Thursday, November 30, 2006

WARRINGTON MEMORY LANE AGAIN BUSES




Someone remind me what my fourth picture was all about, a strip from an early trip to Warrington, I also did my first video there. The others are a bit more obvious, it really was a good spot in those days. I finished the LT trolley bus film after tea, car loaded for Boyle St, rendering some images before copying, perhaps I'll be able to put a clip on You Tube tomorrow night. Also sent out news letter re direction to blog etc.

Wednesday, November 29, 2006

CHRISTMAS IS COMING AND SOME MEMORIES

This blog shows that I've now cracked the issue of scanning and printing / archiving on disc my original negatives and at random a couple of views in Rawtenstall , Lancashire in the 1970s, it was reel No36 so one of my first attempts at bus photography. As promised an old PMP Christmas card this time showing an golden oldie Sheffield scene. Last night I finished the views on the Bus Marque LT Trolleys, doing the soundtrack tonight after I've packed the car up ready for Boyle St. The You Tube posting seems to be getting quite a few hits, hopefully I'll get the trolleys on it at the weekend then I'll start on Birmingham, Manchester, Croydon and Sheffield tram launches which are oft demanded on DVD.




YOU TUBE UPLOAD SUCCESS

As you will have already read we played host to our webmaster Fraser last night. He successfully overcame the problems I'd faced uploading on You Tube and you can now find a 10 minute except on my You Tube site.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sL8ZnTNnUf4

My editing equipment is 3 years old and this is a lifetime in computing, thus it didn't have MPEG 3 and 4 which is a requirement. I have to export the completed film then encode it and finally load onto YouTube, all worthwhuile when you see the quality achieved. Even my rubbish attempt with grotty Leicester shots on poor quality image scored over 500 viewings and the very brief Truckfest clip got rated 5 stars. Fraser also helped set up a bulk loading system for e bay which should save time and blood.
Talking of which I could have strangled the daft so and so's who have blocked off our motorway access at night, taking Fraser back to Preston we ended up on the M60 then to M61, only prob was the M60 was down to 1 lane at Trafford centre, a frustrating late night run, but the trweacle puidding was scrumptious last night.

Tuesday, November 28, 2006

GREATER MANCHESTER ARCHIVE COMPLETE

Great news, I managed to get the film on Greater Manchester area buses finished last night, an hour of nostalgia from circa 64 - 81 including municipals, L United SELNEC and GMPTE eras. I await the rest of John Bishops archive film to complete the outstanding London Country production and intend to do a few easy films covering Sheffield, Croydon and Birmingham tram launches in the next week before embarking on a WMPTE area archive feature which will have lots of previously unused footage. With the latest editing software and DVD the archive material real does loom many times better than when first released. Putting realistic sound tracks on could last forever so there is usually a compromise somewhere along the line.
Tonight Fraser is looking at the You Tube downloads an our web site design. A rough night with more rain, still mild. Christmas cards on the go, some photos asap I promise.

Monday, November 27, 2006

AUTUMN CLEANING

A busy day on Sunday getting the GMPTE archive sound sorted, still at leas one more evenings work required but broke off yesterday for some food and wine with friends. Today I popped to Southern Cemetery at lunch time and did an Autumn clean up on Mandy's family graves. Tomorrow our web master Fraser is coming down from Preston and hopefully will sort out the problems posting on You Tube and update the web site. Mild but windy weather kept us awake last night. In to work at 6am, very busy at present.

Sunday, November 26, 2006

PHIL AND HIS HARMONICS






ok you have to be of a certain age to get the title, anyway with John off sick we had plenty of room to spread ourselves out at the Bridgewater Hall last night for the BBC Philharmonic concert which was being recoded for BBC radio 3. An evening of French 20th music some of which was amazing and some hard going, the orchestra under the ever enthusiast almost bouncing. leaping command of Yan Pascal Tortelier.

What about jam and Jerusalem last week on telly, what a load of wasted comic talent, xceratinly no latter day Dads Army.

Anyway today I hope to make a start on the sound track for the GMPTE area archive, visit the garden centre, have friends for lunch, finish adding to e bay from yesterday and be up early tomorrow as I've a very busy week in my 'proper' job. Phew

Saturday, November 25, 2006

WORKING HARD FOR MANCHESTER ARCHIVE




anyone remeber the old Trans Lancs rallies in the 70s / 80s which ran in Bury, still going but now ends at Heaton Park

Well folks poor old John Bishop didn't make it to Cheshire, laid low by a bug, so I've been busy getting on with the new film Bus Bus Archive Greater Manchester, the pictures are complete with just the sound to add, to get you in the mood I enclose some suitable pictures from the eras covered and a hint as to the next archive


Friday, November 24, 2006

GEOFFREY MORANT SAD NEWS

Message received yesterday

On behalf of Richard Morant, it is with the deepest sorrow that I have to tell you all of the death of his brother Geoffrey Morant at 0900 today, 23rd November 2006. As I know he was in contact with many other people, would you please inform as many mutual friends as possible to make sure the word is spread as far and wide as possible.

As soon as I know, I shall send a further e-mail announcing the date of the funeral.

Mike Davis


Geoff was one of the founders of Buses Worldwide and as a tribute I have entered details as per the BWW website, the magazine is very professional and the quarterly Maltese mag is proving very popular
Dave Spencer

Latest update: 10 October 2006 Click on date for recent changes
Buses Worldwide is an international association of people interested in bus operations and manufacturers in all parts of the world. We are semi-professional in that our membership includes people who work in the transport industry for operators and vehicle manufacturers, in government, consumer or interest groups, are journalists or consultants, or are simply interested lay persons.
We publish a full-colour bi-monthly illustrated magazine which covers news and features about buses from countries in all continents, which is now in full colour.
We organise meetings and international visits, for example recent trips have included Cuba, India and Italy.
Members can join our exclusive eGroup to share news and discuss issues of international interest.
Also available from Buses Worldwide:
Maltese Transport News
Quarterly magazine featuring the latest news and historical coverage of all aspects of transport on Malta and Gozo, including operators of scheduled and unscheduled bus services, ferries and other transport past and present on the islands.
Bus Services In France
Regularly updated Cd-Rom covering gional, départemental and urban buses, with details of each network, routes, fares, photos, maps and fleet information where available. There are background notes on how bus services are organised in France and details of the principal operating groups.
Interested in what we do? Please explore these pages and if you want to find out more, please email us. If you would like to join, go to the membership page for details of our subscriptions and a membership application form.

PMP Work in hand
I was very busy last night working on the new regional bus archive programme with about a third of images trimmed and the whole hour on the computer. A lot to go so fingers crossed that I make it for Boyle St. John Bishop was due this weekend but has been taken ill, this might mean a delay on the London Trolleybus film also the Best Ever London Country. Hope you are fit again soon John. Looks as if I'll be writing Christmas cards instead of sinking Guinness


Wednesday, November 22, 2006

LATEST PMP DVD RELEASES

Mandy and Sue in France last weekend, back to work now




Here are our Oct / Nov 2006 releases

1433 Totally 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.
1434. 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.
1435. 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.
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.
1438. Reading. Berkshire.UK. Buses. October 2006. A bright but diffused sun to illuminate the much modernised Readinhg fleet, one of only 2 municipals in SE.
1439. Best ever Bournemouth Trolleybuses. UK. Trolleys. A look at Bournemouths trolleys, in service, tours and closing ceremony , the choicest archive bits .
1440. Bus Marque London Transport trolleybuses. UK. London / Spain etc Trolleybuses. Buses. Archive sequences in London plus Spain then in preservation.
1441. Walsall & Wolverhampton. UK. Buses. Feb – Nov 2006. A look Walsall in February 2006 then Wolverhampton plus Wolverhampton in November 2006.
1442. Potteries Connection Running Day. Oct 2006.UK.Buses. Includes plenty of cab rides with an emphasis on Potteries buses plus Aston Manor running day.
1443. Bus Marque Merlins & Swifts. UK. Buses. 1960s – 80s In service in London plus Australia then other UK operators and long service in Malta.
last night I was busy finishing off the new covers, dealing with Christmas post, downloading from digital camera and posting the new stuff on e bay. After that and a bit of tele I made a start on the regigional bus archive covering the greater Manchester area, I'd say about 15 minutes will be brand 'new' to PMP and for all will be first time on DVD .New shots of GMPTE Oldham, Stockport and Piccadilly.

CHRISTMAS IS COMING THE CARDS HAVE ARRIVED

It must be nearing Christmas as our cards have arrived, the PMP series have become something of a collectors piece, I know that several people have them framed. I hope to post some of the more memorable over coming days as a sort of advent calender from myself and Mandy. This years card features something close to my heart, I'll say no more, if anyone misses out on a personal copy I'll post that as well before the holidays.

The Christmas rush for PMP orders at last seems to be gathering momentum, it seems impossible to get people to order early.

The Merlin / Swift London Transport film is now ready to send out, I finished the sound track and cover last night. I'll put it on e bay with a couple of other outstanding. There are aso a few old Lonsdon re-releases to go on.

Next in the pipeline is the first of our new regional bus arhcive series featuring 1960s-80s around the Greater Manchester area which I hope to have ready for Boyle St Christmas cracker sale in December.

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

FANCY A DATE, HERE ARE THE LOCATIONS ANYWAY

Hi Folks, here are our outline plans for the next year for transport film trips

2006 Overseas trips
Christmas/New Year 06/07 Australia Darwin,Adelaide,Melbourne,Sydney.

2007 Overseas Trips
Southern Poland and Eastern Ukraine
North Switzerland
France Mulhouse / Valencienne etc
Luxembourg
Charleroi
France Clermont Ferand, Le Mans, Lyons etc
Calcutta, India Dhaka, Bangla Desh and Burma.

2007 UK
Isle of Wight
Doncaster
Leeds
Norfolk
Suffolk
Essex
Sussex
Kent
Glasgow
Ayrshire Coast
Edinburgh
South Wales
West Wales
West Midlands
North West
Belfast

Monday, November 20, 2006

YUMMY PUDDING




Well as promised the great dinner at Le Macassar at the weekend courtesy of Miguel, the upside down pear pudding with home made ice cream and the venison with mash/carrots plus cabbage, all preceded by chunky salmon steak.
What of the bus, well another of my early Manchester photos, Foden attempted a come back into the bus market and I chased this one around Chorlton in my old Ford Cortina Estate which used to leak petrol everywhere.
Last night I got all the images ion the Bus Marque Merlin /Swifts finished , tonight I start on the sound track. Fraser our webmaster is updating the web site, we are simplifying it , removing the variations on the listings to just the one overall list. Getting rid of the various language options several of which get translated incorrectly. We also hope to simplify price detail / payment method instructions. Fraser is coming round next week to resolve my problems posting on YouTube.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

FRENCH VISITATION, DREAM OF PUDDINGS

Le Macassar is probably the best hotel in the world for its size, friendly welcome and food thanks of course to Miquel and Ian who are the owner managers of it, situated in the small town of Corbie outside Amiens in Picardie Northern France about 1 .5 hours south west of Calais, the pics should speak for themselves, the pudding you'll have to wait until tomorrow for. The web site is www.lemacassar.com a home which is a homage to Art Deco in a real Art Deco finished house. I'll say no more or we'll never get in again, if you want more info I'll personally vouch for every detail also see trip adviser for the opinion of other travellers. My cold was still upon me, French pharmacists don't stock anything other than Sudafed type decongestants which made me feel really awful but did clear my head which was then muddled again by the ample wine.

As well as the wine and food we went to Compiegne for a drive through the colourful autumn forest, here Mandy found both new boots and shoes . The nearby Chateaux was shut but we visited the armistice site and museum which is in a forest clearing, hence the WWI French Char tank photo. The weather was glorious on Saturday / Sunday hence a few minutes bus filming at Compiegne and thus the bus photos, friendly crews all the way. A rotten drive down though on the Friday awful heavy rain, traffic and dark, it took nearly 11 hours from my office to the hotel. Le Macassar also houses 2 cats and a very friendly dog.

We made our wine purchsases at Calais onthe way back going fior quality rather than quanity on this occasion. The chexck in on Eurotunnel these days is all automaric and rubbish. A good vdrive back up Sunday evening which made up for Friday and now to catch up on e bay sales, work etc. More of the puddings tomorrow.



Thursday, November 16, 2006

MERLIN THE PHOTOS PLEASE

There is a connection to these photos of course, last night I got all the AEC SWift / Merlin film on the computer for the new DVD, about 27 minutes into the images art present but halted for weekend to France. The Merlin was part of London Transport restructuring programme , it was actually really the Leyland Panther chassis, AEC had joined B Leyland at that stage, then LT decided to call its first design the Merlin and as if by magic a dud was born although around 200 went to Australia and seemed to run ok whilst others soldier on in Malta as seen in the 2006 view I took eralier this year. This has nothing to do with the Stockport GMPTE otheer than I also took that one and shows just how long I've been taking pics in the north of England, it was still SELNEC when I arrived here , half cabs were still very common. Was that orange actually as bad as some of todays liveries?
The last of the decorative chippings went on the borders yesterday evening and the car cleaned for the trip this weekend.






MERLIN & SWIFT BUT NO MAGIC?

Well I'm on the mend at last, still a ticklish cough. Got the copy away last night for Ian Allan mags for Jan07. Also finished the DVD of Potteries Connection running day. Then I downloaded the material for the Bus Marque Merlins & Swifts. This is reasonably hard particularly looking through all the Australian archive material as it really isn't obvious which tapes its on despite the database I have. It was mainly small local independent there which had them. As well as LT and LC there is video of Hants and Sussex in the 80s and I have a bus driver training film done on board on LT Merlin. Just need to pluck off some Malta scenes , string it together and hey presto it really is magic, more like hard slog.

The autobiography makes slow but sure progress as well.

The Intra Express , Berlin tours programme has just been launched for 2007. It was pretty much as expected, a week and a half touring the UK and Ireland plus a weekend in Milan and a week in Hungary, otherwise trains including Trans Siberian. There is also a coast to coast USA trip, all still in German pending release of English version. We of course recommend the trips although there was nothing to tickle our fancy on this occasion. We have several dates for next years rallies and locations for visits which I'll post over the next few days

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

GETTING THERE SLOWLY

the dreaded lurg has still got its hold on me but I'm struggling on, last night I did some work on Hilary Cavanaghs Dooley family tree before dinner then after some television I got the Potteries Connection Running Day filmed wrapped up this also includes the Aston Manor running day which keeps the midlands theme and recalls yet again our happy visit to Wolverhampton last Saturday. Again on family history along with the rocking chair in the hallway of No17 ( not usually at the bottom of the stairs) is this nursing chair which spent the war time and thereafter in the cellar at Edge Lane and was black with tar from the fire. We cleaned it up and had it recovered a few years back.

We have also had yet another session loading up on e bay and this Birkenhead Guy Arab is just one of the many bargains there from PMP

NEW SUPER SLOW GOOGLE BLOG

Its taken all day to get this post on with the super new Google Beta blocker or whatever, why can't people leave things alone for a while, its as bad as Marks & Spencer who drop all your favourite clothes and food as soon as you get to like them or shops like Tesco who rearrange just after you know where your favourites are - still I only go in about every 6 months so it isn't surprising. Still full of the dreaded bug which is doing the rounds. I'll publish latest new releases this week before our French trip at the weekend.

I said how friendly Wolverhampton was but when we came out of the Hippodrome on Saturday evening it was hell, what awful creatures we have spurned in Britain who occupy our streets after dark, little wonder people want to live elsewhere.

Last night despite illness I finished the Walsall DVD and copied the London Country cine again alowing me to start the archive Bus Marque Merlins and Swifts. Tonight I hope to rattle off the running days at last. Then perhaps over the next couple of weeks some oldish Manchester area stuff ready for Boyle St.

Lots of great bargains on Ebay now as well as most DVDs, just a few London areas oldies to add on. Hopefully time for some photos tomorrow.

Monday, November 13, 2006

Bedded down for winter

A hard day in the garden yesterday but at last most of the garden has been put to bed and bulbs planted for spring, I put in about a thousand yesterday afternoon after taking out the dead summer plants, all back breaking work. The green house becomes an ark for Fuschias, Beganias and the like. All thats left is a few flowers in bloom around the shelter of the house, I wonder if they'll make it to Christmas. The bark chippings go on the borders last and apart from decoration stop the cats from digging up the bulbs.

We still haven't had any Christmas rush for DVDs on the PMP front, I hope everyone isn't leaving it till the last minute, perhaps we won't get any, even e bay has gone a bit quiet. I had a moan from Canada, they'd bought off e bay and then visited the web site and seen that we post free worldwide, a leap too far to conclude that with a standard price of ?16 they had a bargain at ?12. The moans didn't stop there, a European customer visited our web site and listed all the quirks and errors he could find, ok something I should know about but there are ways and it hit me in a very tired condition. One day I'll just say to hell with it.

Before bed last night I managed to rattle off the latest West Midlands film which has Walsall and Wolverhampton Feb/Nov.

Tonight i hope to do the potteries connection running day plus material from Wythall and Bristol running days.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

FRIENDLY WOLVERHAMPTON

Working backwards to Friday, I fill up with fuel in Runcorn where they do it for you, saves getting your hands dirty, this time they put petrol in the deisel car so had to wait while it was drained and then refill, managed to pick up the spare cover for my still camera, quoted ?55 for sending away plus 4 weeks to do, paid ?15 for the spare and took a chance, it was a push fit and took 5 seconds. Saturday we went to the midlands.
First we did some filming in Woverhampton, what a wonderful set of crews, everyone responded with waves and smiles, lights flashing and thumbs up. The weather was bright but cold, this gets our prog started back in Feb finished. In the afternoon after lunch in the Irish pub in Birmingham city centre we went to the theatre. The Hippodrome is a great place but first we visited the National Trust Back to Back houses next door and the sweet shop

A great performance by WNO of Tristan und Isolde, the evening flew by, we had sandwiches and cake in the interval. We've had some of my family history this week so now something from Mandy, it stands in the halway at No17 and is a family heirloom with several generations riding upon this rocking horse which was restored by friend Sean Cavanagh in Ireland.
I'm trying to put stuff on e bay this evening but its going very slow.

Friday, November 10, 2006

WHERE THERES A WILL VINCENT FAMILY

I've posted little on family history so far, so in the hope that there are Vincents out there of my clan heres a taste of researcher Gill Blanchards work for me, taking my direct ancestry from my mother back to the 1400s,

NCC Will. 1546. Henry Vyncent. Westfelde, husb. 155 to 159 Whyteffott
Précis 8 pages

The xx daye of Februarye in the yere ccccc xlo I Henrye VYNCENT of Westfelde Norff Husbandman .....
my bodye to be buryed in the churche of sent Andrew in Westfelde at the end of ower Ladyes aultar on the Northe Side of the saide churche
to the hye altar in Westfelde affore saide for my tythes and dutyes neclygentlye forgotton and not paide iijs iiijd .....
to the towns peoppe of Westfelde afore saide a close calleyd dunyngs lying in (?.... ?.....) belonging to the ten~t of barronet HOLDER of the bishoppe of Cly as of his manner of Shipdhm And ther to enter at the fest of Sent Mychaell the Archangell next after the daye of my dischr and myn executors to sell the grounde there to them and I give the inhabitants of Westfelde aforesaide & x marks to be payed yerelye a mark untyll the saide x marks be fully contented and payed .....
to the awltar at Shypdhm afforesaide xxd
myn executors shall dispose to the poor folke in Est Derehm to paye for the sowle of Syr Roger BALKEWELL late pryar there xxd
to the mayntnance of the Sepulter lyght in Westfelde aforesaide vijs viijd
my executors shall cover my grave wt a grave stone of marble whereupon it wyll have graven my name and the daye of my buryall in brasse
my executors immediatelye after my buryall daye shall leye uppon my grave a blacke clothe to cover it wt all and a candell to stande bernning thereupon of a quarter a pounde of waxe by the space of one yere untyll the said stone be layede upon my saide grave
my executors shalbe stowe upon my buryal Daye iijli xjs viijd in meate and drinke for my neybors and pore folke And I wyll have on my herse on the saide Buryall day xxxti lyghts the prce of xxd
I wyll that and my neybors and pore folke shall have meate and drinke on my sevynthe daye and such howsehold in Westfelde Whynboroghe and (?.... ?.....) a peny worthe of brede and xx lyghte to be sett upon my herce the pryce vd
on my xxx daye in lyke manr wt .... and yf there come any preeste and saye masse I wyll that evry one of them shall have for ther labor xxjd
I wyll that x yeares After the daye of my dethe shalbe delt yerely at my funerall daye evry howseholde in Westfilde Whinborgh and (?.... ?.....) aforesaide a penye worthe of brede
I wyll have an honest secular payt to sing at ower Ladyes aultar in Westfelde aforesaide one hooll yere next after my decisse having for his labor and payn vijs and for a ladde to helpe him to sing iijs iiijd ...............
I wyll that Ales Vyncent my wyff shall have my ten~t called Popes and the iij acres of mydow there unto belongyng for term of her lyf And xij dayes after her dethe And to have sufficient wood of stewings to be delyvyd unto her by myn executors yerely for her sufficient svell during her lyff so that she make no wast of the wood there ......
Ales my saide wyff shall have ij ?...he kem and the holl stuffe in the Insett howse that is to saye all bedding brasse wt all and pwyler stuff ......
to Ales SALUSBERYE the dowter of Peter SALUSBERY xiijs iiijd to be payed at her daye of mariage And if she dye to Remayn to the next of her blode
to Katherin SKYNNER my dowter all my messe and copyeholde lands sevrallye holden of the bisshoppe of Clye and of Clye and of Syr Richard SOWTHWELL Knyght except the saide closse called dunnings ....
And I wyll that Robert SKYNNER howseband of the saide Katherin shall make the saide Katherin an assurans for terme of her lyff .....
that the saide Peter SALUSBERYE husband of the said Johan shall make the saide Johan an assurance for terme of her lyfe .....
my Messuage in Est Derehm wt the appurtencs wyth pcell of ij Messuags which I late bowght of John METTEN of Shyppdhm and Allso xi acres and an halfe of Fre lande called Tymmes and vij acres and an halfe of Fre lande of the ten~t if popys And ij acres and an halfe of Fre lande lyeing in (?dinds percys) and iiij acres of lande fre at Heyacrees in Westfelde be solde by myn executors and the mony thereof to be disposed of in the pformances of this my Testament
to Godfrye VYNCENT the ^Sone of John VINCENT vis viiijd to be payed as it maye be borne
And to Henry VYNCENT the Sonne of the saide John VYNCENT vis viiijd to be payed as it maye be borne
to Margaret (?ALLESOLL) vis viiijd to be payed at the daye of her marryage
to Edmund PELLYS vis viiijd and to Henrye FLEGGE vis viiijd to be payed as it maye be borne
to Richard ROSE and his syster vis viiijd to be payed at the daye of ther mariage
And to evry one of my godchildren that be unmaryed one platter of pewter the pryce of xijd
The residue of all my goods an cattalles before not bequeathed wtall my detts to be coming I put them to the good order and disposition of my executors whom I do ordain and make Robert SKYNNER of Boston my Sone in Lawe And I wyll that John ALYSON of Westfelde be Supervisor and I give to yche one of them for ther labors xiijs iiijd ....
Thomas MYSCHELL of Est Dereh~m otherwise called BARKER. Jamys PYEEC of the same town John DYE of Westfelde and John CHAPMA~ of the same towne wtesses
Proved xx Maij [1546]

Perhaps this will be as far as we get but there is a chance that manorial records will puch back even further

TROLLEYS MERLINS AND SWIFTS

a busy week at work with yesterday up at Windermere at a works do , thus not a lot of progress with the LT trolleybus dvd, John Bishop has offered his 2006 coverage of the London Trolleybus event near Ipswich at Carlton Colville which will round it off nicely, Johns coming up to Cheshire in a couple of weeks so i'll put it on the back burner till then. Thus I'll make a start with the London Swifts Merlins and London Country. The former under Bus Marque and the latter a Best Ever. The new EFE model will be an RLH speaking of L Country and while on models we hwear that Hornby has taken over the bankrupt Humbrol/Airfix business.I'm doing a bit hit of auction items on E bay on Sunday evening. Mandy was at Leighton hospital yesterday getting measured up for a brace for her knee, this weekend we will be in the west Midlands Saturday, opera in Birmingham Sat night and finishing removing garden bedding and planthing bulbs Sunday.

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

LONDON TROLLEYBUSES

The next DVD project now underway, look for these photographs on the cover all coutesy John Bishop. Trooleys in London , afterlife in Spain plus preservation.Ordered spares for my broken still camera and collected extra bird food for the garden, tomorrow I've got a meeting in the lakes so probably little to report. Working on a big e bay loading at the weekend for auctions.

MANCHESTER TART MURDER IN SALFORD

Verdi's Rigoletto in Opera Norths production at the Lowrey in Salford last night was so bang up to date that it could have been filmed on location a stones throw away behing Piccadilly station or no doubt near the companies refurbished Grand Theatre in Leeds. Not everybodys idea of a good show in a modern setting but very striking and competent rather than awe inspiring performance, the theatre was almost full. Rigoletto is very much a male opera although the lead lady always gets the plaudits.
I hate the Lowrey and more so Mandy, its not the most disabled friendly place, ugly, gloomy, 70s orange and purple and full of slopes and odd angles which make it torture for those with mobility problems. Added to this the menu at the cafe was a baked potatoe or a salad unless you were a child in which case there seemed to be a large choice of sensible options, the restarant proper was full so we ended up with cheese on toast before bed. That was after sorting out the printer which went on strike and trying to download the eveings e bay sales and trade orders and messages from all you good souls out there.
I'll soon be publishing links to my favourite rally calender site and for Thomas Fischer tours for 2007.

Monday, November 06, 2006

BAD GUYS, BOATS THAT PASS

cold misty mornings but busy as usual. Last night I finished the cover for Best Ever Bournemouth Trolleybuses and sent out the first orders pre booked at LOTs last Saturday. Downloaded the London Trolleybus material including trolleys afterlife in Spain , I'll probably top up with some preserved scenes which at least reveal the source of the sounds! Arriva featured here in Chester assumes unlikely bad guy role in demise of Chester. ( oops I think I deleted it)
Meanwhile in Eastbourne the municipal operation has Roger Bowker back at the helm as temp sick relief, also rumoured as being in charge of disposal , so cameras out in Sussex as well.I must get more stuff photographed ready for e bay, its been a good month and don't want to let the momentum go.
A night off as we go to Rigoletto at Lowry tonight. I've been putting flesh to next years film trips, one will take in new French systems Switzerland, Germany and Luxenbourg plus possibly Charleroi as its en route. One of our 5 countries in 7 days eforts, nice and relaxed eh.

THE END OF CHESTER LOTS AND MORE

good morning, the start of another autumal week but perhaps without the sunshine which offset the chill last week. At risk of sounding a grumpy old man, I turned the radio over this morning on the way to work, as is my wont I was listening to the Today prog on R4 when it was given over to some hysteric American babbling on making funny noises ( no it wasn't Bush), all so very different when it was dear old Brian Redhead at the helm. Anyway a hectic wekend, as you can see I popped into Chester Friday lunch time, Chester Council have started legal appeal against Arriva registration of routes to run on all Chester Buys routes in the New Year which would see them run into the ground a bit like Stagecoach used to do at Lancaster and Darlington. Other photographers were out and about as well. Saturday was the annual LOTS sale at the harrow Leisure centre. Our best day ever, it was almost like being back at the Westminster venure with quite large crowds at times, great to meet everyone, John and Maureen Bishop joined us, John signed his books and I even pressed the flesh and signed DVDs! Isn't fame wonderful. John and Maureen joined us at the hotel ( Premiere Travel Inn) South Epsom where we usually stay and had a good dinner, as usual a good quiet night at this location after some fireworks earlier. Sunday we visited my family in Stoneleigh and had late Sunday lunch on Epsom Downs overlooking the racecourse, but I forgot to take my camera.
















I picked up 5 new model buses for my collection and thankfully have finished the Bournemouth Trolleybus DVD, this week I'm doing one on London Trolleybuses. Also now in the pipeline as well as Merlins is London Country , then I'll try and get a few golden oldiers on DVD of the Manchester area ahead of Boyle St.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

PMP AIRFIX MODELS & POTTS & TROLLEYBUSES

The pictures are all finished on Best Ever Bournemouth Trolleybuses and now the sound is almost complete, the cover is ready so it should be available next week. The seagulls are there along with the 'singing' wires and frogs.. photo again courtesy Photobus, which makes me think how quiet it will be setting up at Boyle St in December instaed of competing with Arnold Richardson for access, it never mattered how early I got there, Arnold would always have squeezed his large car right down to his tables, then complain about the heater warping his photos! Still we miss them when there are gone. Next we have a London B type bus circa 1914, an Airfix model, for sale on my e bay site this week, no offers yet so hurry, Airfix went bust this year, happy childhood memories of glue and paint, made everything from Henry VIII through to Spitfires.These buses even went off to the front in the 1st World War, Old Bill they were called, painted brown khaki. Then lets recall that Sunday in the potteries, I must get the DVD done for the event. The next archive feature will probably still be the London Trolleybus then Swifts / Merlins and possibly then London Country. Somewhere along the line Alan Mortimers Australian film may see more releases, there are some wonderful scenes. The blog is picking up visitors worldwide, remember for US you can view the DVDs on your computer even without a multi format DVD which of course is the very best option.
The temperature was down to -3 this morning, still busy getting plants into the greenhouse, the heater is back on , the dahlias are all dead now, just two weeks ago it was a garden of colour, still at least the days however short are bright and sunny