EXOTIC NEPALESE TRUCKS IN 1998

if they are yellow it must be Bournemouth last Saturday morning



Headed to work in rain once more, got heavier when I had to take my car to the repair shop in Manchester, glad I never even thought of taking a camera. It was running on fresh air so desperate for a fill up, came back avoiding motorway looking for fuel, saw that Manchester untied are playing at home tomorrow, the night we go to the Halle, also the Labour Party conference setting up shop next door, that should all be fun, expect no early blog tomorrow then. Last night I got the Nepalese truck film finished and all my magazine adverts out of the way. Still churning out lots of family history data but little time to update. The blind in the bedroom took up most of the evening, putting up, taking down etc, getting the bloomin screws to stay in the crumbling plaster.
On Amazon website I see they had just one of my books left but more were on order so they must be selling reasonably, its my radio interview on Friday morning at 6.45 am, Southern Counties radio., perhaps they have a web link. No other media contacts as of yet and a bit disappointed that Waterstones art Eastbourne have shown no interest, you can't win em all. Looking a head to next year bearing in mind the recession, guess e will hold off booking anything after New Zealand and my China trip until things have settled down. I might try and get another regional archive done before month end, was thinking of Merseyside, Cheshire and North Wales ready to launch at Birkenhead rally in October. Next perhaps a couple more London re releases on DVD for LOTS at Harrow in December.

DRIZZLING IN CHESHIRE AGAIN

Poole, easy for photography and lots to see
golden oldie at Poole
Golden Oldie at Bournemouth
not so old

A gentle drizzle this morning after a dry weekend, the first for ages. Saturday we set off at 5.30 am and were in Bournemouth by 9, we'd packed lunch and taken a flask as there aren't that many pleasant places to stop. Bournemouth was its usual self, full of foreigners, heard just one local, an elderly chap whinging about me on the pavement with lots of F words, other than that never heard an English voice. The gypsy beggars were heading out onto their pitches around 10, a mist hung heavily until about 11am making it rather dour. The bus stops were difficult to film at because of road works so I concentrated on the hill and crossing place on the bend. Nothing really startling to report, increasingly Wilts and Dorset are in the new livery , Solos demise continues. The classic open top operation was using at least 2 Bristol VRs which were nice to see. We then continued on to Poole, a hell of a slog, one of the most congested urban stretches in the country albeit only a short distance as the crow flies. By now the sun was out and the activity here outweighed Bournemouth several fold and it wasn't that long before one the Damory VRs came into view. Next on the agenda was Weymouth where we arrived about 2 pm and enjoyed a delicious farmhouse ice-cream, one of the best we could recall, by now temp was in mid twenties and there was a reasonable turn over in buses although the open top VR had appeared mid ice cream, it was Olympian next time around, other than that a successful visit and we followed up with a couple of hours sightseeing along Chisel Beach and the West Dorset coast where we'd never been before. We cut up across country via Axminster and hit the M5 around Taunton and were home by 8pm. After beans on roast an early night after getting the bits ready for Sheffield on Sunday. Another early start and we were parked up at 7.30am waiting for the gates to open, by 8.15 there was quite a queue waiting. It was our first timer at the event, around 100 buses, very new age profile and not a lot of local content but interesting all the same. We had no real local following and most customers were regulars over from Lancashire etc although a few West Yorks fans were also there, the local museum had fractured and evidently most local buses were with the group who did not organise the event, that’s life, bit like Glasgow eh.Meadowhall was no longer overlooked by giant cooling towers which had just been pulled down, the Supertram ran past just a few feet away and the railway was bury, I was impressed by the seemingly new stock which I'd never seen before, although I know nothing of modern railway. I've almost finished Nepalese Trucks in 1998, should be added to the list before next round of adverts get done over next 2 nights. The Dorset material will be on the buses advert, added to list tonight, eBay by tomorrow. Car due to go into garage tomorrow for body work hopefully pick back up on Wednesday. Some progress yet again on family tree with both Mandy's Hardys and my Vincent side.

SHEFFIELD MEADOWHALL RALLY

Weymouth yesterday, sin sea sand and ice cream
Poole mire hectic than Bournemouth, and sunny!


just back from Sheffield Meadowhall Rally, a bit quiet people wise, our first time, plenty of buses although not much Sheffield really. Full report tomorrow, ready for a sit down and something to eat, pictures later in week.

this from friend Albert in Barcelona who has just had their bus rally,

The bus rally was perfect with more than 3500 people queueing to get the buses. The star was the Routemaster. I know that for you is anything but such a bus in Spain is a rarity, so that most of the people enjoyed the short trip very much. 99% travelled in the top deck. My job was conductor in the routemaster, standing in the platform. See a very good picture of me waiting the time to leave the stop in the ARCA blog at http://www.arca-bus.org/bloc/

Very best wishes
Albert

DORSET BUS DAY

Chesil Beach, our first time, after the buses we had a couple of hours exploring the beautiful Dorset coastline. Up at 5am and back home at 8pm, Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. Misty in Bournemouth then hot all day and sunny, wow.

The rest all in Weymouth this afternoon

Tomorrow Meadowhall Bus Rally at Sheffield

MUMBAI TRUCKS BOMBAY LORRIES 1998

last night I got the first part of the 1998 coverage of Calcutta trams ( prog 683) done onto DVD, this follows the Indian Trucks. I'm going to polish ff the run with the rest of the trams, Bombay buses and then look at the Nepalese trucks and see how long it lasts. There is a clip of the Indian stuff on Youtube.
Tomorrows forcast down south is looking good enough so doing Bournemouth, Poole and Weymouth. The car is already loaded up for Sunday at Meadowhall at Sheffield, see you all there we hope, our first time at that event, previously booked but had to cancel a couple of times. Dentist went ok, got off with a clean and polish.

MORE FROM HEATON PARK BUS RALLY

a week Friday at 6.45 am, on Southern Counties Radio breakfast show discussing my book, don't suppose anyone gets this show? Well the Indian trucks 1998 is now ready on DVD and I'm doing the rest of the trip at the same time, Calcutta trams, Mumbai buses. I expect Mandy will be dragging me off to the Three Greyhounds shortly, dentest check up tomorrow, joy of joys. Saturday weather looks good, either Bournemouth , Poole and Weymouth or South West Wales, any special requests on that one. Lots of family tree material added, all on Gencircles. The Grosholz family wewre married to Lings thence to Mandy's HARDY clan, a history of the gents family who came to Manchester from Germany. Its translated via the internet!

The roots of the stirps of GROSSHOLZ were found in the swiss village Aldiswil at the lake of Zürich. There a man named Kunrat GROSSHOLZ was documented to be the local deathsman ( executioner)in 1473. From there the family moved to Zürich and settled there until about 1600 working as deathsmen. They split up and moved to Strassburg and Mühlhausen afterwards still working as deathsman until about 1730. The family of GROSSHOLZ is one of the biggest clans of deathsmen beside the VOLLMARs.The unvaried career choice is a result of the special position of deathsman these times. Deathsmen either belonged to a lower profession or were completely banned from social life but on the other side they were appreciated as magician (selling bits of hanged murderers) and healer. However they were not allowed to marry other people than those of the same profession, they mustn´t change the profession and the job was bequested from father to son.From the age of enlightment on it was possible for members of a deathsmans clan to change to other low professions like forester or soldier.
Some descendants of Johannes Grossholz (1666-1731), deathsman in Strassburg, changed their religion from reformed to catholic and removed one 's' in their name (Grosholz from now on).The family emblem as seen above on the left originates in this age.The execution sword of the Clan Grosholz still exists at the descendants of Karl Grosholz near Stuttgart. The blade of marked with the sentence:Wann ich Das Schwert Tue Aufheben / wuensche ich dem Suender das Ewige Leben. (When I raise the sword / I wish the sinner the eternal life)andIhr Herren Steuren dem Unheil / Ich, Exequire ihr Urteil. (The masters lead us away from harm / I carry out their judgement).
One of the sons of Johannes Grossholz was Franz Adolf Grosholz (*1709 - ?, forester in Martinstein since 1736). He had 5 children of whom one had another 17 children. The family expanded very fast and some remarkable biographies shall be mentioned in the following.
Johann Wilhelm Grosholz(1802-1867) became a famous forester in Kurpfalz and is supposed to be the origin of the legend of the "Jäger aus Kurpfalz". A lot of tales and songs were written about this legendary ranger.
Friedrich Carl Michael Grosholz(1810-1888), became geometer and settled in Vilbel. He started a company for selling mineral water from a fountain on his ground. The company still exists. (Hassia) He was the father of Adolf Georg Jakob Grosholz(1845-19018), who was the director of the oriental rail company. He was given credit for his work from many countries like Turkey, Greece, Bulgaria, Russia, Germany and even the Vatican and was rewarded with many decorations and gifts. Adolf Georg Jakob was the father of Osman Grosholz. Some sources state that Osman was wearing the german banner on the opening ceremony of the olympic games 1932 in Los Angeles. I could neither verify nor disprove that.
Especially about Friedrich Carl Michael Grosholz and his descendants Erich Seipp has written a book called "Grosholz-Familienforschung 1473-1988". All content on this side is taken from this book, You can order it here.
Another remarkable and famous treeleave of the Grosholz wood is Madame Ann Marie Tussaud born Grosholz (1760-1850). She is the daugther of officer Johann Joseph Grosholz de Francfort, granddaugther of Johann Jakob Grosholz, deathsman of Waselone and great - granddaugther of Johannes Grosholz, mentioned above.
An extensive but probably not complete list of ancestors of the family grosholz can be found here. It is a part from the Malzacher list, a genealogy of some families around the region Baden-Baden in Germany. There you can see that the variety of professions also increased.
The list also mentions some family members who emigrated to USA about 1800 like GROSHOLZ Franz Anton (1820 - 1887), GROSHOLZ Konstantin (1819 - ?), GROSHOLZ Hermann (1824 - ?) which might be the roots for all the Grosholz appearances when you google the net for Grosholz. Nearly one half is dedicated to Emily Grosholz followed by Ted Grosholz, Edwin D. Grosholz and Alan Grosholz.

HEATON PARK TRANS LANCS BUS RALLY

shots as buses enter Heaton Park last Sunday before it raine ( again)



After my heartache last night with the horrid EBay customer ( why is it ALWAYS EBay) I've decided to concentrate as much as possible on truck / lorry films for a few days to let my loathing for the worst side of the bus hobby to subside. The truck lads always seem more straight forward and less hassle to deal with, first to come will be my 1998 coverage of Nepal and Indian trucks. After that Propose Asian trucks to include Hong Kong, Myanmar etc back in the 90s, still lots of UK derived units. I do have some nice archive film from Asia in 1980s courtesy Martin Rickitt which I may include, he did a bit on Pakistan's colourful trucks and also caught steam survivors in Sri Lanka.Time to have a break and planning some nights out at the Halle also Bryn Terfel is back at Bridgewater in Oct, also the last Clonter performance of Carmen comes next month. We hear that its make or break time for the Clonter Opera Farm trust as attendances this year have been well down at around 50% capacity.Mandy is pushing me to start my next book, that means she's almost finished residing 'Smudge' as we call it

The day did get better, spoke to a really nice helpful lady at Ebay and we have blocked the erring party from my site just in case. Booked for the Halle next wednesday night for a treat and radio in Sussex want to do a 'Smudge' interview just before Christmas. I hear orders as far as Ireland have now arrived, guess I'll have some signing to catch up with!

A PLEA FOR HELP ALL YOU UK PMP FANS

I really am in a state of frustration, I got this anonymous message from someone via Ebay

Dear davespencer32,Being ill at the moment i sent my nephew to Heaton Park today to buy this title and the deregulation title , i sent him with £20 as the 2 titles here totaled far less than that , he phoned me from the site to tell me the 2 titles were £12 each when he asked you. how can you justify that when this title is under £8 here and the other is under £10 , i have been a good customer of yours over the years and feel this practice more than a little underhanded
- regent444buses

my reply was
Sir
the DVDs are £16 each normal retail price ( plus postage from Ian Allan etc) , if you purchase more than one direct they are £12 each saving £4 each DVD. The rally prices are slightly different, 2 for £28 3 for 39 4 or more then £12 each. On Ebay I do have periodic sales which give even better discounts. I have never been accused of being underhanded, I take very great exception and great offence at this libelous statement, I've served enthusiasts for over 30 years , it would be better if you shop elsewhere in future.
yours Dave Spencer

his point was that the DVDs were on offer special sale on Ebay for a short period and he felt I should offer him the same price at a rally, of course there is no such obligation , actually he never even asked if we would match it, why not order through EBay, anyway he's reporting us to Trading Standards. As this is just a hobby and I don't need all the hassle I'm thinking of pulling the plug on PMP, I've a feeling its a competitor trying to sabotage us, we don't need this sort of stuff, if anyone knows him please let him know the distress he has caused, his name it seems is
Alan Darwin and his email is
daimler257@msn.com
no idea where he comes from?
Dave

TRAM AND TROLLEYCRAZY WHY NOT

Sitting by the Canal watching the ducks preening themselves in the water with the rain and wind sweeping the surface as autumn slides inexorably towards us and summer looks as if it were just a dream. Last night I managed to finish editing John Bishops Swiss material and also got all the new Dutch films on EBay shop. I'll try and do a Swiss You tube trailer tonight. Then I hope to start on a couple of trucking DVDs from the archive so I can include on next round of adverts mid month. Tomorrow I'm out in the day inspecting engineering training colleges in Merseyside and dentist on Thursday, isn't life exciting.

Next weekend we have stand at Sheffield Meadowside transport rally on the Sunday, at least its on hard standing. Blog readership has fallen last two weeks, I must be boring everyone. Now what about the book, some more sales needed, signed copies at no extra cost, I can supply copies direct through PMP, they are £9.99 I'll throw in postage for free if you order before end of September.

The weekend of 20/21st Sept Mandy has her Polio group AGM at Blackpool, hoping for weather suitable for filming. This coming Saturday may just be quite pleasant and again I repeat may be suitable for either the S West Wales visit or down to Dorset although I will have to load car for Sheffield the night before.

Showbus falls at the end of the month so given the awful weather I suppose its good run will end, I wonder what attendance will be like, we'll be at our usual spot, I intend this to be a big day for my autobiography sales 'A Smudge On My Lens', now fully available from any book trade outlet. Where will we call on the way down, Leicester, Nottingham or just Cambridge, remember last year our car broke down. Thinking of cars mine is in the shop again next week for a couple of days to get the wings refixed to the bumper which is all coming adrift, can't wait till I get my new wheels next year

THE CHEEK OF OLD NICK

we move on from Halifax on Saturday afternoon
and next have sunny old Keighley, no less


sunshine remains in pretty low quantity today, yet another dreary, cloudy wee. I started the day / week bad, an Ebay story, again. A slagging off, I'm underhand, what is my crime, chap sent his son to ask for DVDs at Heaton Park and they weren't as cheap as on Ebay sale, well forgive mew for letting anyone have stuff on offer. Blessed Ebay always brings out the meanest streaks in people, never again to auction, a shops bad enough. Anyway at least its a hobby aned I don't make a living from it, hence my easy solution, he's banned from PMP, yes Victor Meldrew strikes again folks, well can you blame me. It was good to be in the clean and warm aftrer Heaton Park, even if sales were buoyant.

Lots of progress on my family trees , updated regularly on www.gencircles.com (its British as well), easier to look up trees than on Ancestry, all those bloomin Mormons in Salt Lake City, makes you shudder doesn't it, imagine them all in their suits with bibles and a copy of Watchtower, makes you want to head for a cave in Afghanistan eh. The old knees given me some pain today, it was hell at work, oh for a decent rest.

WHAT A SHOWER HEATON PARK TODAY

Halifax and one from Huddersfield, of course Halifax Joint Committee dominate the town shots being by far the most interesting, not sure why the photos appear side by side this time, that's Google for you.



Heaton Park had just one big shower and a bit odf rain at the end, we were reasonably well placed on hard ground at the side of the park road, a good days sales and several copies of my autobiography signed and sold. There weren't many people or buses compared with normal but everyone who went along seemed pleased with it despite the dire weather forcasts. It isn't always as bad as they say. Good to see so many friends and regulars. My arthritic knee is agony tonight after the days activities. Feel like a hot bath now to get the dirt and grime of the park washed off, there was a drunk as the buses entered grabbing hold of the buses and then exposed himself, drunk at 11.30 am, says it all, its like a competition who has the biggest meanest messiest dog , non muzzled either, chav united. Photos from Heaton Park later in week after I've cleared the Yorkshire shots, I'm putting Huddersfield on Youtube for anyone interest.