We then carried on to Chesterfield where the sun made the local services difficult to film but at the main bus station it was great and such a variety of operators. After that we put to use our reconnaissance of good filming spots on the way back from Buxton to Macclesfield stretch and by now my knee was swelling a bit but held out fine and we've yet another truck film to be edited. Bit of a tail back now, anyway must dash meanwhile here are some pictures taken today. Down to three a day with painkillers now and aiming to cut that again in a couple of days.
Welcome to this evening's blog which I hope I can finish before I fall asleep. There were a few household chores to be done this morning such as changing the bed, hanging out washing, getting ready for the bin collection tomorrow - I won't bore you but the list of things tends to grow. It was our day for going over to Derbyshire to collect the shoes I'd ordered from a shop in Bakewell. We combined the shop stop with the Thornton Cafe which has the best Bakewell tart I've tasted other than my mother Marion's. We then carried on to Chesterfield where the sun made the local services difficult to film but at the main bus station it was great and such a variety of operators. After that we put to use our reconnaissance of good filming spots on the way back from Buxton to Macclesfield stretch and by now my knee was swelling a bit but held out fine and we've yet another truck film to be edited. Bit of a tail back now, anyway must dash meanwhile here are some pictures taken today. Down to three a day with painkillers now and aiming to cut that again in a couple of days. Things seem to be steaming ahead in a fairly good manner these days and it was after a catch up sleep that we got stuck into the backlog of DVD orders from the weekend , I think there were around 30 packets to go out. I downloaded onto the editing suite all the Irish images including buses, trucks and the rally. There was just over 5 hours worth of film so I'm not sure how that will divide up. The first one on buses is ready and ditto trucks. I decided that I should not let the grass grow under my feet on the company pension, quite onerous identity requirements saw us delving into the family document vaults for birth and marriage certs etc. The head office is near home so on our way to the shops I dropped it off at the pensions department. It was a great result that the pension exceeded my best estimate. We had to pick up ice cubes for the ice wrap cuff gadget which takes the heat out of the operated knee. Even after the hectic weekend it seems to have settled back down again. We had a hospital appointment at Leighton, Crewe which took up a slice of the afternoon. I had to get the bulbs in the shed out to air as they were in danger of getting mildew or damp rot and many have already started to sprout. We were early at Crewe so called in a a nearby garden centre, dismayed to see santa wonderland in September! I've now edited and completed the first Irish DVDS from the weekend these being on buses and trucks and quickly added to our shop. This evenings photos from the weekend rally at Dublin Port. Tomorrow we should be calling at Bakewell to pick up shoes I ordered last week and then calling at Chesterfield to finish off our Derbyshire bus DVD. We also hope to exploit truck locations through High Peak area. Later in the week I want to return to Walsall to do trucks at junction with M6 and the over bridge nearby just south of M54 joining M6. We are just settling down after arriving home, unloading the necessities out of the PMP van and opening the post. I was intrigued by the envelope from work which contained my final pension statement , earlier I'd had an approximate statement, for a rare time it has gone to my advantage with considerably more than the first estimate had put it, not really surprising as with 40 years there had been several versions of the scheme with rules pertaining to them changing as well, anyway very welcome news indeed which mean when I get the new state pension at 65 I will be on nearly the same as I get now less having to pay NI and pension etc, Mandy declared that she was very happy as she can continue to spend as and when and i can carry on having my model buses. By the way I just landed a Liaz trolley from Russia at £0.64 although postage was £20 but not bad at all. It has been a great weekend, three straight days from Saturday of unbroken sunshine and coming back tonight a wonderful sunset and the moon in a halo, all o do with the eclipse i presume. Sorry last nights blog went up the wall, Weebly at it again and perhaps the hotels signal wasn't as good as the nights before, anyway staring on the main RTE news was a second first following on from Marti and I on Bangladesh bulletin although we didn't actually see it on that occasion. This morning rounded off the Dublin bus coverage and also got some trucks at the roundabout outside the P&O harbour. Three of the rally truck entrants passed by which was nice amongst all the modern lorries. The crossing was like a millpond , we are just going to have a piece of cake and then to bed with a lay in in the morning, Mandy has a hospital appointment tomorrow for her blocked tear ducts. If the weather holds this week should see a truck filming day and a couple of bus trips. Meanwhile some shots from the morning at Dublin. We've just downloaded all the telephone messages some of which we listened to several times to decipher! after our smug evening seeing ourselves on the main evening news it was down to earth with evening meal in the restaurant at the hotel, in true Irish fashion we were stuffed.the waitress got the cool cuff water bucket refreshed with ice and I was still using this in the morning on the way through Dublin to the rally site down at the port. I filmed the vehicles arriving throughout the morning, numbers of lorries seemed down on last year although there was a good show of buses also low were fire engines and military vehicle's. the weather was beyond anyone's dreams with an unbroken blue sunny sky throughout the day and straight through the evening and hopefully repeated Sunday and Monday. we are hoping that th sunday turnout surpasses last year. we were under cover in a tent which was quite warm, I was glad I was in shorts. the ole knee was a bit swollen but never painful. I filmed the ordinary wagonsgoingpsst but this really dropped off after lunch as did the attending vehicles which were supposed to be on site by ten am. everything seemed to go quite well, needless to say our takings were a bit down but we have Sunday to go and next time in Ireland I must get the photos replenished. I think the locals thought the DVDs were dear but at twelve quid for such a specialist subject and such high costs im not dropping the price. there is never a chance of doing anything but cover costs and that would be a satisfactory result.
we were up early this morning and Dave elected to drive to Holyhead we thought we did well getting the diesel so cheap at tescos but for the first time it is much cheaper in Ireland. we are just watching the rte evening news as we along with ed o,Neill were filmed at the rally site this morning by the rte reporter. ed seemed to be running the show single handed and was staving off crisis after crisis which included the bus just finished to be launched by the port director only it wasn't even painted by no probs as there was a similar one which could be substituted only it wouldn't start at this point we left .the marquee was being erected so even if an unexpected shower appears we should be safe for rain always a wise thing in Ireland. we then parked near the roundabout near the port entrance and in about ninety minutes I'd captured enough for a DVD, we then went into the city Mandy did some banking at the ulsterbsnk on oconnel street while I navigated the road works which seem to have spread through Dublin like a plaque and you can't get anywhere now for bus lines. well be on site to set up at nine am tomorrow morning and look forwards to meeting all our Irish friends.
Not the best of sleeps last night but overall it's been three nights with good rests unlike the previous weeks up all night. It was the last of the initial series of physio at Hale and as usual I left feeling as if I'd had a battle with a grizzly bear, my knee just wants to rest a while without being challenged too much. I've booked another session in a fortnight to see how it's developing, perhaps another before the end of October but then the finance will have dried up so we shall have to evaluate the effectiveness of further sessions, probably of more benefit will be time at the swimming pool. It was a mostly bright day with the occasional black cloud mostly it stayed dry although we returned home to find it well watered. I washed the PMP van and we loaded up the rest of the stock, wheelchair, crutches etc etc ready for an early start tomorrow morning over to Dublin Port where we hope Ed will have already set up and perhaps we can get an earl;y start with the stand. I'd like to do some filming while we are there but if that turns into hassle I'll got into the city to film the buses. Perhaps we'll bump into the big chief of the port who is opening the show and get permission, applying to their public relations email address w\as like banging your head on a wall but all very typically Irish. We had lots of chores to do, banking, shopping, post etc but everything is nearly done, I', planning a session trying to round off the images on the second central southern England archive bus feature. I'll try and do the blog tomorrow night from our hotel in Dublin. We look forwards to meeting our friends in Ireland please try and get along Saturday or Sunday, we'll have photos and DVDs of Ireland north and south plus a range of the normal PMP stock. Probably too late now to take requests with us but we'll have the hudl and can look up what we have to suit your requirements and post on when we get back after the weekend. Irish photos then this evening. In line with our commitment with more time available to visit 2nd line bus locations we start our latest Derbyshire coverage with visits to Bakewell and Buxton , both this afternoon and photos at bottom reflect the visits. It went very cold at Buxton and started to rain which marked the end of the trip out. Full of fresh air I kept nodding off on the way home. We cleared all the DVD orders early on and after my knee exercises etc we dropped off the post at the village shop. Mandy managed to purchase a pair of gold earrings in Bakewell and we had lunch at the Coffee shop and hidden garden, the best tea shop we have ever found in Bakewell, apple crumble for Mandy, Bakewell pudding and cream for me despite it being a dieting day. Other items from the B'Well cook shop and we have ordered a pair of shoes which were just what I wanted but they didn't have my size. I've just listed a set of block mounted prints of Sussex transport interest on our Ebay shop, these had to be dusted and washed as they were dusty and had cobwebs but looked fine spruced up, they join many other Sussex related items with lots more to come when I can get into the loft once more. When the weather gos of I'll start copying all the cine film I've purchased this year, any of Sussex interest will probably go down to John in Hailsham and I'll reload the rest on EBay. I've also found another box of mixed photos which I'll lists in bundles of around 100 there are some great bargains in line with this already listed. The DVD orders are streaming in after the release of latest Buses magazine last weekend and really we can't imagine how Mandy coped with it all before. We'll knock of a visit to Chesterfield after we return from Dublin to complete the Debryshire volume. I also intend doing a truck DVD on the High Peak area of Cheshire and Derbyshire after sussing out locations on todays trip. It was freedom at last after a great night of natural sleep ( no pills) I woke up in time to get the tea in bed and Mandy went swimming whilst I got myself ready and did my knee exercises. I went down to Walsall after the rush hour had finished and roadworks on the M6 are now minimal thank goodness. This made for an arrival mid morning and as I staggered downhill from the car park towards the market i realised that my knee needs a bit of warming up to reach optimum efficiency plus downhill is harder than uphill. I encountered a pack of the new Nat Express deckers before I'd even reached the bus station, chuffed with myself for coming out equidistant from the two stations. The Alexander Dennis Enviro400MMCs look great in the platinum branding which I think has received the vote from most people as being far better than the red liveried cousins in Birmingham. The routes around Walsall have never been so top notch with free wi fi and extra comfy seating. The Nat Express drivers were of course as friendly as ever but it wouldn't be a proper grice if there weren't a couple of idiots about with a gripe. It was Rotala Diamond who claimed the leaders jersey with the bling entry into the bus station award for September. More awards announced tomorrow, just make sure the driver has full vision should you be unfortunate to have caught one of their buses, anyway they must already be feeling inadequate faced with such sparkling handsome new beasts from Nat Express. It was as busy as ever and before leaving i wandered back to the other small bus station and it was amazing to see that Thandi has moved into the executive market branding era with Darts equipped with 4 wheels plus a steering wheel and even provides seating, its good to know that the smaller operators have been inspired to achieve a corporate look, with so many liveries they can just pretend that they don't belong to them, enthusiasts are as happy as Larry and can't get enough of these mini running days otherwise know as 'routes'. I looked up above the shops at the Victorian arcade nearby, some wonderful buildings around Walsall if you squint a bit and look up above the dross at ground level. Its a bit like a voyage around the world in 30 minutes. When I got home to blighty there was the model of the Ikarus artic trolleybus freshly arrived and carefully packed safely received from Hungary at a fairly sensible price. Atlas are now offering a coach range in the UK which will include a few continental buses, lets hope they offer some of the more obscure models which are fetching a huge premium around the world now. The chap arrived to mow the lawns an strim the borders, thus cementing the vague promise I'd made to deliver a talk for the rotary club at Gatley golf club in November. Clonter opera have another two ebvents coming up with Flossie Malvialle, the Geordie French singer, she is wonderful, sings Edith Piaf and Jacques Brel numbers and makes great banter with the audience. Mandy's cousin Eileen has just left hospital making a record breaking recovery from brain surgery but husband Dennis was probably anxious to get his dinner with the freezer running low so probably bribed the ward sister. Seriously though great news. So photos from that exotic hot spot of the midlands, Walsall... Good evening friends, customers, relations worldwide, another miserable wet day here in Cheshire but it enabled me to finish off editing the Regional Bus Archive on central southern England - these volumes always become tedious especially putting the soundtrack on them. Anyway it was quite a hectic day after a bad night. Mandy was ill about 2am and my leg was killing me, after cleaning up from sick etc and more painkillers I think we both managed to get some sleep after 4am and really weren't that inclined to get out of bed but friend Sue was staying and she needed to get back down to work her charity work at Age Concern plus tomorrow she's at her old job that has lingered on now for years. I'm glad I've made a clean break. We agreed on the Malta trip for 2016 and are taking 10 days to allow a little more time for relaxing and doing film work at a more gentle pace. We'll go over to Gozo as I missed that out on my last trip, at the end of June it should be really warm lets hope the wind isn't too bad one of the climatic pains of Malta. Getting flights was the usual mish mash between operators but I got some reasonably timed trips in the end but no bargain basement deals to be had. I also got the tunnel booked for the family trip to Piccardy next month. There were heaps of DVD orders, Mandy had made a start but she had to go out this morning, the phone kept going and the pile just got bigger, all cleared now except those which arrived in the post which i these rural places is around 2.30pm. We updated our calendars and diaries and booked some concerts at the RNCM and Clonter which has come up trumps with another Piaf event to celebrate the centenary of her birth, The Geordie French lass who also sings Jacques Brel numbers is doing an afternoon tea concert and then a Saturday night one , we've booked both plus the opera gala - with concerts at RNCM both Oct and November are looking quite full. Here are some clips from the regional bus archive I finished today. |
PMP Sponsors the North West Vehicle Restoration Trust at Kirkby.
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