It was a successful trip to Northern Ireland getting all the film we had anticipated albeit not a very profitable outing with the only customers at Cultra our band of loyal regulars who would probably have caught up with us online or other events. That said the weather remained ok for much of the time never sparkling and really let the side down after some earlier brightness had graced the Ulsterbus at 50 rally at the transport museum - when steady light rain came it was 3pm and no event really stands a chance of surviving such a late dampener on proceeding. We had a really good stay at our latest favouri8te at Comber where the Old Schoolhouse vies with Browns in Derry to take the annual accolades for cuisine in Northern Ireland. I was 'spotted' by our great band of followers in Derry and Belfast plus whilst filming truck in Belfast. As the Cultra event faded out so early we were left with a considerable amount of time before our departure from Belfast to Stranraer, it was a good job we'd brought books with us. The driver from the port to home is a very long haul and although much improved and quiet in the late night hours it still took about 4.5 hours to get back including stops for fuel and getting fresh milk. The Cultra rally was probably about the same size as 2015, I heard that last year numbers were down on that, a pity that deckers didn't feature in the preserved ranks and that there was only minimal support from the ROI with high fuel prices being blamed. I think there was about 50 buses in the end with three older vehicles parked inside the museum grounds but readily accessible for photography. Ulsterbus staff proved just as friendly and accommodating as they have since I first visited in 1979, this time I went round Ballymena depot and bus station which rounded off the features mainly based on Derry where i was fortunate in meeting a local enthusiast who pointed out the the gem of a terminus used by North West Busways which is well away from the main bus station. Dublin was still in the midst of tram expansion road works with chaotic traffic of taxis and buses mainly although there were new opportunities for photography just as others vanished. I'm planning a truck filming trip to ROI later this year as they are so popular there much more so than buses and we have the rally at Dun Laoghaire at the Bank Holiday weekend at the end of October using the former Stena premises. Stena lounges catering has plummeted to new depths although the standard of staff service and maintenance on the vessels looked and felt good.It was a very tiring day and we were shattered after the late arrival homer in the early hours and then having to be ready for warden duties at church so there was little time to waste. We have a plethora of photos to bring you as well as being busy with a landslide of cine film sales and the usual tranche of DVD postal orders after publication of Buses. Our next event is the Taunton running day in May. We shall be filming at Llandudno festival this bank holiday weekend which reminds me I should book my Truckfest tickets online tonight , that many people prebook that the cash purchase queue is actually quite short on the day We've not really got to grips with the UK election and to us Labour is the only option under Jeremy Corbyn sand his considered and fair vision of the way forward as we wade through the quagmire left by the Tories and their home goal of Brexit..Lets have the Ulsterbus at 50 rally first tonight. My list of to do jobs got longer again as having just put the 16mm cine projector away I unearthed the St Oswalds pageant from many years back to find it's on 16mm, just when I thought i'd got down to 8mm again. Comments are closed.
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PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
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