The day went pretty much as planed yesterday with the weather mostly warm and sunny as we breakfasted at Plumlies just a few minutes from home then on to Salford for the new RHS garden at Salford which scores well on the garden content but abysmal on the catering which after a couple of months should have been settled in, the staff in the cafe looked like they had had enough and were forced to go there by the dole office. We also had a lovely meal last night . This morning I'm reading at church and sidesperson but when I get back at lunch time  we are going to Tatton park which we haven't visited for some years a first visit for Yvonne and Graham.

In the background to this we are sending our the DVDs and glad to say that more orders for the lucky dip selection have come through. This helps are we are getting short of space yet again and the only alternative would have been the tip. We'll be workring hard to get a selection ready for our reduced size stand at Showbus but please come and say hello. Anything you want to pick up there needs to be advised by the latest this Thursday. We may stop off to film en route and stay over but that will depend on the weather. Here are scenes from the gardens yesterday which are of course still very 'new' and will gain as the years pass. Following that another look at Dublin buses.

We are hopeful that we can win a race to get new London transport archives out for Showbus, it might be a bridge too far but they will certainly be ready for the Detling event and regardless of this we will have several months of releases of DVDs with us and a selection of the most important archives. There will certainly be the next volume of our coverage of London Transport taking us into the LTE GLC Council period 70's-80's. Meanwhile yet another scanner has bitten the dust. I'll struggle through with the current crop and then decide which to buy, the ones which took the full 400' spool were all rubbish and now withdrawn from sale it seems. I did order one direct from China but that looks like being a claim on Paypal as two months later nothing has arrived.

We are expecting my sister up from Hampshire any minute now, we had a short sit in the sun and I skipped through Buses magazine which is now out for this next month. Meanwhile we carry on our coverage of Ireland with scenes around and about Dublin.

Even getting 12 member of our polio fellowship branch together has taken many weeks of trying as folk have so many catch up things on the go. We had a splendid afternoon tea at a hotel near Chester, finding the entrance was a bit of a puzzle and a couple of folk ended up in the care home next door but we managed to pay a release fee!

Tomorrow we have family arriving from Hampshire but i still intend to get some cine film scanning done and a start on stock for Showbus and Detling which will include the last 6 months or more DVD releases and some of the archive features we released during the lock downs. Anyone wanting to collect please let us know beforehand which will need to be by next Thursday as we may be going to visit relations on the way to Showbus.

Meanwhile we go back to lorries on the Ireland trip this time we are in Tipperary, its a long way of course.

Still running to stand still but some progress has been made. I finished all that was required on Roger de Boers collection which he has entrusted to the Online Transport Archive, all scanned and ready to drop off with Peter Waller the OTA sec when we next meet. I've still got to see Robin Hannay about the long term future for his cine collection.

I've got all the latest batch of John Bishops cine scanned and am making progress through the OTA Les Collins collection. At the same time we have to start getting ready for Showbus which is only just over a week away. thanks to those who have already rang through their orders to be collected. This really helps us. We shall have stock from the past year and some special archives which will appeal to Southern audiences. I'm hoping to have at least two new releases on the day and will bring a few of our Luck Dip Boxes, great value with DVDs just over £2 each! £50 for 20 plus no post if you collect at Showbus or Detling.

Going back to Ireland we carry on with another slide show this time Waterford

A solid day working at getting all the Irish DVDs ready had paid dividends although I did divert to grass cutting as that needed doing. Everything seems to be coming in one great rush and I'm running to stand still. I hope that we are more on top of things by next week. I cannot see me out filming before Showbus although I might try and get a couple of archives done to release at Showbus. We will only have around 6 months of releases with us so if you want to pick up DVDs there please let me have a list so I can put them to one side for you. This will set the trend as we are no longer fit enough to struggle putting up tents and there are mountains of jobs to complete before my operation 25th October. Meanwhile expect lots of trailers on Youtube, bear in mind I don't as a rule look at comments on Youtube so if you wish to communicate use email please. Here are some more of todays completed films

Goodness knows where the day went but at least all the DVD orders received up until this afternoon went off today and there was a large pile considering I'd advised we were away. The first three films have been edited and I've loaded the covers up below. I've also been scanning more cine films, some very good stuff which will be revealed among our archive features ready for the Christmas trade. I had to fill all the preamble bumpf for the hernia operation, great hen you go private, they want the money at least 7 days before the op in case you die or abscond I guess! We had piles of paperwork to get through and the editing will certainly also take up most of tomorrow although we need to get out for some banking and shopping plus getting my hair cut! I'll resume with a slide show from the Irish trip picking up at Limerick.

It was a joy in so many ways to visit the NWVRT open day and running day, I met so many friends and customers / viewers and everywhere we go now I seem to be 'spotted'. We are always glad to meet our followers and there were so many at Kirkby, the weather was mainly dry although cloudy, just right for filming and no wind. The event will move back to its earlier date next year and perhaps be at full strength with buses in service and visitors. I think it may be in vain but a plea that anyone attending should get a programme and support the cafe and shops. Just riding around all day is a great thing to do but without contributing is really taking the p out of the event.

It is always so friendly and has a minimum of fuss and hi vis jackets sort of organisation which is reflective on the likes of Lathalmond which we have supported since it was established after moving due to motorway development. The Kirkby based collection is on an industrial estate and seems to pull off restorations regularly each year and this time there were no less than four buses making their fresh appearances in public. We hope to have an announcement about a relationship with the trust in the coming months and certainly before next years event.

I must no get on with editing the Irish film but meanwhile we divert to Kirkby for this slide show taken today.

We look forward to meeting lots of our lovely friends at the Kirkby running day tomorrow. Mandy and I are trying to catch up after 10 days in Ireland. I'll be bringing you lots of shots of the buses and lorries which I saw.  Getting the film downloaded takes a while let alone editing it all. So lots to do, our Youtube clips will resume asap when the films come out of my machine. Lots of new buses in Ireland for you to see. An initial taster is at the beginning of the journey in Cork.