Mandy had a hair appointment in Chester for 9am, we headed in from home through rush hour traffic, amazed how busy it is around home at 8am, small rural junctions take 5 minutes to get through as everyone uses rat runs to avoid the notorious M6 traffic. Anyway we arrived just a few ticks past 9, we'd had a power cut in the night and resetting timers had gobbled up a few minutes. The works to pedestrianise the roads once used by buses to access Chester city centre are still very evident, the damp weather was spreading the muck everywhere it wasn't a pretty sight. The new bus station just lacked a few hippos languishing in the wallowing mud, I wonder what will happen to the real grass roof, I give it three years max before they replace or repair it. It certainly didn't look as if it would be ready and finished in February and opened in March, their updates on the web seemed a little optimistic. It wasn't difficult to follow the revised temporary arrangements which still bring the buses in the same way by the end of it and I stationed myself near the roundabout for the park and rides etc, lots of Cambridge buses out and about early on but vanished later.

It's always great to have lots of new buses around, the absence of GHA is noted and has left a less colourful bus scene, Aintree seem to be very busy now. I went round to the railway station then up to the new bus station before making my way to the present bus station having passed the building on the site of the old bus station. Confused! Anyway they still came up from the ring road and the lack of sun meant you could point the camera in any direction and get good shots. The next time I go there will be after the opening of the new bus station which is just down the road from the fire station and near the canal etc. I met up with Mandy and had a brew, we called in at Ellesmere Port so I could stock up on bird feed and get my hair cut and then on the way through the village called to see progress on day one of the toilet at St Oswald's, nothing, not a bit of plant or even a lowly shovel in sight, I guess the weather was the problem or perhaps they'd struck a Roman hoard at first spadeful. Then it was to the post office with this mornings DVDs and back home the post was already here. I'm downloading the Chester film and should have the DVD wrapped up this evening before we host the church Access committee meeting. Needless to say photos from this morning in Chester and regards the rest of the week, very hard to call, Lincoln not Wednesday too wet but other possibilities may present themselves.

What will be a rare shot of Mandy's new car as within a few days we'll have Mandy's cherished number plate fitted, actually they are already in the boot ready to be fitted as soon as we get the log book through and go on line to change it over. The collection of the new car followed a very busy start to the day with a pile of DVD post to get off. Sue went back home and will be back Friday ready for Clonter opera prize on Saturday. I booked the RNCM Symphony orchestra performance and Handel's Theodora for the end of March. The weather looks a bit mixed for the rest of the week, tomorrow I'll be in Chester so may as well get some last film of the bus station and stops before the new bus station opens, still i think scheduled for next month. We may be able to get over to Lincoln on Wednesday. Not much truck friendly weather about though.

We've now booked another trip, the Cadiz visit proved impracticable because the only flights via Gibraltar were from Gatwick, anyway we've booked Cyprus for 10 nights in early July, should be hot and plenty of mid term UK trucks floating about although nothing super old like Malta. I'll try and fit in a trip up to the north of Cyprus while we are there. At least having 10 days takes some of the pressure off. The damp and cold here are a pain, winter goes on so long and by the time the nights are lasting longer and it warms up we are back on the sticky slope once more. Mandy's baked a cake for tomorrow night's church access committee meeting. A fair flurry of DVD orders have come in today, I'll get them ready tonight as we are off out early on. Wednesday to Lincoln may not be a goer as Mandy has dentist check, mine was the same day last time so strange I got no reminder.

It was the big garden bird watch first thing, the heavy rain from yesterday had abated and there was early sunshine but an unforecast sharp frost. I decided to do it over my morning cuppa and although there were no mass flocks not even gold finches en-mass there was a good variety and I was at 14 species just as it was ticking by to time to shoot off to church and I got a pair of reed buntings on the lawn which topped the count off at No17 quite nicely. The burning issue at St Oswald's is no longer the toilet which starts construction on Tuesday and has seen years of fund raising to make to materialise but the access to the church itself. It's become something of a sticking point and I think when you boil it all down those without disabilities find it hard to grasp the viewpoint from a wheelchair etc. We host the church Access Committee meeting Tuesday evening which should be interesting.  The bell ringers seem to come into the mix a lot so over wine at the college this evening my off the wall thinking was to get rid of the bell ringers, they were making some rum noises this morning!  Anyway we shot away back home quickly after the morning service, I did manage most of the opening up and setting up duties on my own though.

Sue came back down from her sister's and we bundled into Mandy's little Jazz for the last outing, it gets exchanged tomorrow for a new blue one full of gadgets. The new link road from the M6 to M56 is nearing completion. We very much enjoyed the Griimethorpe Colliery Band concert which was on in the afternoon, this was their first outing in their centenary year and their repertoire reflected events since the 1930's and included retrospective pieces to those who died in their industry and some national shared experiences and saw most of the audience in tears, the hairs on my neck had never been on end so many times in any concert for a long while. Brodsky restaurant was open for seating so we had our picnic at a table in there and made the bookings for our next visits. The Cory Band with their trophys well to the fore gave impeccable and technically superb performances but somehow find it hard to drop their stance as world champions to make it a truly accessible show but very entertaining and top of their art.

It's been a very busy weekend for DVD and cine film orders both by post and on the internet shops, I'll have my hands full in the morning getting everything cleared and ready to post before we leave to Crewe for the car change. I did manage to get all the Staffs and Wrexham photos ready to file, perhaps later tomorrow and upload to our still photo site on Smugmug links on this site. The hits on the adverts on our Youtube channel have tumbled since Christmas, I abhor those who visit and use ad blocker apps, it is in nobody's interest bar their own and that is short term as how else does Google raise the revenue and pass our fees on which back our archive build. Some shots from Wrexham last week. This coming week is hard to call at present, perhaps Chester Tuesday as Mandy needs to go there anyway. The new bus station should be opening soon.

It wasn't a hectic day by any means but I think Mandy and I both feel quite drained. Mandy has still got the cough and may be getting the bug I suffered with last week, none of this helps when you are busy. We had a lay in, the big garden bird watch didn't get done as it was quite frankly atrocious weather but I took a load of boxes to the tip in Northwich and stopped off at Computer World to get yet more ink for the DVD printer which has now had both types replaced and should be good for a few more months. Thankfully now we have Maxell discs again problems are less likely. Sue went off to her sisters near Warrington and Mandy headed off to do some shopping including a pic-nic dinner at the RNCM Festival of Brass tomorrow evening between band sessions with Brodsky restaurant being shut. Mandy also had to go to Crewe to deliver documents on free road tax and VAT exemption to the garage, they have the new car which is getting the hand adaptions fitted ready to pick up on Monday.

I have updated the list of DVDs on Ebay which is up to date whilst Amazon has turned into a nightmare again with their bulk uploader going up the creek on us. Our own shop on this site is always up to the minute. I had a long chat with Keith the church warden at St Oswalds about matters arising, not yet elected it feels sometimes as if I've been at it for years. I won't be hanging around after the service in the morning as Sue will be back and we'll be off to Manchester. We spent ages looking for a suitable villa rental near Cadiz, I have seen some but they aren't anywhere like as cheap as those we've had in Malta and Cyprus. Another thought is that Mandy and Sue will have a hotel holiday somewhere hot and I'll shoot off on a film trip or two. I got the latest  DVD covers made and listed and did the master DVD for Wrexham , it was frightening how out of date the EBay shop was. Some of the cine film is starting to move again , there are hundreds for sale and even when prices are lowered it doesn't have much affect. I'm hoping to have a look at the photos from this week which need thinning out and filing before uploading to Smugmug. Here are the latest DVD releases.

It is infuriating to get a message that someone on EBay has raised a case on the basis they haven't received an item which refers to a delivery which would have happened a month ago and have never contacted us. Of course we issue a refund and add the buyer to blocked bidder list. If I could find out how to send messages to subscribers on Youtube I would blast those who use ad blockers which do nobody any favours and detracts from income which would support future film trips - it is selfish and idle work robbing both Google and ourselves of the work putting the media in front of people. Likewise requests to take whatever from our sites and put in someone else's media requires a licence, however it can be immediately embedded from Youtube in another site, website, blog etc and is allowed with further reference - it opens on our Youtube account thus any revenue comes to ourselves. Anyone using bad language or threats and even foreign languages that I cannot understand may well be blocked from commenting on our sites which are based on English alone. Overseas visitors are very welcome and if you are just wanting to express you delight use something simple like 'great film' or 'Many thanks' etc. I see that Oxford die casts have announced their next round of 1/76 releases, a little unannounced bus material but not a lot, more, we want more, please, please nice Oxford!!!

I've been filming at Wrexham today, on the whole some great drivers there, lots of smiles and waves of course plus a few toffee nosed individuals but at least nothing anti! Very cold, about as cold as I would wish to film in, the worst ever was the salt crisis convoys at Middlewich, that was really cold-I think it's the wind chill which is the killer. Not sure about next week yet, Bristol is up the list at the moment plus Weston Super Mere. I seemed to be in a sweat all night, the bug which laid me below par this week seems to have finally gone from my system, yes it's the old Dave back again and raring to go. Last night we had the Bangers, Beans and Bingo night in aid of St Oswalds toilet appear which didn't attract that many people but was great fun, 10 games of full house taxed my calling abilities at times and I'm sure we speeded up with each game, everyone seemed to have fun and there were lots of chocolates doing the rounds as dessert!  Despite the small attendance advance sales of tickets for the Pancake and Quiz on Shrove Tuesday bode much better, I think a quiz is always very popular. Now I need to think of some question to take along for the fund raising committee to compile the quiz question sheets, let's think, oh yes- the next three rounds are on old British bus makes... ha ha. I need to get the Wrexham DVD done plus I also loaded up the rear facing camera for another try, I might even have enough for a DVD now although the light conditions were far from perfect, how easy all these things are mid summer. Sue is here plus helped out at the bingo last night, we are going to try and get around to finding a villa near Cadiz for June. Photos at Wrexham around lunch time today!

I was really feeling rough last night and was desperate to get sorted ready for this evenings bingo night at Plumley village hall, although it was scary that we got a call this morning that the decorators were in at Plumley, fingers crossed that all is well and looking freshly painted not under dust sheets. Not as many prior bookings as we might have hoped for but there we go it will be what it will be. Glad to hear from friend John Bishop, he has the all clear from docs, seems he had something similar to what I've now got, had a couple of tramadol , a sleeping pill and an Omeprazol, by morning I was a lot better and really still heaps on from yesterday although I've been cautious with the food. I've gone through the truck film from the car, I thought it looked quite dramatic and I've put a couple of clips on youtube to get your verdict. Friend Sue joins us shortly, I'd better start getting ready soon. Here are the M6 clips.

There hasn't been much of an improvement and if it continues I'll ring the doctors in the morning, they are probably taking appointments for 2018. I gave my car camera mount a christening this morning, between Cheshire and Birmingham. I had a lot of stops at services and junctions adjusting but I've got the hang of it now and managed to mount it behind the rear window , only problem is damp weather produces spray but it's probably easier to wipe the window rather than keep bashing away at the lens. I practised my techniques and will post the results on Youtube, I didn't get that much for a first time but have learnt a lot, not the sort of thing you gets manuals about. It's a good bracket, well engineered although I'd want good back up straps attached if I used it outside on the vehicle. Talking of which Mandy's new car arrived at the garage today, the hand adaption needs fitting, it will be ready to collect next Monday. We were up at the RNCM in Manchester this evening, met up with Stephanie of marketing who we shared a table with when they launched the new sponsors packages.

​Time flew very quickly and it was soon 6pm and time for opera scenes, using the main theatre the students perform dressed and staged mini scenes and it is a great chance for them to get an audience whilst being marked by their tutors and a chance for the audience to see some great opera for free, it's on for 4 nights this week. It's still very quiet for orders, the latest batch of Maxell DVD discs arrived which work fine and are our normal media, the Verbatum stock is in the bin and I'm having to check everything that goes out that I've produced recently. We had trouble with Verbatum some years ago and only accepted it when Maxell wasn't available. Lots of stuff gathered together for tomorrow night's Bingo Bangers and Beans night fundraiser at Plumley village hall, not a lot of advance tickets sold but it often comes good on the night with most paying at the door. We'll also be promoting the pancakes and quiz evening for Shrove Tuesday and this summer's sponsored walk in Derbyshire for which I want to download a couple of practise walks in the area to get back into form. I can't imagine getting much done n the pain though but I'm sure it will get sorted, I did the bowel cancer test a short while ago and that's one worry I should be able to put aside. I also got some 2016 photos filed and put on Smugmug from Esswex, here are some from Colchester last July.

On the whole it was a bit too sunny early on although I persisted and got a fair few shots at Hanley then moved to Longton bus station which I haven't visited for many years. A similar situation at Newcastle under Lyme which I can't recall last filming at. By this time it had not only clouded over which was good but then started to rain which wasn't forecast at all. The battery was running low in the camcorder , went to put another in and found that i'd only the one, the mystery was solved when I found that I'd put one on an old camera trying out the first car mounting bracket a couple of weeks back. This hadn't been the one for the job but I got a really good one today which is made by a manufacturer who does a lot of specialist equipment and I'm hoping for an early opportunity to try it out.

Another bad element to the last couple of days has been a dicky tummy, still not right and it's handy to stick near the toilet still! I've got a lot more pictures filed and put on the Smugmug site, I'm still working through the back log including Leicester 2014 which I've just done. Mandy did the orders today, we had a disc which showed as blank for a customer, Mandy has figured out that when our normal Verbatum stock wasn't available they'd supplied Maxell discs which we have had problems with a long time ago and always try to avoid, it looks as if about every fourth one is bad although the electronic check on the duplicator doesn't seem to pick this up. It may be that we'll have to ditch several hundred, they do have the others in stock so we've had to put an extra order through, the printer will be going for a week getting them printed up. Not a lot of DVD orders today but sometimes it gets busy in the evening. We are out tomorrow afternoon, perhaps I'll get something local done in the morning as we are tied up Thursday evening so can't wander far that day but Friday remains free. It's the RNCM Weds and then the Bingo charity night on Thursday. Here are some pictures from todays trip out.

Greeting friends worldwide, a bitterly cold day and worse down in Oxfordshire than it was in Cheshire. We didn't leave in the middle of the night but got up at 6am and arrived parked up in Oxford by 9.30 and finished including breakfast/lunch in M&S by 12am. A lot of new buses around in Oxford, perhaps the highest proportion I've noted anywhere so far this year and it was interesting to note that the trend towards street sleepers, down and outs or what have you continued to be much worse than ever seen before in Oxford. This has been the most obvious sign of the stress people are under as Britain starts it's journey to oblivion courtesy the Tories.

I think Cameroons should be tried for misconduct in public office and May is possibly more bonkers than Dump, at least Dump probably realises he is mad but May is deluded by everything facing her. Did the protest voters which prompted this madness not register at all with the politicians. I don't think they have said or done one thing that actually addresses the concerns of people and indeed couldn't and wouldn't. The baying crowds always shout for blood but that is not usually our understanding of a democracy or informed debate and is normally filtered out in the incremental decision making process. One thing did tickle me and that is Dump reckons he is going to eliminate ISIS, as most of their support and money are from regimes 'friendly' to Britain and put in place by the UK so are we to expect the US bombing us sometime soon.

The weather with light cloud was great for filming in Oxford, hard work though getting any waves or smiles from drivers there, most look bemused, perhaps they are just lost and washed there or lifted from the streets or hostels. Thanks of course to the small minority that did show some friendliness and in Banbury I though with just one exception they were almost hostile. It's decades since we've been there and it has grown at an incredible pace- I even weighed up the distribution centres just off the M40 for a truck film. Didn't like the place one little bit and it may well be decades before I return again. Photos fro Oxford this morning. All our photos can be ordered from just 50p each on our Smugmug site see links page.