially they are the same. This Depot is still the or one of the largest on the network. Both of these original routes are quite heavily patronised and it is not unusual to go past Essendon Depot at afternoon peak and see it all but completely devoid of trams inside.

Gradually other suburban tram systems opened over the following 10 years - all basically feeding passengers in to meet the cable trams which plied into the city centre. Bit by bit these small suburban systems joined up to form a link right round the cable system. Then, towards end of World War I, the M & MTB was formed to bring all this under the one organisation.

From then until 1940 the main task was replacement of nearly all cable routes with electric ones. Only 3 or 4 cable runs were not electrified. As this took place, there were other extensions and the like to the whole system, making it a very comprehensive one. The Depression slowed cable replacements but in October 1940 the last cable car lines were closed. By then buses had become the "in" mode of transport so double decker ones replaced the last cable cars.

Fortunately for the future of Melbourne trams, these double decker buses were a failure right from the start. No one liked them; stories abound of their being "cold", "stairs too steep", etc etc. It being the War years nothing could be done about it then but plans were made for these routes to be electrified. This was fortified in 1948 by appointment of Major General Risson as the Head of M & MTB; a position he retained until 1970.

A martinet, he was also a great advocate of trams. More lines were put down and the Bourke Street routes were electrified in readiness for the 1956 Olympic Games. Even a change of government shortly before that did not deter this project; only the cutting back of building the last W7 Class to run it.

Stories of Risson are still legion all these years later. One is of his putting all tram tracks in concrete as he said it was more economical. Behind his back it was said he did it to ensure the trams remained for a long time to come. When the Centennial of Cable Cars was being celebrated in November 1985, Risson was, although very elderly, still hale and hearty. Reporters visited him at his home and he spoke of his time with the trams.

Naturally, they asked him about his concreting the tracks and was it really due to it being more economical and not just to retain them. He replied that it was more economical to concrete them and - with a smile - added "and if it was the other I wouldn't tell you anyway!"

Kennet's privatisation of the system is too well known for me to make more than a mention of that. But it appears to be working - or bumbling - along okay. Yarra Trams seem to be doing their best for all concerned. Everyone was told to hold off on any Centennial Celebrations earlier in the year as Commonwealth Games took precedence. But even after the Games finished no one knew what was going to be done to celebrate the event.

May saw the VR Tram Centennial pass on a very low key. Nothing much was said or done but a walk along the St Kilda- Brighton route was arranged one Saturday morning. To everyone's surprise, quite a number turned up for this event. One who did was David Frost - no, not the English one! - who lived on this route until it closed and still lives just round the corner from where it ran.

Normally a quiet unassuming person, David, has a wide and deep knowledge of the VR trams as for years he not only lived on and used the Brighton line but also the Sandringham VR line to go to and from work. When the Ballarat group was formed he joined that and became one of their stalwart drivers. Later he joined TMSV and still drives at Bylands for them. Initially David had to learn on the Melbourne system under the same conditions as any applying for a licence to drive trams on it.

So he became the focus of attention on the tram walk. Being so long since the line closed there are now few about who have comprehensive knowledge of it.
Along with his tram interests David also is involved with other local historic groups in the area. This led to his putting out a small photocopied sheet of a short history about the VR lines. Other enthusiasts then got him to expand on this and in July a small booklet was released about the VR trams. Although a booklet it does contain quite a bit of information on the subject.

So, now to the Centennial itself. I was going down to it anyway, but some of the organisers were enthusiasts known to David and myself. From what I can gather, Yarra Trams got them to ask known enthusiasts and members of the 4 Victorian Tram Groups (Ballarat, Bendigo, Haddon and TMSV) to assist on the day.

I was in my suit as it is some years since I last wore my Ballarat uniform (have expanded outwards a lot since then!) but most others came in various uniforms of M & MTB, and Bendigo. Bendigo Trust sent down a busload of their drivers in uniform and did they look smart! David Frost caused quite a stir as he came in the M & MTB brown uniform of the early 1970s. It is very rare to see this one nowadays and his was the only one of that type there.

So rare and such a stir that he was interviewed by ABC (our national) TV as well as Chinese Cable TV. Both also interviewed Campbell Blight, a friend of ours, who had brought along a book of old tram tickets he had collected. Both of them "hammed it up" so naturally for the cameras. They saw themselves on TV that night!

Sunday 8 October dawned fine and sunny and the whole day was just what the Dr ordered weather-wise. During the early hours of that morning they brought a number of old trams from the Preston Workshops and Hawthorn Depot to the Docklands at City West. Outside Telstra Dome there is a long passing loop intended for trams associated with crowds to and from the Stadium. All the through routes were cut short of these tracks for the day and City Circle went down Spence St instead of going to the Docklands.

Each tram was set on its own so that one could take photos with other trams impinging on it. The only single truck car was V214 (now back to its original 1906 No 13), the oldest electric tram in Melbourne. All types of W Class and other bogie trams were displayed, including the Z, A, B, Citadis and Combino.
VR 53 was there and a big hit was the "Malcolm Tram" from the movie of that name. Everyone but everyone wanted to be photoed on the seat of that one!

Inside the Z Tram a screen had been set up and a continuous movie of the beginning and [close to] end of "Malcolm" along with some publicity film of the trams from the 1960s.

There were large loads of "goodies" - posters, badges, pens, caps, history sheets, etc, etc, - handed out all day byt Yarra Trams. Even though little had been heard before the day, they had certainly put together a nice range of items and displays for all present. The Tramways Band ( or whatever it is called now) played for a while, too. All in all, a most pleasant day.

No special tram rides were held; all the trams remained static during the day. They were driven away about 2.00 a.m. on the Monday morning. Three of them - VR 53, No !3 and another old bogie car - were taken to Essendon Depot in readiness for a special Centennial Day there on the Wednesday 11/10. We saw them still there on the afternoon of Tuesday 17/10.

Then, about 11.30 a.m. Wednesday 18/10, I happened to be waiting for a tram on Swanston at Latrobe when I spotted VR 53 coming along from Victoria St connecting line. As at most times I had my camera with me and got some shots of it approaching me. Then as luck would have it, I ran out of film and had to change rolls. While I did this it turned into Latrobe and ran on down to a crossover just past Elizabeth St. Thence it made its way back towards me.

By then my camera was reloaded and ready. Got a number of shots of it and was doubly in luck as it had to pull up for a red light where I was standing. It gave me enough time to grab some more shots, one of which I am told will be made into a post card. As you would gather, to see VR 53 in the streets of Melbourne is something very much out of the ordinary. While at the lights the driver told me it was being taken from Essendon to Preston Workshops. Then immediately afterwards they were either getting a cab or being driven back to Essendon Depot to collect No 13. Boy, was I lucky!!

Two trams have been painted to celebrate the Centennial. Combino 5006 is in a white with sort screen print pictures of various old trams on it. On the apron is a small copy of the Centennial Logo which shows a stylised version of the old No 13 and front of a Combino. Simple but effective design. Inside the tram are all sorts of small do-dahs depicting old ones hanging from the roof. This trams seems to ply the St Kilda - Brunswick lines along Bourke St.

The other one painted as such is W6 909 which does the City Circle. Shortly after capturing VR 53, I was in front of Flinders St Station meeting a friend - in fact I was on my way to meet him when I came across VR 53 - when 909 came along. Normally it is far too crowded at this intersection to get a good shot but somehow the crowds parted enough for me to grab two quick ones. One of these is also to be made into a post card, I am told! So meeting my friend had some good results!! It was a lovely clear day with good sunlight in all the spots where these trams were so I could not complain.

There is to be a special tram tour in conjunction with the COTMA Conference in November. To be held on Wednesday 22 November, there are all sorts of stories about this event having vintage and new trams but I am playing a "wait and see" policy so as not to be disappointed if it only has new ones. Due to all these new insurance and accreditation policies, tram tours are now becoming so rare as not to be had.

Will close for now

"Canberra Kid" a.k.a. "Count de Tranvias" - Earl Ewers

OXFORD BUSES TODAY

READING AND OXFORD BUSES TODAY

READING BUSES TODAY

NEW RELEASES AND TRIP TO READING

Here are the most recent release, for golden oldies on DVD for the first time see our web site or request full list direct
1427. Greater Manchester. UK. Buses. Sept 2006. Sunny visits to Bury for school traffic, Oldham weekday new buses and Heaton Park rally in the rain.
1428. Showbus Part One. UK. Buses. Cambridgeshire. Sept 2006 The first 75 minutes , the biggest and best bus rally in the world, arrivals up to about 10.20.
1429. Showbus Part Two. UK. Buses. Cambridgeshire. Sept 2006. The remainder of the arrivals through to the Routemaster Gold Run filmed from airside.
1430. Cambridgeshire. UK. Buses. Sept 2006. Visits to Perborough, new buses with Stagecoach plenty of independents then to Cambridge lots of action there.
1431. Yorkshire. UK. Buses. August September 2006. First a look at Halifax on a summer weekday afternoon then Huddersfield at the end of September.
1432. Yorkshire. UK. Buses. September 2006. First a look at Wakefield bus station on Saturday morning then on to Barnsley with ex Tracky Stagecoach buses.
1433. Wirral Bus & Tram Show. Oct 2006. UK. Bus. Tram. The usual mix of bus rally, bus running day and street tram running, also scenes of 2003 &2004.
1434. GVVT. Glasgow Running Day. UK. Buses. Oct 2006. A superb turn out of buses in service plus the huge array of buses resident at the Bridgeton depot.
1435. Ttally Blackpool. UK. Trams.Buses. 2006. The Totally Transport rally with mainly trams in the summer plus illumination trams and a look at buses in Oct.
1436. Preston & Lancaster. UK. Buses. October 2006. reston city centre, unbroken sunshine updating coverage , new buses / livery then Lancaster ex LT Titans.
1437. Leicester. UK. Buses. October 2006. A bright sunny autumnal day with large quantities of new buses in service, both Arriva and First much modernised

Today we went down to Reading and also covered Oxford. No hassles and reasonable weather for the time of year. We found an empty parking place in Oxford when we got back it transpired that it was outside the doss house, no wonder nobody parked there!

BIG ONE BLOWN OUT AT BLACKPOOL

The last few days has seen us play host to Daves sisters , nephews and niece from Hampshire, we went to Blackpool illuminations and nearly got blown away, Jake was sad to miss out on the Big One at the pleasure beach, closed due to high winds. The back log of orders which built up is being cleared, another shot from Daves office of the manchester Ship Canal on a rare sunny moment and one from Blackpool of the closed ride.

EXTRACT FROM DAVES AUTOBIOGRAPHY

remembering Aberfan 1966



1966. Aged 14

Aberfan, a name which still chills the soul of those who were around at this unhappy time, as a youngster you could only too easily identify with the children who perished in the tragedy which saw a huge slag heap of coal waste sweep away a junior school in South Wales. I suppose up to now it was a part of the country we knew little of a, certainly the collieries in the valleys were alien to those of is accustomed to the clean ozone laden air by the seaside in Sussex. The Queen visited the disaster, she talked of her distress, for the first time both catastrophe and our monarch were perhaps real and not just images. With the swinging Britain also saw ordinary working people once more flex their collective muscle, the presence of a labour government at a time of industrial strife wasn’t as anachronistic as we look back in hindsight after experiencing Tony Blair .Emergency powers were enacted as the ports ground to a halt with the seaman’s strike which was resolved by mid year. One of Harold Wilson’s favourite and inspired ideas was to make further education more widely available and nearly twenty universities had opened in the past five years, even more revolutionary was the Open University.

Till Death Us Do Part appeared on television, the foul mouthed bigot Alf Garnett a hero to as many that loathed him and his poor wife Elsie long suffering and perhaps the most real character. Daktari was part of a long running genre of films based on wildlife this time dramatised; Africa was still crawling with big game. Softly Softly was the latest in another long line this time of police dramas following on with a CID bias from Z Cars. Oz mag arrived in the UK; it pushed the boundaries beyond satire and political comment into the family, sex, drugs and relationships. Already interested in aircraft I regularly read Flight magazine and my friends Dave Diplock and Peter Needham were enrolled in the Royal Observer Corps. They’d seen a stand for the ROC at Prince’s Park in carnival week. We had regular trips to air shows, the largest was at Biggin Hill and the regular trade based show at Farnborough. The trips were quite a jaunt in Big Dave’s cars, ranging from Ford perpendicular Pops to a 100E Prefect. Hairy moments came a plenty, brake failure could come at any time such as heading across the A23 on our way home and the windscreen wipers slowed to a grind at speed, sometime you had to hang out and try to clear your vision with a rag. When Dave had an Austin Ruby we changed the engine in the back lane behind his house on Seaside, the ‘new’ engine came from a Reliant Robin three wheeler, it fitted perfectly. Still to become a true classic Dave gave it to a bloke who collected these old bangers.

As well as aircraft I was very much into war gaming and sported an extensive collection of modern and historic models of soldiers and weaponry backed up by books and magazines. At some stage I created my own society which later got hijacked and a chap called Brian Hylands ‘deemed’ me out of it. There were some nice people involved , in particular I recall a couple of chaps from near Hastings, I used to cycle over to one who had a tremendous collection, up at Tunbridge Wells one of the main authors in war gaming had a huge hall given over to it. I must have kept it all up for a few years, certainly after I had left school, Marion must have been pleased when it petered out as my room was dominated by a vast layout with landscapes carved out of polystyrene tiles and foliated by trees from lichen. From the ceiling hung my model aircraft by the score, the entirety a dust trap .Shelves were added almost monthly and soon surrounded the bed, I had an old bookcase from the living room with a glass front, a small portable gas fire provided warmth.

A defining year for popular music as the decade stood still for a few minutes just like the new Harrier Jump Jet at Farnborough Air Show. The onslaught of hit groups took a rest and a more relaxed style seemed to prevail for a while as the first wave of pop groups sought new directions in which to lead their fans. The Overlanders sang gentle Michelle from the Beatles ‘Rubber Soul’ Album, Nancy Sinatra growled These Boots Are Made For Walking and for the Walker Brothers ‘The Sun Ain’t Gonna Shine Anymore ‘, it didn’t for them as they split up soon afterwards. Dusty Springfield reached the height of her career and not to be outdone Nancy’s dad Frank brought us another gentle ballad with Strangers In The Night proving that he had plenty of mileage and last tours yet to perform. The Kinks whiles away their time with Sunny Afternoon and the Beatles hinted at their new directions with Paperback Writer, the fans didn’t know where they were going but followed anyway.

The Stones had already sealed their fate but perhaps were also learning to deal with the problems of stardom and fame as they faced problems with their social lives bringing drug abuse to the attention of the public in a big way for the first time. For the minute I’ll dive forward to the end of the year as Tom Jones wailed of The Green Green Grass Of Home, this lasted at the top through December and well into January, an all timer classic from someone who always seems to have been there. Bigger already in what we would now call the disco was The Four Tops with the Motown sound with Reach Out I’ll Be There.

Already enormous in the states were the Beach Boys, they got their first hit in the UK with Good Vibrations. Posthumous success for Jim Reeves with Distant Drums, the American country music star again fabulously popular loyal following in the middle of the road scene. Missing from my recollections the observant music fans will note the perhaps most important change in the direction of popular music mid sixties and certainly leading us all into the psychedelic time which is what people now call the ‘Sixties’. This was of course The Beatles with Yellow Submarine and Eleanor Rigby. This was the 11th release in a row to reach NO1 in the record charts a feat never again rivalled.

Witnessing England’s win in the soccer world cup even if just on television seems to be an increasingly attractive accolade given our inability to repeat the historic victory. It wasn’t football that marks the year out in my mind but the Beatles Yellow Submarine. I’d already got a weekend job at Kings Caravan Park down on the Crumbles. Run by a sort of wannabe Butlins entrepreneur it had caravans and chalets, shop and club and later even a nightclub over the road. I worked in the shop at weekends and then full time in the summer holidays. There was a jukebox and during the hot summer days the kids would play Yellow Submarine constantly until it drove you mad. A nice enough couple ran the establishment and I enjoyed my first taste of work.

POTTERIES BUS RUNNING DAY

Half way!














The Newcastle end of the route















Mandy at Gladstone pottery Museum on PMP stand












needless to say it rained for packing up

TODAY LEICESTER TOMORROW THE WORLD

Today inLeicester, sunny, no hassle, new buses, what more could I ask
















then home to this, my own special restaurant in Lower Peover














another shot outside my office, by the time I hear them they are going past














Tomorrow Gladstone pottery Museum, Stoke, Potteries Bus Running Day, hope to see you there

IN THE PUDDING CLUB AGAIN

Thursday 19th Oct 2006
The Pudding Club ‘Sweet Meet’ at The Market Restaurant, 30 Edge St, Manchester
The Market is one of the most highly regarded restaurants in Manchester. For most of its 26 years it’s been a hidden secret for many but now word is out and it’s won accolades locally as well as in the national press. The Pudding club ( and starter club) has long been a feature of The Market although there haven’t been so many in recent years, demand for real puddings seems to have slackened or perhaps it’s the communal atmosphere people don’t like. Certainly an air of Bon Viveur is required and we were next to ladies who picked at their portions and declined others, why bother going. For those unaware you get a starter then 5 puddings, some are dishes unsuited to a normal restaurant menu like crumbles and suet puddings. This time the Granada television cameras were there to record an item for the magazine programme Go North to be screened next June. Whether for a special event like this or for a cosy meal a deux you are guaranteed good wholesome sources presented just so in a friendly atmosphere, the décor remains pretty well the same and why change it now, I think the 70s wine bar look is very retro, even I’ll become fashionable again one day.
Amongst the dishes served after the starter of Pan Fried Salmon with ‘champ’ sauce was Sussex Pond Pudding, this the most traditional and British is of course the national dish of my native county, the lemons dissolve and burst into the butter and sugar producing a delicious sauce, served with custard which itself is a wholesome treat.


Next came a white chocolate Pavlova which Mandy rated top of the evening a view shared by several other diners.









The heavyweights were still going strong as next we were presented with dishes of Apple, Oat and Hazelnut crumble, the custard was flowing freely although some diners were lagging.

I managed in expansive mood to send a glass of red wine flying; thankfully it was only myself with bright yellow jumper that got splattered. The crumble was different from the usual rhubarb or apple and certainly crunchy.








The Gooseberry, Elderflower and sparkling wine jelly was a refreshingly tart intervention which gave our digestion time to absorb some of the heavier puddings, served with cream it hit the right mark for most people and fortified them for the Sugar plum toast which rounded off the evening. We’d had this before , not my favourite but I’m sure others find it super, anyway I bet it was new to lots of diners, this type of do is great for extending your repertoire.



The restaurant is in what has supposedly become Manchester Northern Quarter, a marketing ploy by the council which seems to be paying off if finding somewhere to park is any guide. Once a grotty area, the last 30 years dominated by Asian textiles wholesales it now has offices, housing, cafes and of course restaurants. The use of the term Pudding Club has been claimed by a hotel in Gloucestershire hence the use of Sweet Meets which just doesn’t sound right, anyway as they are south of Knutsford services what would they know about British puddings.

To finish a view from my office overlooking Manchester Ship Canal at Ellesmere port

BACK ON THE FIDDLE - HALLE ET AL

Our visit to the Halle on Wed 18th Oct was I suppose the start of our new season of concerts and operas. The Bridgewater Hall was unusually empty, Mark Elder always looks surprised that anyone has turned up and last night it was almost true, few had save for 7 coach loads from music societies in Cheshire. This was Mark Elders last performance with the Halle this year as he’s off to Berlin for a few months. The programme featured Dvorak The noonday witch, he was a great railway enthusiasts as it happens. This was conducted by the proficient if nervous assistant conductor Rory Macdonald. Then Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No2 with a young Swedish pianist , after the interval came Vaughan Williams Norfolk Rhapsody, worth going for that alone and then Beethoven’s Symphony No2 in D. A nice mix, accurately and pleasantly portrayed although atmosphere lacking due to the empty auditorium. Wasn’t it just a few years ago we were throwing money in buckets to buy the Halle instruments? In Germany the hall would be packed every night, and boast many younger people in the audience.

DAVES STAG DO 1974 AND ALL THAT

Another page from Dave's autobigraphy

1974 June 27th Stetford, Manchester aged 22

...........
Working on the gas conversion project from the Stretford works we had a regular lunchtime spot, a late Victorian red brick pub in Stretford The Gorse Hill, not far from United’s football stadium and the Old Trafford cricket pitch. Another pub which comes to mind The Quandrant was near my first crash pad in Manchester with Charles and Ruth Gilman, this had something of a shrine to the Busby Babes killed in the infamous plane crash, the pub was more memorable to me for retaining its piano and regular sing a long nights. Anyway back to the Gorse Hill which was the obvious choice for the stag do, no trips to Blackpool or Prague in those days, no cash either but a lunch time piss up the day before the wedding.

My best pal on the gas was Stan who had the rather dubious distinction of having been the youngest ever inmate at Manchesters notorious Strangeways prison, with a cauliflower ear and bent nose, thinning straggly hair Stan wasn’t the epitomy of style. All I asked was that I stuck to Gin and Orange, whatever the quantity I didn’t mind but don’t mix the drinks. Doubles became Quads etc, all the lads piled in and presents were received and yet more drinks lined up. By early afternoon I was seeing double, thoroughly drunk and absolutely incapable. Most people had already drifted back to work there was just a handful left with me including Stan also well oiled. As we left one of the others grabbed the presents for safe keeping as we spilled out onto the pavement. An unlucky passer by asked Stan if he’d got the time, Stan for no reason bopped him on the nose and floored him, the dazed and stunned man tried to get up, ‘I only asked the time’ he pleaded as Stan who then popped him again. This I decided was the time to get away and head for the safety of the gas works. Meanwhile a trail of events had already started to unfold there.

Amongst the returning drunken workforce were those with scores to settle freed by alcohol from inhibition. Our transport manager wasn’t the most popular person and the lad in the yard who drove the forklift poured vodka all over his office and set light to it. This lad was engaged to a westernised Pakistani girl called something like Dibble, he got the sack straight away and she broke off their engagement, we were still in the pub at that time. Arriving back we no longer had a fork lift truck driver, the conversion kits were piling up and help was required. I immediately volunteered, grabbed the fork lift truck, raised a pallet up on the forks to its highest level, unfortunately it happened to be the one which the yard sweeper had chained his bike to. I then careered around in circles still seeing double until someone managed to get me off and into a van back to Brundetts Rd.

I remember laying on the couch and a bucket under my head, at least they hadn’t mixed the drinks and I think these days it would have just equalled an average nights binge drinking but boy did I feel rough. Sick and sleep are quite good cures for the worst effects of drink and a spliff or two settled things down. I know we had hired a mini for our weekend honeymoon at Red Wharf Bay on Anglesey perhaps we used this to get up to Granby Row. Mandy used to work from an office above the registrar, this came to haunt her as the janitor thrust a broom in her direction when the confetti landed.

Our witnesses were Mandy’s cousin Trish plus Mary from Brundetts Rd. Although reconciled with Marion it was all too much of a rush for her to come up from Eastbourne, Mandy’s parents were there, friends and relations but not a big ‘do’, certainly no money left for a reception, we’d just ?5 left in our pockets. No video then just a few photos, some of which in black and white were taken by Mark Ashmore. I still carry one of these in my briefcase which causes endless amusement at work at the sight of my long hair, beard and dark glasses. I had a pair of jeans and bought a denim jacket to match, Mandy bought a denim skirt and had a white blouse, no expense spared I hear you think. A sign of the times I’m having a joint in the photos, both leaving Brundetts Rd and at the registry office, perhaps the last I ever had. The hotel at Red Wharf Bay had we discovered some 30 years later long since vanished, the site is now an old people’s home. When we stayed it was the annual Welsh ladies licensed victuallers do and we heard them singing well into the night.

MANDY AT WORK AND ON STRIKE

Dipping into the family archive, Mandy in Manchester Housing Department on strike outside Sharston office in the 1980s, meanwhile tonight busy in the PMP packing department!

WRAPPED UP FOR POSTERITY, A TIDY AT PMP

yesterday once more, Preston, nice little spot , around lunch time















We've had a day tidying up the office, much dust and thankfully more space as we remove several video machines , these along with 8 and Hi8 editing decks have been wrapped in protective film and placed into storage. Its all very well keeping the tapes but useless without machines to play them in , thinking ahead say 50 years or more to my succesors!

Stashing the machines earlier today

LANCASTER NUDE TEENS WITH BELTS? ( PLUS BUSES)

today we went to Preston and Lancaster. Preston is dire other than buses which are plentiful. Lancaster slightly less so but young girls appeared naked save for large belts, is it an age thing on my part , Morecambe nearby provides home for lost souls but Lancaster has the lost Titans, woderful bus hunting ground. Ended up with best Bakewell Tart for years at Kirby Lonsdale.

COPYING AUSTRALIA AT PMP

Dave busy copying films from Alan Mortimer of Perth WA. These are three 400' reels we missed when we copied Alan's collection a few years back. They cover 1972 in Adelaide, Tasmania, Victoria and NSW, some amazing scenes. Mandy hasn't got the dining table back yet as I'm busy copying London archive sequences for new releases.

ANNUAL HEDGE TRIMMING AT PMP

Dave buried in the hedge about to commence trimming this afternoon, a frustrating couple of days on E bay, they launched their Express service, we weren't there so will have to adjust 500 plus entries, just made a start, hate E Bay!!

GVVT MALTA BUS BRIDGETON DEPOT

one of my model car collection which appears for sale on my e bay auction site, we have over 600 items for sale, not for sale as far as I know is the 1932 Maltese bus at Bridgeton

1984 aged 32 another autobiography extract by Dave Spencer

another extract, I was down on a British Gas pipeline in Somerset

.....
We were based down in Wells that delightful cathedral city in Somerset. Here we had our base for a pipeline project, the client British Gas; it ran from Ilchester to Pucklechurch, across beautiful countryside and served by a very rural population where industrial skills other than Clarke’s shoe factory were absent.

We were in a joint venture with a French company Entrepose and one of their directors had his young son as construction manager whilst Tony Parry the project manager was older and one of our own staff. The excitable French engineering staff were tempered by their ple4asant admin man who was my opposite number, he had already been up to our offices in the North West and could imitate a Geordie accent and had charmed all the ladies. Our young French manager didn’t manage any charm with his workforce but had more luck with the girl’s, such was the extent of his libido that we had a visit from an irate father of our young receptionist manning the switchboard in her summer holidays, we’d had a job finding someone who spoke fluent French and had to start our search again.

Next time round we had a slightly older but very affable young woman who celebrated her 21st whilst with us, everyone found this a great excuse to have a knees up away from the constant pressures of the project and drinks were flowing freely around the office from, lunchtime. Mid afternoon and she was pretty well pissed, Albert our French office manager volunteered to take her home but she left her handbag with house keys inside at the office. When they arrived Albert noticed that there was a small window ajar which he might be able to squeeze through. Yes you’ve guessed, the neighbourhood watch were twitching at the curtains, imagine the scenes one drunken young lady, a policeman and an embarrassed Frenchman trying to talk his way out of a burglary charge. All was well though and the party reconvened later and continued into the night. One of our young French managers finest moments was when he forgot to put his machine operators in for their weekly bonus payment, he’s just omitted to send a fax to the Paris office but rather than admit his mistake he told them, you have no bonus because you have not earnt it. They operators were at their machines ready to press the starter button at 8 am on the dot, as they did each morning, but this time they sat motionless and the minutes ticked by into hours, every second on this type of contract was vital, finally Jean had to apologise and cough up.

There was usually a shortage of unskilled labour, construction workers were thin on the ground in Somerset, if they had two arms and legs or thereabouts they’d do, pink hair, rings through the nose we had them all, one day I had to set up a trap in cahoots with the dole office. I ambushed each person coming in to sign on and offered them work, the rules said that if you refused you couldn’t get your money , there was to say the least some panic amongst them trying to avoid the recruiting team.

I had superb lodgings with a lady and her daughter, it was one of those cottages built into the walls of the city with brick work a couple of feet thick, I survived on a diet of take ways with the occasional binge of good food, there was a superb restaurant in Glastonbury at the hotel, supervised by a haragon who sat in a corner and directed the staff like a demented conductor. An American who had the temerity of complaining about his steak Dianne, it wasn’t cut like they did it in America was told in no uncertain terms that this was the French way and if he didn’t like it get out. It sounds awful but was actually an amusing evening when you were on your own, the staff would stop and chat a couple of minutes each time they passed and I’d have a paper to read between courses, it overlooked the famous Glastonbury mound or Tor.

The classic moment on this job came early when young Nicky was still one the switch board, one of the French engineers radioed in that he’d had an accident in his jeep ( actually Russian 4x4s that we hired cheap), your position please she asked, upside down in the ditch he replied in truth. The roads were bordered by what is known locally as hedges but in reality walls, they were narrow and unsuited to French driving, perhaps 2 CVs across the fields would have been more appropriate. Anyway unperturbed he continued to issue orders over his radio to the various gangs whilst remaining strapped in the jeep awaiting the breakdown truck.

Daily progress meetings were accompanied by supplies of wine an unusual addition to the canteen petty cash summary but expected by all the French side as much as our staff would want biscuits. At the end of the contract there was an almighty great booze up sponsored by one of the sub contractors, one of the gas board managers who had been less than friendly and had a taste for 70s shirts and flared trousers lay under a picnic table with alcohol dribbling into his mouth as he lay in a stupor on the grass below. Tables and parasols, wine and whiskey, Mandy arrived down that afternoon and couldn’t quite see why we had been moaning about all the hard work. The old wooden fencing and gates we’d used were sold to Michael Eaves who ran the Glastonbury festival; he planned to provide free timber to the festival goers to stop them wrecking his farm in the search for fire wood.

...
I haven't forgotten the Malta bus photo I'll post it tonight.

GVVT Bridgeton Depot Running Day

GVVT Bridgeton Bus Depot Glasgow
DBY 001
Fordson Thames ET7,Barbara B31F1932Malta
The old Maltese bus is being restored as part of the Back on the road campaign which teaches rehabilitated drug addicts new skills and is a fundamental part of the reason d’etre ensuring financial backing for the museum from local government. (Photo later on) . It really shows the progress made since our last visit.

On a less prosaic note the running day was a great success with plenty of vehicles with local connections in service with fair weather and even occasional sunshine plus very moderate temperatures all of which drew out the crowds and attendance looked better than ever with quite hectic business back at the depot and photographers a plenty along the route. The staff at Bridgeton were as helpful and friendly as ever and this is an event which goes from strength to strength. The increased ‘home’ fleet made accommodating visitors a little tight but they managed. We are proud that we were amongst the first traders from south of the border to attend on the very first event and just as we led others north to Lathalmond we hope that fellow enthusiasts will make the journey to experience the warmth of the welcome here. We were lucky with a swift trip north and south again in the early evening, rain must have diminished the Blackpool illumination traffic.

GVVT Bridgeton Bus Dept Running Day TODAY!

A great day out and swiftly home, write up tomorrow, photos taken earlier today

Mandy at the PMP Stand

Blackpool Trams today, garden looked nice!

THe garden just before we left for Blackpool. The sun was shining in Cheshire, at Blackpool it vanished as we arrived, the wind hadn't dropped as promised and we were blown to pieces but sheltered to film behind the kiosks.

We met two lots of people we knew walking along the prom, the Blackpool sequences have been put together with Totally Transport scenes in June and already edited. Phew!

Of Rain and Office Moves, no Buses and Trams of course

I think you would all find my week of moving office from one end of the road to the other very boring, it was very tiring as well, its rained non stop for two days again quite mundane so lets
have more of last weekend in Yorkshire

and then Birkenhead















see you all again later, plans for weekend Blackpool Saturday Bridgeton Glasgow Sunday
Dave

Dave and The Queen

The Queen , a rare night out at the pictures. The Knutsford civic centre has a lovely miniature full size cinema if you can sort that out, the geriatric audience of which we were about the youngest munched and spluttered their way through this nondescript poorly scripted and hopelessly acted effort which at least won’t frighten the horses. Neither the Monarch nor PM came out too badly and it was a diverting evening. I’ve put a counter on the Blog site, so far it seems few of you are hitting it, go now and tell your friends about it, if you have come direct to the Blog share the news that we are here.

IRELAND 1981 From Dave's autobiography

A wet day here in Cheshire 2006, rattled out the latest Yorkshire DVDs last night and off to see The Queen film tonight at Knutsford, a rare cinematic outing.

Latest film list sent free on request to
dave@pmpvideo.com

Meanwhile Ireland 1981 from my autobiography.

TheMandy joined me on one of our excursions to Northern Ireland; she’s been there many years before as a child. The rugged terrain and lack of tourists made Donegal along with the rest of Ulster most attractive. The Lough Swilly hotel was up on the peninsula; we stayed there and went up as far as Malin Head. The hotel echoed to ghosts of the past like a set to an Ealing comedy. We came down for breakfast at 8 am, not a soul could be found, and come to think of it the same situation occurred when you expected shops to open at 9am on a Saturday after the staff had been out drinking most of the night. Not early risers I couldn’t really take the pace, I liked an early night listening to the radio. You could just get reception on BBC radio 4, The Archers omnibus on Sunday mornings was a favourite especially in the winter, I used to do myself a roast chicken which would spin out for half the week’s meals.

The Irish shops paid no heed to sell by dates and goods were often well past their prime or plain mouldy, you really had to look out for yourself. Eating out was still rudimentary, nothing except for chicken and ham with plenty of gloves; this seemed to be universal especially in pubs that is if you dared enter at all. They were grim dark places and never looked open. Some shops still had bars at the end of the counter, bare floor boards, other than Guinness there was a rather ghastly Bitter concoction called Smithwicks, dreamt up during the Watney Red Barrel era and still sold I believe. My transition to Guinness came later and I only had one bottle of the black stuff, on the Aran ferry, in three years living there. An invitation to tea or have a dram really meant saying you’d have the whiskey as tea was a drag for the host, not a simple cuppa but the whole shooting match with sandwiches, cakes et al. If a tourist dream of Ireland was thatched cottages, donkeys and people cutting turf, then in the late 70s and early eighties this was still the reality in many parts.

Irelands entry in to the European Union brought the farmers untold wealth which was instantly squandered on a brand new bungalow, new car and perhaps a newish tractor. The agricultural fleet was put to good use on Sundays when they would pull up outside church with the still large families on trailers. The clan would disperse home afterwards while the men folk would make their way to the bar and perhaps take in the Hurling or Gaelic football; Sunday was the main sporting day despite the universal religious observance. The churches attracted crowds of older ladies with weekly nirvanas to some saint or other; I’m not sure what it was about, a sort of prayer session I think.

The priests were very much of land of and in the community and readily talked and showed friendship to outsiders like myself obviously not of their ‘clan’. The differences between the C of E and an Irish Catholic church were brought home to me soon after arrival when I was asked to stand in as photographer at a wedding. You could and were expected to stand right up by the altar and take pictures right through the ceremony; this was unheard of in England at that time. Afterwards at a raucous and merry reception I was asked to excuse the ‘rebel’ songs and joined in the ferocious dancing and naively learnt that the clerk from work getting married was already several months pregnant.

Drinking and dancing generally didn’t get going until near midnight, this I learnt at the annual carnival at Newcastle West, a small town which had the nearest picture house to my digs. The stage was set in the town square, the band arrived about 8pm, they headed into the nearest bar, by 10pm the children’s dancing was well overdue, the band emerged sozzled much later, I couldn’t even manage to stay up for the kiddies yet alone the main event and what happened to the parade, the floats, all lost to the pubs and bar I fear. The Rose of Trallee, a festival in Co Kerry, an excuse for days of non stop riotous drinking and singing plus dancing. The pubs shut for an hour whilst they were swilled out. I remember a Molly Mallone starting in one bar and passing through another three as we snaked Conga style down the street with the pied piper accordionist in the lead. Afterwards you drove home.

Cars had no MOTs or the like until much later, drivers stooped in the middle of the roads and chatted to each other, other road users drove around them, potholes were rife but the roads were wide and had a lane on either side for horse traffic. Cows and wandering stock were to be expected around every corner, rounding up the herd seemed simpler than mending the hole in the fence it seemed. Bernadette my travel clerk used to borrow the works car especially in the winter months, I stayed at her sister’s house where I had the upstairs flat. Bernie took the car home on weekdays and picked me back up in the morning at her sisters, the car all cosy and the seat warmed up, this went on for a while until she got her own new car, a little Renault. She didn’t like parking it on the site, the bauxite created a gooey white sludge so she used to meet me at her sister’s in Ballynash and come on in to work with me. One day she was late, oh she said ‘I had to swerve off the road and went up a bank; I needed to reverse the car back down.’ Was it stuck I enquired no she said, ‘it’s just that I’ve never done reversing so I had to wait until someone stopped to help me.’ Strikes and industrial action together with incompetence meant that learner drivers (who could drive alone anyway) had only to have three consecutive provisional licenses and they were granted a pass; I think this was all due to a post strike. Another famous strike was in the banks, cheques and promissory notes were written on beer mats, but sure hadn’t this always been the way.

Talking of potholes, the American who had driven from Limerick to Shannon airport wrote from back home to the Limerick Leader newspaper about the puncture on in his hired car which spoilt the last day of his trip to Ireland. The Leader asked the local Guarda sergeant for his comments on the unguarded pot hole which elicited the response, yes I know the pot hole well, I always avoid it myself, and so life went on, these days its East European gangsters and drug, Somali refuges and Ukrainians they worry about, then it was the tinkers. Mary was very wary of the tinkers and when they called she would shout me down the stairs which were normally shut off. I would emerge as if the householder and tell them to beggar off, this brought all manner of curses upon me, none of which I understood or cared about.

YORKSHIRE PMP BUS VISIT, TONY PEART DIES

Film Visits
Wakefield Saturday 30th Sept.
I very neatly arrived at 9 am and finished a nice film sequence of just over 30 minutes by 10.15 and then left, therefore avoiding (unknowingly) the last Olympian running day! Still got plenty of up-to-date stuff, a cloudless sky and encouraged to head down to Barnsley to see Stagecoach Tracky. There was one photographer there who scuppered away when I approached to say hello, a typical reaction, must be my two heads or the loneliness and secretiveness of bus spotters.

Barnsley. Sat 30th September For once a quiet visit with friendly crews and so much bus interest it was over the top. Stagecoach in a hundred different liveries (well almost). The bus station is being rebuilt and I had the satisfaction of standing in the old entrance/exit which is fenced off and gave some great nearside shots and no-one there to pounce on me.

Huddersfield. Sat 30th Sept.
I was heading for Doncaster but it clouded over so diverted to Huddersfield where it quite fortunately turned out sunny again, lots of new buses and again no hassle although it wouldn’t be my favourite place on a Saturday to visit in general. Again other enthusiasts about but only one actually talked, isn’t it hard work.

Birkenhead Sun 1st Oct.
The Wirral Tram and Bus show was a great day with much larger crowds than normal, more visiting buses than ever and good weather up to lunch time, after which it rained. A great days trading for PMP, a lot of books shifted and plenty of the latest DVDs went. The trams looked well, lots of interest in them.

TONY PEART
We were sad to learn on Sunday of Tony Peart's death through colon cancer, we visited his barn with buses and I think a horsebox in the early 1970s and of course he attended rallies since Adam were a lad, also a railway enthusiast and a teacher, another era passes.

TRAMS AND BUSES OLD AND NEW A BUSY WEEKEND

Well you'll know what we were up to this weekend!

Wakefield















Barnsley















Huddersfield














Birkenhead

not a bad weeekend!