The weather in Kings Lynn wasn't that brilliant given that most of the country enjoyed clear blue sky and hot temps, I think it was getting a bit of coastal fog, it was better in Norwich but they were relaying the main road through the city and this was causing some hold ups but worked to advantage in the end. All manner of colours schemes and even saw a Border bus from the deepest parts of the county in addition to the expanding Sanders fleet, Konect etc. I also eyed up a couple of possible truck film locations for future use. I'm just working my way through yesterdays film in the South West and hopefully will get Norfolk edited tomorrow before we head up to Scotland on Friday. All bets off as weather is set to be lousy over the weekend , I'll try and get some bus material as rain permits, thinking of Kilmarnock and even Port Glasgow or Airdrie. Anyway lets rewind back to yesterday and we have shots at the roundabout in Monmouth. Well tired now just ready for my bed, lots of jobs to do tomorrow, booking concerts, making DVDs, sorting cine films to copy, polishing the cars that i washed only they are dirty again, putting replacement plants in tub outside front door, getting my specimen off for bowel cancer check - what a fun filled day i'll have. That's after we get DVD orders done etc.
I noted that over the past week the average hits are 6K-10K over a 7 day period and this contains around 1000 different people. Just when you are tired ( as I am) after getting up at 5am and making the huge journey via pack horse and horse wagons over the cobbled roads to Norfolk then when you finally gtet back with four hours Norwich to Lower Peover i get an email from a trolleybus person ( for want of a better word) regarding the Reading trolleybus film which I guess was shown there at a recent event blowing his top over it not being new and breaking copyright etc etc....... well it wouldn't be new as they don't have trolleys in Reading now and even Leeds will it seems not enjoy such a mode of transport. In fact trolleybus interest in the UK is at a very low ebb and other than a clutch of orders prompted by said event in Reading there are few fans of that type of bus. The same may well be said of trams which although existing in several towns and cities in the UK and Scotland the fan base remains tiny and the loyal band of enthusiasts ever ageing, the trial of 12 months of PMP adverts in TUT will not be repeated in 2017. The weather in Kings Lynn wasn't that brilliant given that most of the country enjoyed clear blue sky and hot temps, I think it was getting a bit of coastal fog, it was better in Norwich but they were relaying the main road through the city and this was causing some hold ups but worked to advantage in the end. All manner of colours schemes and even saw a Border bus from the deepest parts of the county in addition to the expanding Sanders fleet, Konect etc. I also eyed up a couple of possible truck film locations for future use. I'm just working my way through yesterdays film in the South West and hopefully will get Norfolk edited tomorrow before we head up to Scotland on Friday. All bets off as weather is set to be lousy over the weekend , I'll try and get some bus material as rain permits, thinking of Kilmarnock and even Port Glasgow or Airdrie. Anyway lets rewind back to yesterday and we have shots at the roundabout in Monmouth. Well tired now just ready for my bed, lots of jobs to do tomorrow, booking concerts, making DVDs, sorting cine films to copy, polishing the cars that i washed only they are dirty again, putting replacement plants in tub outside front door, getting my specimen off for bowel cancer check - what a fun filled day i'll have. That's after we get DVD orders done etc. He plan came to fruition with a very early start from home which gave me a great head start down through a still quiet Midlands to get to Ross on Wye about 7.30. My usual spot on the Ross roundabout was still fairly deep in shadow at this time but the first roundabout after the motorway was fine so I span round back up to the motorway roundabout and back to the services where I parked and walked up. This gave me such good shots that I decided to stick with it and by 9am I already had my first hour. I went back to the car and moved up to the Ross turn off roundabout which in the opposite direction turns off to Hereford. This was now in ideal light and it didn't really take that long before my second hour was notched up. Then after a bottle of water I carried on down to Monmouth and the first roundabout on the edge of town where I park up just off the roundabout and it;s a very nice grassy spot and the light once again was superb. There seemed to be more lorries than ever and everyone was returning my waves and thumbs up. Then with thee hours under my belt the yomp down to Avonmouth docks near Bristol and again there seemed to be a lot more action than usual but perhaps not such a good mix of independent carriers with interesting paint jobs and golden oldies. It's also where they maintain the Avon fire vehicles so you can usually pick up a few of them as well as passing buses. Well what a great day I'd had, success and no hassle and time to carry on back up the M5 and fingers crossed I'd get past the West Midlands before the teatime crawl became too bad. Even my frugal little IQ uses fuel when doing these mileages in a day so had to fill up at Stafford service, it came to £37 which is the most money I've ever spent filling it. Home about 5.10pm which I thought was good going. Not a lot of orders today either post, phone or net so I won't be leaving Mandy in the lurch early tomorrow when i set off to Norfolk and hope I have luck with the buses and fingers crossed that the nasty sods in Norwich keep out of my way, can't forget how horrible they are anywhere near the bus station, even match old Barnsley. Anyway I'm sure you'll be wanting to see soner shots so starting at Ross here we go Another busy day with the added bonus of warm sunshine, a rarity for Cheshire and thank goodness I'm retired from the day job or I'd miss out on such days after a dreary weekend's weather. I cleaned all the vehicles and did some pain spot touch ups on the two cars and the wheel hubs on the van, looks much better for it. I did some tidying in the garden, put in the plants from Blakemere and the bargains from the Hidden nursery purchased last week. I've now edited all three of the Astle Park steam rally DVDs and ready to do the covers. I also went up to Appleton near Lymm where the Stobarts UK road transport hq is situated, I've been wanting to follow up on my first outing there last winter and it was most pleasant with a high proportion of trucks being Stobarts and some pictures to bring us up to date plus some at Astle Park. I'm about to go on the BBC weather forecast and see if I can finally decide on tomorrow and Wednesday's locations before we head up to Scotland Friday. It's now decided, tomorrow I'll be at my usual spots at Ross on Wye then Monmouth followed up at Bristol, this usually fits in neatly with me well on my way home before rush hour so fingers crossed. A cross country hike on Wednesday should see me in sunshine at Kings Lynn and Norwich another day outing which saves on a hotel and meal and does leave me to explore the truck locations in Norwich ready for the future. Lets now look at some shots of arrivals at Astle Park on Saturday morning All this talk off a heatwave makes us want to despair as the clouds still hover and our only respite is a lack of rain. Lots of jobs on the go with DVD orders to download, a garden to tidy, the PMP van to off load and then put in the Scottish stock for Lathalmond and get stock replacements in order. I've also fixed a drain from the roof, put bleach / washing up liquid mix on the flat roofs to prevent green mould spreading. I've also washed the cars and PMP van and swept the wretched tree seeds off the drives. I'm also bust editing the three Astle Park steam rally DVDs. the second is just burning as I type. I'll give you the final day on our Kent/Dussex trip which was Worthing and Chichester last Tuesday afternoon. I'll be able to start giving you Astle Park rally tomorrow. I do need to get the covers done. My trip to Norfolk and Cambridge will now be Tues / Wednesday to make the most of the best of the sunshine. We have a social physio / therapist lady coming tomorrow to look at the house with regards Mandy's assessment of her needs. Roast beef for Sunday dinner, yummy with some really pleasant Argentine Merlot for £12 for two bottles from M&S. Tickets were launched today for the film show on September 8th at Plumley village hall, we are hoping to et about 40 people there, 10 sold so far. Jed who I walked with and is now in Brazil at the Olympics has been spotted twice on TV at the games in Rio. It was a change to do something different from bus or truck rallies and I hadn't been to Astle Park rally for many year, in fact the last time I went it was the hottest day ever on record for Cheshire with I think something like 33C. Well it wasn't that warm today in fact at times it was quite nippy, I didn't go back to the car for my pullover but considered it. I spent a lot of time at the parade ring and after shooting arrivals I did the parades for tractors, steam, cars and of course lorries, oh and motorcycles only the mike was playing up so they cut it short, small mercies eh. The weather was dry which was good and cloudy reduces the need to be aware of shadow direction for photography. There were lots of sweet stalls, and cakes - not that I even considered purchasing anything, ok so I did but don't tell Mandy will you, it's our secret. I did take loads of DVD and photos but I want to give you the rest of the coverage from Sussex before i move on to that. It was a relaxed atmosphere, good value at £8 and it carried on way into the evening and has a big firework display tonight. I only saw a couple of people I knew which shows how much of a different crowd it attracts. The only really tedious bit was some idiots roaring around on motorcycles over obstacles etc but the children seem to like that sort of stuff. I got all the DVDs ready for Mandy to post before I left. We've a pile of jobs for tomorrow and I need to look for a hotel on Monday night in Norfolk. I think I've sussed out a possible truck spot at a distribution centre near Thetford, anyone any tips out there I know the roads are still cobbled but there must be some busy lorry traffic somewhere. While Ii was out Mandy went swimming at Holmes Chapel and then on to visit cousins Trish and Derek at Sale. My back aches a bit from standing filming all day so I'll load the Brighton shots on then go and have a rest. I'm not sure how today's DVDs will pan out, lots of material perhaps one on steam and another commercials from lorries to tractors and stuff the cars on to balance them out. I was up early this morning composing yesterday's blog which I'd forgotten about in my haste to get to St Oswald's fund raising meeting, my film evening is on Thursday 8th September at Plumley village hall, curtains open at 7.30pm although by then you would have missed some splendid Hammond organ music and the ABC Minors section. We had a very busy day of mainly domestic concerns. Post done then to do banking and butchers in Knutsford then through heavy traffic to Ellesmere Port, haircut, pet shop for bird and hedgehog food then to M&S for refreshment plus food / wine shopping then to Blakemere garden centre on the way back to meet Paul who fixed my email and who we promised we would purchase some bits from his garden centre. A few plants that need planting out. Earlier in the day I'd swept all the seeds from nearby trees off the paths and mowed both the lawns. I need to chjeck the weather still intending on visiting the rally at Chelford tomorrow and intending Monday and Tuesday to visit Norfolk. Later next week we shall be in Scotland for Lathalmond open weekend and perhaps filming trucks on the west coast and Fife on the Saturday then the museum Sunday. I also got all the stock for Scotland updated early today so it just needs packing in the PMP van but we need to remove the South East photos and excess DVD stock to make room, mostly we sell Scottish regional DVDs just a few of the latest other DVDs tend to go there. The van needs and clean and polish. The garden also needs a tidy up, jobs for Sunday afternoon. Also looking at possible short visits to tram and bus locations overseas. Anyway lets go back to last Saturday afternoon with Sissinghurst gardens which inspired some of my mixed border work over the years and light relief for family and friends with no specific transport interest, then we get back to the nitty gritty with scenes at Bexhill and Eastbourne last Monday afternoon. Greetings one and all worldwide, it was a very busy day and I had a lot going on but seemed to get a lot done as well but an evening fund raising committee meeting caught me on the hop and I had to shoot out during the soaps with job not done. Lets now pick up our thread of last weekend in the Sorth East of England where we had arrived at Hastings. The train strike meant that Stagecoach had put a lot of extras into the timetable and this showed, I couldn't believe the bus activity in Hastings where i'd not been for a good while. They were still using the old Manchester Stagecoach Magicbuses although some had been repainted into corporate livery, a case of yet more hand me downs in an area where Stagecoach dominates and doesn't have to try very hard. I did manage to gt all the DVDs from last weekend ready and listed on our shop, Amazon and EBay so up to date with that. I've also got the Scottish stock ready for Lathalmond the weekend after this. Before I had to dash out last night I got the sheet with the charity film night running order done so that is more or less finished now. Did too good a job with the tickets which I'm now doing for another event. We have dentist appointments for the pair of us today, how green is that sharing one journey. Then we are going to Ellesmere Port to get my hair cut calling at the Blakemere Garden Centre where Paul the manager aka computer man did such a wonderful job for me last week sorting my email out. Promised we'd look in and buy something. I'm still intending to go to the steam rally on Saturday at Chelford. Other jobs ending sorting out the PMP van with stock in for Scotland, cleaning cars and van. I did also manage to complete the archive feature of aircraft films which got pushed aside by the stream of new bus DVDs, it's already on all the shops. A quiet time for orders being mid holiday season. We are coming up to 10K subscription on our Youtube channel, please remember do not use advert blockers they stop the revenue which funds Google and me! So lets look at Hastings on Monday. |
PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
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