We can't even manage to get one hot sunny day here in Cheshire, it looks like thunder coming but it is supposed to come sunny again and then goes cold again and rains forever as per usual but the grass looks good, I guess that's why the borders and grass in Scotland like so well late in summer. WE had a little bit of shopping to do first thing at Waitrose in Northwich and we got the DVD orders away, by lunch time I'd pruned all the roses well dead heading and pruning here and there and we were sat in the garden sweltering. This evening I bring you a selection of lorries snapped while doing the video at Monmouth yesterday. I've been using the Ibuprofen gel more liberally on my right knee which seems to be working. Tomorrow morning its the delayed spring cleaning at St Oswalds ready for a short simple service on Sunday, our first since the lock down started. There are relations who will have restrictions from the partial lock down in Great Manchester plus Blackburn etc in Lancs and over Halifax way.

Another rake of our target locations for lorry film completed today with the weather gradually improving and ends up at 28 degC. We are planning in being sat in the garden tomorrow other than pruning roses and our new neighbours are coming round for a drink tea time, we are helping out with bathroom facilities as their shower isn't back working until tomorrow, nice to be able to help people. Our services resume Sunday at St Oswalds with a spoken morning prayer which won't take long but will enable people to meet the new incumbent.

We have a pile of Polio Fellowship material to go through in adavance of an online meeting next weekend which along with Mandys hospital appointment made us change the date of our trip to see my family in Hythe, Hampshire that's two weekends away I think and will give us a chance to get Hampshire covered, ie Portsmouth, Fareham, Southampton and onwards to Bornmouth, Poole and perhaps Weymouth - I expect they'll all be very crowded if the weather holds. Coming back up this afternoon from Avonmouth the M6 south bound was blocked by an accident and queues stretched back for many miles, just like normal times except there are now millions of tourists who would have gone to Spain etc on the road heading for the seaside. Here are shots from Avonmoth. I've lots to edit and get covers made for etc which will happen over this weekend.

My old knee is giving me a lot of pain this evening after the trip to the Woodhead Pass today filming lorries. Far from ideal weather but you have to take the rough with the smooth and the weather here has been terrible but we are promised better for Friday and I intend to be sitting in the garden by then. Tomorrow sticking with lorries this week I am retracing previous visits with a favourite trio with Ross on Wye, Monmouth and Avonmouth as the weather down there looks to be 100% sunny. Also booked is a cheap rail ticket to London next Tuesday so I can catch up with scenes on those quiet streets which will be very interesting in retrospect should life ever get back to normal.

I had a bit of trouble with uploads to Youtube with DVDs I'd had to tweak sound on to get a decent production but their uploaded doesn't seem to like the first attempts, reloading and all was well but I haven't got time to mess around over a couple of clips which people view for nothing, probably same folk who never even buy a DVD or download.  Similar type of thing someone wants to use my film, as I've already put a commercial use option on the shop to avoid the tedious inquiries from around the world which actually addressed to someone with a Youtube channel means they really want to use it for nothing and think you'll be pleased! Here are some shots from the stop at Whitchurch, I've edited the DVD and a clip is loading on Youtube right now.

On the way down to Shrewsbury this morning I stopped at a new location for lorry film but close to Press Heath where I had filmed before on the A41 near Whitchurch. I got over an hour of film and fingers crossed that recent microphone problems are now well and truly over. When the weather turned to rain I immediately stopped filming and carried on down to Shrewsbury where I met Peter on his way back from the barbers so we unloaded the scanned filmed and put the next batch in the boot which is quite a time range from 1958 to 1987 and that's the same collection, I'm, looking forward to the Manchester bus visit in 1958 and the extensive Glasgow section in the 50's also of note are several trolleybus visits. There is another collection with lots more trolleybus visits in the 1960s and with the scan of John Bishops collection it is a feast of trolley scanning for August. I'm looking at what is possible to film Wednesday and Thursday. Friday we are determined to have a sit in the garden, I also need to finish off the gardening started Sunday before the latest deluge series commenced, what a month. We got our half price food at the pub in Shrewsbury which was actually a day or so earlier than envisaged. Here are some shots from Exeter last week, truck photos tomorrow. I've still got a lot of editing to do.

I've just got the Devon DVD to make, it has taken forever due to the continued problems with the microphone which went to a very low setting for no apparent reason then when I adjusted it I set it way to high. Anyway tomorrow I'm going to do a few trucks in the morning on my way to Shrewsbury to drop off and pick up films from the OTA. This gives me a chance to make sure all is well. We are looking hard at possible film trips, outside Essex, London and surrounding areas we will probably take a stab at South Wales, then Northern Ireland and wait to see if the anti British sentiment in Scotland subsides and we can travel there freely if not we shall have to pass on Scotland altogether this year. That will leave us with the Channel Islands, IOM and ROI to visit is feasible. There may be opportunities for more archive features as well which went down very well in the lock down. Overseas travel at the moment looks impossible given the sudden re-imposition of quarantine from Spanish holiday travel. Meanwhile here are some shots from Plymouth last Friday.

Yes another golden oldie with the LTE era 1948-62 now finished and I move swiftly on to the South West trip and the momentous changes which have happened since our last visit. We'll pitch in tonight with Cornwall where First Group saw around 50% of their services axed when Go Ahead picked up the massive tender for a greatly enhanced series of tendered services. It now means that Go Ahead have got new buses plus moved many in from Plymouth and then back filled Plymouth with buses from along the South Coast. This forms the basis for tonights slide show. We have been busy today though sorting out a fraudulent charge come through on the Nat West credit card which we will get credited for, we will have new cards on the account, someone in London bought a load of timber on our card, strange thing really for a fraudster to purchase.

After getting the old London bus film finished it hasn't left time to do much on the South West trip but I should make progress tomorrow. Tuesday I deliver the scanned films to OTA at Shrewsbury, there are two very heavy boxes to pass on. We came home via my friend Martin Rickitt's home which has an extensive ( 1 mile) rail system of 7 1/4" gauge and has a new tram which we had the privilege of driving round, Martin kindly took a shot of Mandy and myself after completing the basic system twice.

Here we go with Cornwall filmed on Thursday, lots of notable views can't wait to get the film edited, these shots are all at Truro, next batch tomorrow night.

Hopefully capturing the spirit of the Sth West trip in three headline pictures with so much change it is hard to know where to start. We may as well do it in order so starting in Weston Super Mare on Wednesday morning then on to Taunton. This was all rather tame compared to the momentous movements and new buses in Devon and Cornwall, altogether a great trip. Please note that with the demand for advertising tumbling our revenue from Youtube is falling so we are reliant on orders again to finance our next journeys which are lined up to cover Ireland, Wales and Scotland, central Southern England and Essex. The DVD list has been updated to include releases which I'll be editing over next two days.

Dispite indifferent weather we managed to do all that we intended and perhaps even more. Plymouth was a revelation with Brighton and Hove, Southampton and Bournemouth go ahead buses in the old home liveries and so much has changed. The first longer distance stagecoach livery witnessed and again in Torquay. We hope to have a leisurely trip back home on Saturday with no firm commitments and a late breakfast. I'll finish off editing the London LTE era film on Sunday then start editing this weeks films. We'll need to get the magazine adverts done. No doubt the lawns will need mowing the birds feeding and we can give you a catch up slide show to let you see all the goodies I've seen.

Greetings everyone, tonight we are tucked up in our hotel in plympton near Plymouth after a splendid meal. First thing we travelled the relatively short distance into Truro where the variety of first buses astounded me. There were new buss and then others that still carried fleetnamrs revealed by peeling plastic some displaying both Bristol and Glasgow and now in Cornwall. I think there was just one line soul at Truro who did the hide behind the hand truck to drive blind but otherwise everyone was very friendly. The weather erred towards rain all day particular y bad at Penzance. We finished up at Falmouth where there were huge crowds in the tourist quarter. There were new minibuses which I wasn't really aware of plus deckerson the Truro runs. There were about twenty different liveries being used plus the new transport for Cornwall red livery. Tomorrow it will be Plymouth then hopefully  Torquay and Exeter.  The traffic in Plymouth was horrendous both sides of the Tamar.

Up at five this morning and a clear run straight down  touto Weston super mare, lovely mild sunny morning and about as many buses as I expected all except community bus by first group in several colour schemes,  crosville era well gone such a shame. Then on to Taunton where they have the crazy shut the road s scheme which is generally so bad for business, the bus station had already closed before the pandemic. The buses are mainly centred on  the  stops by the bus station castle Street and altogether it wasn't as dead as it first seemed. I did get landed with a local annoyance perhaps he had learning issued but soon got shot of him. The chap from the council Manning the barricades told me the gen on bus stops and diversions. All the drivers were very friendly and helpful some even pausing to make sure I got the shot I needed. The weather stayed warm and was erring on hot by the time we got to Dartmoor where we turned off the main drag and found a nice spot by a stream to watch the wildlife and flowers. Then onto our delightful hotel the plume of feathers at Mitchell just off the main road, hand for most Cornish locations. The weather isn't going to be much good tomorrow so fingers crossed, I've experienced Penzance bus station in deluges before. Looking forward to our meal this evening the whole place is on a steep incline and we we driving up and down from our luxury room to outdoor seating the at road level restaurant. Good start to the trip.