Today I was filming trucks on the A500 west towards Crewe, there was mostly clear blue sky and it was chilly with a slight breeze although when the sun was on your back you could feel a bit of warmth. It was busy as ever on this one of my nearest 'favourite' truck filming spots. After the hassle with the SYPTE at Rotherham yesterday it was good to be back on the right side of the hills and lots of friendly drivers, well of course the bus drivers in Yorkshire are all friendly as well. Have you noticed the ones who are worst are in 'service' industries. I always recall the chap who ran a pub near the Showbus event in Oxforshire a short way out from Duxford, he really was a misery and his menu and special board meant nothing, they hadn't changed for years, what they had was what you got anyway, as they used to answer queries on the composition of your dinner in Ukraine in 1995, it's meat, meat!

There were lots of domestic jobs to get done, I've mown the lawns, repaired a cabinet handle in the bedroom, did some editing for the WWI commemoration evening showing the beacon at St Oswalds in the village. The last orders for DVDs are going through, last acceptance of them tomorrow, Thursday and posted out Friday morning, that's it then until 20th November. We leave Saturday lunch time and arrive via Amsterdam and Mauritius in Reunion on Sunday morning. The next Saturday we fly on to Madagascar stay one night in the capital then over to the national parks to the east and finally to the port. I'm getting this weeks DVD covers made and as well as the discs for these printing off a lot of spares ready for the Christmas order deluge when we get back from the trip. We have a concert at the RNCM Friday evening so we can wind down and have an after breakfast start for the airport. I got enough film today for two programmes, clips for all this weeks material on Youtube later this evening and DVDs will be on the shop by tomorrow latest. Photos from Rotherham yesterday.

As planned I headed over the hills to Barnsley and Rotherham today, Barnsley was even worse to park in than usual as without any prior notice other than getting there the market car park is/has been demolished with 15 minutes to traverse the railway lines both ways to find out then find that the cashless payment at the car park nearby doesn't ( never) works and ended up half a mile away uphill in the other direction. Good things, very friendly drivers and the light was diffused sunshine and spot on for filming. I was soon finished and heading back along the M1 to Rotherham. I had the good fortune of meeting my friend Gary Donnelly who once owned the Rotherham model shop and sold our early videos.

This was a pleasant start to an interesting visit for without prior knowledge the bus station has been closed for refurbishment for a year and not due to reopen until 2019 but it must be well on as they were painting new bus lance markings. The bus drivers at the temporary facility near the railway station were spot on and the bus station guard welcoming and helpful when I arrived and had to suss out the routing etc. Then I followed down past the railway station to get nearsides when the sun came out, it was spot on and all the buses come out the one way to the large roundabout ( I saw a Beford TK, sorry no photo). It was here I met Gary. Then as the sun dipped I went back to the temporary facility by the Bridge Inn which I often use as a back drop on visits.

A new squad of heavies had moved to guard the secret nuclear bomb launching site, ooops sorry should read bus station. The yellow jacket approached with a rear attack on me, wanted to know what i was filming, I gave an unnecessary but polite reply, pehaps he was straight our of SAS training school and had no consept of bus enthusiasts, wouldn't identify himself other than bus station manager and circled around me coursing distree. I told him if he didn't stop I'd call the police which I did and they are willing to carry the action further. I've also made an inital complaint to SYPTE and will be instigating a civil case against themselves and their employee/agents. I remember when one of their louts threw a disabled lad out for putting bus numbers in his notebook with a pencil I felt that strongly that it is an incident recorded in my autobiography.

I repeat all the bus drivers were very friendly just one idiot and his hit squad. South Yorkshire has always been the most anti enthusioast PTE along with Clydeside and Nexus. The county is the most violent in England and up there with Scotland in the world hassle stakes. I'm supposed to be filming the bonfire beacon for the Remembrance ceremony on the 11th, looks a little too dark for the intended dusk, must be the change of the clocks, its black outside.

Yes tomorrow if the weather holds as cloudy I'll be filming in Rotherham and Barnsley and have an early start as of course the days now close in early with the clocks having changed for winter. After Yvonne and Graham left this morning I got stuck into the gardening, I tripped out the spent summer bedding plants in the front and side of the house and in the back borders. I managed to get almost all the bulbs and winter/spring bedding planted before my leg started cramping with the bending so I called it a day mid afternoon. Then I got the DVD orders sorted out, a few people playing catch up with the latest rounds of releases. Later I got all the outstanding films loaded to our Amazon shop plus ditto on EBay. Don't forget that our last posty8ing before the Indian Ocean trip is Friday morning. I'll switch off the Amazon shop Thursday night before bed, it has no holidays setting just on or off.

The EBay shop will be open throughout on holiday setting and of course nothing will go our until we return. The PMP shop on this site ditto. I spent a couple of hours of new torment trying to get Mandy's self assessment tax form done, I just get stuck trying to log in, all this to enter up the eearnings from the house in Ireland where we pay the tax, as it is identical and reciprocal with the UK there is nothing to pay in the UK but they want the wretched form filling in, at last a chap admitted that it wasn't for for purpose and they are renewing the site, little wonder the less honest people don't bother to pay tax, even for the honest ones it is a cruel and tortuous route to log in and yet again we failed, parking it until after the trip.No news yet from Youtube on the moneterisation reinstatement. I've got all todays DVD orders ready for Mandy to send out while i'm over in Yorkshire tomorrow. Meanwhile looking back on the destinations for tomorrow in the past as it were!

Although not particularly my own cup of tea we had a super evening at the RNCM last night with a meal and then the concert which attracted a full house, the next one early March will probably be similarly successful. Yvonne and  Graham are staying tonight and we all went to the Cheshire Oaks outlet centre this afternoon, I got a new pair of shoes but resisted all the chocolate temptations as there wasn't anything obviously marzipan, Turkish delight or fudge. The daylight saving time in the UK finished at 2am today and thus we had an extra hour in bed and were faced with the darkness at teatime.

A good flurry of DVD orders which will go out tomorrow, I've got the discs ready just need to get the covers out. We are now waiting for Google to get our Youtube account back to normal. I've been looking at the weather for the trip next Saturday, looks like a lot of hot wet sticky weather in Reunion but sunshine in Madagascar but plenty of time to change between. This week looks challenging on the film front with rain and sunshine in various mixes. I shall be at home tomorrow and we have packing to do and now frosted the flower beds need stripping and bulbs need planting before we leave. Photos tonight from the Newark trip last week

I forgot to mention that the 2018 PMP Christmas cards arrived yesterday and is in recent years feature the Rothbury card range this time a new one based around a family Christmas watching the Queens speech on an ancient telly. We are just waiting on my sister Yvonne and Graham to arrive having driving down from Oban ( curses be on it) this morning. We are all out this evening watching the RNCM session band concert in Manchester. Not sure yet what we'll do tomorrow, maybe the Manchester Christmas Market. It was very cold last night, a hard frost which melted by about 9.30. Actually the light would have been good for filming today, I haven't looked at the forecast for next week, we have a lot of things to do pre trip to Reunion and Madagascar but I'm sure I'll get out a couple of times at least

. I've put 5 out of the 6 latest DVD releases on the shop as digital, all are on as DVDs. I've also filed away all last weeks still images but need to update the Smugmug still sales site. I also want to get the commercial use permit onto the shop so that anyone wishing to use our films can use up to 15 minutes by downloading the agreement at the same time as the film they want, if not on download they can order the DVD with the permission. This will simplify the process and give a referal point to all enquiries. Photos here at the Puck Fair at Stratford upon Avon.

A really hectic day which was non stop and made harder by the M6 south closure which meant grid lock in all the surrounding towns and villages. I got all the outstanding DVDs finished starting with the bus spot ultra on Manchester which will be in the shop this evening, covers featured below. Then all the Newark trucks films plus yesterdays trip to Leamington Spa and Stratford upon Avon not forgetting Oldham and Keighley. The clips will go on Youtube very shortly tonight and we have had a final check through the Youtube channel and resubmitted for moniterisation which ceased at the end of September without any warning and left a yawning gap in the PMP budget, thankfully we've tightened our belts and kept on top of expenditure. Hopefully it will be fully functional before November is out in time for the advertising boom in December then the January crash.

I've got all the covers made and am ready to start copying from the master DVDs for all these, I'll also update the list after doing this blog. Domestic stuff ongoing included a dash through the queues to Leighton hospital in Crewe, just a check up for Mandy.  I topped up the bird feeders, the woodpecker is still in residence and I noted the nuthatch the other day. I reported the sink hole on the pavement outside our house. Some stationery had to be ordered as was more discs and envelopes and covers, it's all never ending! Photos from yesterday I'm filing away the Newark shots but will bring you more over the weekend.

A last minute loom at the weather before bed showed Newcastle as bright sunshine whilst Leamington was going to be cloudy so we changed our destination but got another two ticks off our to do list. Tonight I've concentrated on finishing the 2 hour marathon Bus Spot Ultra Manchester which has taken quite some effort to compile but I'm pleased with the result. I've now got six DVDs to edit and the cover for Manchester plus the other six but tomorrow I must have a final run through the Youtube clips and double check that there is nothing left from the cine archive which seems to have been the cause of losing thousands of pounds this couple of months, I think i can resubmit either Friday or Saturday, it will be USA time, can't express my true feelings for the Youtube organisation and the bully boys who claim the BBC sound archive as their own when we purchased as new with the licence which came with it. Still there is little point arguing they like all the other US companies are an absolute lay unto themselves and I've no energy to do battle, they speak a different version of our language and have faces both sides of their heads.

We had a really good day at Stratford upon Avon and Leamington. It was Mop Fair week at Stratford, traffic gridlocked around the temporary bus stops but some nice slow passes on film , more than I've usually got, Johnsons deckers are now on the Park & Ride and other services having I understand stopped the Birmingham run, perhaps people there shop at Coventry or Warwick not Brum. Friendly divers at Stratford, not like the one with the independents on schools contracts who had an absolute hissy fit after I filmed their bus! National Express have a decker in Stratford Blue livery, I hadn't seen that one advertised before so it was a great surprise almost the first buas I filmed in Leamington. Had an enormous caramel chocolate ice cream sundae instead of afternoon tea in Stratford, I also got stills of the fun fair wagons albeit some parked very tightly. But as promised here is a selection of unedited shots from yesterday at Newark.

A super day at Newark lots of wonderful lorries and the sugar beet harvest is already in full swing with pretty well constant trucks serving the factory and all the usual lorries you'd expect to see at this most hectic of locations which I last filmed ( first time) last autumn but I think as late as November. The sun shone until just after lunch then light cloud which was all fine, I'm downloading the material and getting the batteries charged as we are possibly up in Newcastle upon Tyne tomorrow if it is cloudy as promised in the forecasts. I'll give you more photos from yesterday this time from Keighley then tomorrow we can wallow in lots of lorries and the North East material will see us through to the weekend. I need to do the December Buses mag advert, they come round very quickly.  Quite a pile of orders each day which probably reflects my call to get orders in early if wanted in November as we leave for Reunion and Madagascar at the beginning of the month.

Today it was a blustery Oldham and equally windy Keighley for buses. A great time in Oldham although hanging on to the camera and avoiding being blown over was a priority. Really friendly First Group drivers, notably so and it was possibly the most friendly excepting enthusiast run Burton on Trent!  It is always satisfying to be able to report good of regions within Greater Manchester especially as the city centre plummets ever lower these day. There were similarly friendly Transdev drivers in Keigley only spoilt be the sun coming out when not wanted and the schools turning out as I tried to get back over the hills to Burnley.

I have got all the archive section of the Bus Spot Ultra Manchester complete and have about 40 clips to work through at two minutes per visit to complete the marathon two hour programme. When you phone orders through please make sure you give the correct DVD number as that is what we work off not the location etc, as we do not make any profit merely support the PMP archive this all bites in to our frugal assets. As I once told somebody our budget for a day filming is a tank of petrol, and a cup of coffee plus a Bakewell perhaps. I got these today at Costa which I'd sworn never to use again but very helpful and polite staff by the bus station at Oldham redeemed it for a while.

Despite getting shopping, breakfast and petrol at ASDA in Carlisle on our recent visit Mandy a wheelchair user got a parking fine sent to her, it seems disabled people get nothing more than able bodied in parking time, ASDA is now off our visiting list, anyway we found there is a M&S nearby so no loss there. I'm not sure about tomorrow, the weather forcasts change by the minute, it was possible I would visit Newark for the sugar beet traffic but the promised sun has diminished in the latest look aherad, I'll try and judge from the weather maps on tv tonight meanwhile shots from Oldham this morning.

've been busy most of the day with work on the older part of Bus Spot Ultra Manchester which should be ready later this week. I have that much material to pick from there will only be room for about 2 minutes from each visit there and I'll still be struggling to get it down to 2 hours duration. As with all our other releases now it will also be available for digital downloading. This evening we had dinner at the Bridgewater Hall and then a strong Halle concert with some great music from Dvorak and Vaughan Williams. The soloist Chinese cellist attracted a large patriotic audience from the Chinese community but they were rude enough to leave at the interval after he had completed his piece, I've noted this type of behaviour with the Chinese in the RNCM, very bad manners in my book.

A shame that I couldn't get to the Stoke Potteries  running day but we had to leave at 4pm. Tomorrow its an early start as Mandy has the stent removed from her other eye after the tear duct operation, the first one repeated was eventually successful thank goodness. Well just a quickie tonight, another week of sunshine, I'll try my best to salvage some bus shots from this blight, roll in cloud please. I will however use it to get some truck shots in the open spaces better suited to autumnal sunshine next worst thing to winter sunshine! Well it must be Manchester for the slide show but just a few as i want to get to bed!