Another month seems to be racing by, it's quiet on the DVD order front in the ru up to Easter although the magazines have only just come out which usually provokes some activity. A long day out especially on the back of Sat and Sunday at Boyle St. Another early start saw us dodge the traffic and have a clear run via the M6 toll to Northampton and the sun was already getting well up in the sky and despite the low temperature as long as you weren't in shade it felt quite comfortable. We found a parking spot near the bus station an a cafe on the road running down through the town. After being suitably fortified with coffee and cake I set to with the buses and achieved my target in almost record breaking time with sequences lasting up to 20 minutes at the bus station where the light was spot on as you'll see in the photo selection.

We had a really pleasant drive from Northampton through to Bedford, we were amazed at the wonderful picturesque villages along this route and although very much across country we were soon in Bedford which has the most bizaar road system although it looked like a new ring road was about to come into action, at present quite a lot of artics make it to the bus station roundabout right in the centre. There weren't quite the golden oldies which Stagecoach produced in Northampton but there is Unibus again and then Grant Palmer as a major force on the bus scene in Bedford.

The sun by now had vanished and this wasn't a bad thing as the new construction of yet another shopping centre is on the site of the market and car park where I often used to stand so shadows would have been a nuisance. We had lunch at M&S and then I set to and went up to the bus station which hasn't really change as far as the buses go and once again just like Northampton all the drivers whether at the wheel or passing by enjoyed a bit of banter and were all very friendly. In this the very heart of Warsaw sorry I meant Dhaka , oops no read Bedford and Northampton. Considering this there was no hassle so why are the Polish drivers so anti bus enthusiasts in other places, I assume there must have been a few there, perhaps not? So today Northampton shots tomorrow some from Bedford. No new buses about at all but then I can only capture what there is and I found there was a good variety of stock.

Sunday is always the quieter of the two trading days at the museum of transport at Boyle St in Manchester and this year was certainly no exception and the spring event is usually less profitable than that preceding Christmas. Happily this year by the smallest of margins the weekend trading beat the event in 2015. It was fun and games packing up, I'd got the PMP van in a perfect position near the door but onme of the other traders wanted to get my spot so offered to 'help' to speed things up, as I went off with my first load his attempts with a barrow trolleys sent the DVD boxes and contents flying. I carried on regardless I'm a little less stressed these days even if the blood pressure has shot up. Then one of the lovely lads from the museum with learning difficulties tried to assist further and this resulted in a similar situation outside.

However unflappable old me I carried on and with some deft diversions escaped the worst of the Sunday traffic and we were sat down for starters at 18.00 although mains come later and pudding later still such is the life of busy busy people. Lots of our usual friends and customers over the weekend. I thought the atmosphere a little tense at times with the museum staff who rely on such a small band for so many tasks. I've got a pint of Timothy Taylor's Landlord which ties in with Phil Stevenson advising me its made in Keighley where i need to film sometime as they are changing the livery. We are if all goes well off filming tomorrow in Northampton and Bedford, if there is a break in the cloudy weather I might go back up to Cumbria to finish the Cumbria bus film, and if it were a sunny day do some truck filming as well. Gardening needs doing Good Friday is also a good bet for that but that doesn't sound very holy week does it! Photos outside the museum this afternoon.

From past experience I used to leave the alarm set as for work days when it was Boyle St sales days but with no work it was a blow to set it so early on a Saturday but at least the weather was fair enough albeit a bit on the cold side. I'd set up the PMP stand Friday afternoon so there was little to be done but I did run through all the stock removing duplicates, noting items missing and replacing DVDs put back out of order, the latter a frequent occurrence. It was down to our loyal band of regulars to give us a good days trading and by lunch time most of them had already called by thence the afternoon ground slowly by. Mandy came along and brought my lunch and then came home and started on the replacement stock for that sold and filling the missing gaps. We've just about finished that little marathon and Mandy is just cooking our Sunday dinner which perversely we are having today, Saturday.

Tomorrow Mandy will attend the charity walk meeting after church at St Oswald's whilst i man the barricades at Boyle St, it is always a lot more quiet on the Sunday. Plans for Monday are still weather dependent but something should materialise. Easter weekend may well see us up at Kirby Stephens in Cumbria for the running days which we have never manage to attend before and Sunday afternoon if the weather is kind we may well head over to the running day at Liverpool Pier Head. I'm still working my way through the 16mm cine films, quite a lot done but loads to go. Some pictures outside the museum today, usually more visiting buses on the Sunday.

A busy day with the DVD orders prepared for posting first thing, Mandy had her doctors appointment cancelled now rebooked and she went this afternoon so I went to set up at Boyle St on my own. There our friend Alan Mortimer from Perth caught up with me and had a look around the museum. I bought Alan back home for sandwiches and cake then when Mandy returned we dropped him at Crewe station to get back to Birmingham where he has been based for his English visits. Hopefully Alan will catch up with John Bishop at Brighton over the weekend, next time we all meet will be in Hong Kong. I got some more of the 16mm cine film copied some very interesting items among it.

We are now looking ahead for destinations next week which may well be towards Bedford, Northampton etc but Mandy has appointments Tuesday so it would just have to be a one day flying visit. Also looking at the various events around Easter time which we may attend to film.  I picked up my orders for model buses, trucks etc at Manchester this afternoon, making space on the shelves I started but didn't get far now I'm back at square 1.  All the magazine adverts are now complete for May issues.  Not that much on the net but i'll try and get the DVD orders ready for Mandy as I'll be on my way to the museum early tomorrow. I've only got the second half of our DVD stock so if you want anything special it's probably too late for Saturday but requests for Sunday accepted. We will restock Saturday afternoon and Sunday so hopefully you will all get what you want. A few shots taken outside the museum today

I think we'll ditch Barrow on the next round of Cumbrian coverage, services seem to have dropped to little above starvation level and we had hassle with local over filming there this follows threats from Stagecoach driver last time, I must say the drivers were 100% friendly this time just the locals but then living in Barrow would I suppose send anyone round the bend. The traffic on the long slog up to Whitehaven was horrendous and really messed up the day. Whitehaven goes from strength to strength and in the sunshine must rank as one of the most improved towns as now comes over as a quaint seaside port town and bus content and frequency enhanced by Reays services.

Next we went up to Workington, it didn't seem as busy as when we used to visit on a Saturday but the sun was still shining, then another slow run up to Carlisle and the sun was already too low with sun and shadow making filming futile so I gave up but stopped off in Penrith to look at their bus station as I couldn't ever remember filming there, it is very open aspect only problem lovely facility, nice stops, nice info on old local operator problem is lack of buses 5pm a ghost town, ok to be honest one Stagecoach came through spot on time as well. Anyway reminds us that the Easter Cumbrian event with buses and lorries is one over Easter when we used to cover Scotland so if the weather is kind we may make a visit. I need to go to say Kendal and finish off the Cumbrian film which can easily be combined with a truck visit should some more sunny weather come our way. We have a family event in Midlands on Saturday so perhaps I'll combine that with a visit in the morning.

It is my birthday, 64th wouldn't you know well despite those youthful looks not bad eh. Anyway tomorrow the forecast looks a tad good in the North West and its been a while since we covered Cumbria and we shall be looking mainly at Stagecoach with some variations with Reays in Carlisle etc. Next week we'll be out on the hunt for trucks again in the run up to Easter. Lets see how the weather goes before making any promises. Work carries on apace at PMP with the 16mm cine films of which 5 more hours has been added to the archive and some great transport interest and particularly nice films of niche subjects including a stone quarry in Rutland which took my fancy. As usual the documentary films scan the world but nearer home is a 1940s wartime feature on fishermen, more naval antics with our navy in wartime probably produced about 1930, some brilliant shots in this. As usual clips for the time being are going on Youtube although as previously mentioned in the blog this part of the activities is on borrowed time.

We had a lovely time at Clonter Opera this afternoon with tea and songs from the shows a format that saw a large turnout this time and a time which seems to suit many, the summer opera will also have a matinee and another special in September on a weekend afternoon. We went and looked at curtain material for the landing window, propping samples up against the paintwork etc when we got back from Clonter. Thanks to everyone for their birthday wishes and for all the cards received. Tonight a slide show from our visit to Glasgow earlier in the week.

It was very late when we got back from Scotland last night, actually it was slightly frustrating and funny and there seemed to be road closures everywhere and road works even where it wasn't closed. We were up at 4.30 am and straight up to Edinburgh with quite an easy run up and thankfully our usual disabled parking spots had been made accessible once more. We had breakfast in M&S and then I got cracking. Lovely sunny day which soon warmed up from the frosty start. Lots of buses delivered since our previous visit in April last year. Then we moved along to Glasgow , queues in M&S too long to bother with lunch and light getting less as its earlier than our usual Easter visit but great shots of the new buses and then went up to Buchanon St bus station where the usual clutch of bus enthusiasts were on duty.

When we'd finished we thought as the weather was still good we'd potter down through shap and look for somewhere to eat but this was thwarted as the A6 was shut so we ended up going down the M6 and coming off to retrace our steps a couple of miles to shap village but as the road was closed to the north the pubs weren't doing food. We came through Kendal but couldn't see anywhere decent to eat but then found the M6 south was shut and had to take an initially poorly signposted diversion which took us many miles out of our way but came back out at the junction which has the road to Kirkby Lonsdale so we headed there and came across a pub called the Lough at Cow Brow where we had an expensive but enjoyable meal and somewhere we'd go again and the had superb puddings, I could have gladly eaten any one ( maybe two) of about 8 which appealed to me. By the time we got home and opened to post and watched an hour of tv while we unwound it was time for bed.

In the morning there were plenty of jobs to be got on with and after clearing the post we got the DVD stock loaded in the PMP van ready to set up at Boyle St museum on Friday. There were lots of other errands to do and then after lunch I've got the two DVDs for Edinburgh and Glasgow made and the covers ready and listed on the shop page. It's my birthday tomorrow, a whacking 64 years under the belt, getting a bit rickety as well, I think the new knee has had a bit of a pounding this week. Tomorrow afternoon we have tea with songs from the shows at Clonter opera. I've been copying some of the 16mm films so I can get them sold one, some are quite valuable such as the 50 minute 16mm film on the construction of the Forth Road Bridge, a monster of a reel as you may be able to imagine. Anyway must go, I'll put clips on Youtube but if you are one of those using ad blockers you may be the cause of the dramatic collapse of revenue and we may well decide to pull the plug on these clips and will start our subscription channel which will be PMP Catch Up which will start with our earliest numbered DVDs at full quality direct from the DVD. There will be a reduced rate for the first year  rising  when there is a reasonable amount on there. Photos from Edinburgh.

I've found that whilst the slide show function still doesn't work I can pop the photos in as a gallery so here we are mainly Oxford St. I've finished editing the three DVDs from London last Thursday and they should be on the shop page later today. We already have orders before we made them such is the popularity of London although with all the sameness to me it's nearly as boring as the RM days.

The marathon decorating session has ended for the moment as we restored the house to normality other than a new set of curtains required for the landing the old ones having faded massively. With everything now cleared away we could consider our options film destination wise for the rest of the week ahead with Wednesday my birthday being off the agenda as we have an afternoon concert at Clonter opera and then Friday which is setting up afternoon at Boyle St bus museum in Manchester ( we of course look forwards to seeing many of you there, the full hit of recent releases will be with us).

So looking first at Monday, after deliberation it looks as if we shall be up very early and heading first for Edinburgh and then Glasgow with no need to stay overnight and let any of our precious cash go into the economy north of the border, I can't really find the heart to even stay on our beloved Scottish  islands after the treatment I received there following the racial assault by the policeman at the commonwealth games in Glasgow.  London seems so civilised in comparison but there are lots of new buses in Edinburgh and it too is a sophisticated cosmopolitan capital with some of the most friendly bus drivers around.  Other destinations seem to indicate bus filming rather than trucks at present but the balance will soon be redressed. A couple of days are now allocated to the North East and South Wales for buses with other destinations such as  Beds, Notts, Northants all in pursuit of coverage. We'll be spending a few days in Essex and East Anglia in the summer. We end with images down at Trafalgar Square and nearby all from last Thursday

nearly a straight 12 hours painting today as i was determined to get the hall, stairs and landing finished, there will be just a few tiny touch ups to be done but we can start putting things back on the walls etc in the morning. I've just had a shower and pudding and about to watch a bit of tv. During the day i bobbed in and out of the editing suite and got two of the three London films finished I'll try and get the clips on youtube tomorrow plus make the covers and get the dvds listed.

I've obviously not had much time generally, missed most of the ebay films i was bidding on , must get my 16mm films copied and for sale as there seems to be high prices for most documentaries at present especially where motors or motor sport are concerned. I'm going to have another bash at some of the London pictures taken on Thursday. Another big job for tomorrow is to finish adding EAN bar codes numbers to the ebay listings.
Still no luck loading any photos

I has a very long day out to London yesterday arriving back near midnight. I got about 3.5 hours of film including some great sequences at the reconstruction works at Elephant & Castle. Busy decorating toady and tomorrow and out tonight again at RNCM.
Here are some photos as a taster of my day in London. Sorry function won't work