An amazing variety of images has passed before me today when scanning a OTA film on the buses, trolleys and trams of Spain plus some in France on a tour by a London Transport RTL back in 1966. I'm also scouring images og Sheffield from our archives to give perhaps a new slant of Sheffield using some less published views in the transport world, street scenes which have plenty of tram and bus content. These will form part of a two hour feast of Sheffield views spanning over a century of transport in this a main centre of interest for our hobby. There will be a few surprises and of course clips from all our annual visits over the past decades.

I've managed to edit all three of the films taken yesterday at Uttoxeter Roundabout on the A50 in Staffordshire and these should be one the shop this evening. I'll also be starting to scan another of the London Transport films, I wonder if it will be quite as exotic as the Spanish expedition. So much to do and so little time. We did get to Wallasey today to visit a friend who is having a bit of a tough time at present and of course as the clock ticks to midnight we will remember all those friends and family who passed away in 2019. Tomorrow I'm putting grout sealant on the bathroom floor tile joints after a little bit of remedial work on some joints.

Here are the latest DVD releases

Clips for these three DVDs are already on Youtube. I'm also looking forwards at Thursday and Friday this week for possible film locations.

After frustrations with the old van parked on Plumley Moor Road the old van which has sort of been disguised as something official is on the motorway bridge and advertises a pub, this seems a good way of getting a free hoarding. The police have received it seems dozens if not hundreds of complaints and it is the councils job to get it moved. Perhaps we could have similar for PMP it would certainly capture all the truck drivers attention. Seriously though it is an eyesore.

Talking of sailing near the wind we had a complaint that a DVD was damaged in the post so raised a credit to refund but now the woman in Edinburgh has told Amazon that we are selling second hand goods which as producers is rather a crazy and slanderous thing and they never even had the decency to contact us reference the post office damage which we would have sorted straight away. It is very hurtful and upsetting that such things are done against a hobby based not for profit outlet.

Today I've been filming at the Uttoxeter roundabout on the A50 near Stoke on Trent, a favourite spot of mine, bright clear blue sky after a bit of early mist. Three volumes from the days work. Hoping for bus film locations Thursday or Friday after new year. I've now completed the can of the first of the OTA London films which looks very good quality and seems to include most types 1965-67 when it was filmed, the think the next reel compliments the first. I'm trying to get through them quicker and there seems a lot less chance of the scanner jamming when it is run through on the flat as opposed to mounted reels at an angle also there is zero tension produced in the process.

Here are some shots from todays visit

Today I had the chance to get my first of the 400' reels from the PMP archives pass through the cine film scanner using an old cine projector as a benign feeder for the larger reel. This then passes through the scanner in the normal manner but then cascades to a clean surface and untouched it can be safely rewound to the original reel possibly a lot easier, safer and with less chance of problems than how it was intended with 200' reels. This has now opened the door to scanning films from the OTA collection which will form part of their digital archive and save ever having to copy the original again, it is then put on the editing deck and just tweaked to fit its screen size and corrected if required for general exposure and speed and nothing else. The film I copied today was from George Roberts collection covering Oxford 1970-80s and Beeline, a much better copy than first achieved by telecine .

The next large collection I'll be copying will be of London and L Country and it will include buses from London working overseas. I've also make the early stages of Bus Spot Ultra Sheffield, this may be a bit of mammoth as we have a wealth of material to pick from  especially post deregulation, the original trams and my own annual video visits. It has also been a catch up day with all the latest DVDs now on digital downloads and the Lymm truck films included as I've managed to get the covers done. A flurry of DVD orders, these are ready for posting out tomorrow.

I'm hoping to get out with the camera tomorrow, not sure until later which destination or subject for our last shots of 2019. We did have a lovely red sunset this afternoon, you can already sense the days lengthening.

We said goodbye to my sister Yvonne and Graham my brother in law, they left at 7 this morning and our friend Sue arrived mid afternoon. Some tidying up and more scanning of old cine film then tv and a bit of family history. Weather for Monday looking suitable for filming and nest Thursday look ok as well so fingers well crossed in advance and looking forwards to things getting back to normal. As I'm looking at Sheffied re my next Bus Spot Ultra production here are some photos from our visits.

Yet another leisurely start to the day, we went as planned down to the Potteries where several batches of items were purchased between Portmerion and the Wedgewood shops, by the time we'd done that and called in at the M&S near Stoke it was time to get home and have a brew the cafe we had intended to use having been shuts, the alternatives of fine cafes in Stoke being Costa and Hungry Horse which we passed on. Before we knew it it was time for the light show at the NT Dunham Massey property not too far from home. We also booked a table at The Dog at over Peover for this evening and after getting back Yvonne and Graham are packing any bits they want to take back which will certainly not be leaving our still bulging cupboards bare. The light show at Dunham  was pretty good, better than expected in fact and here are some shots I took earlier tonight.

A great Christmas day, a bit over board on food but i guess that is par for the course and the evening just flew by but we must have needed a rest and we didn't really all gather until gone midday. A much lighter breakfast and we headed off to Cheshire Oaks at Ellesmere Port, the crowds were horrendous, the surrounding area was covered in cars parked on every bit of roadside grass and we like many parked at M&S and walked. There were queues to get into shops with railing to herd people, I hated it but kept on going, the girls got hand bag booty and at much reduced prices, alas hundreds of shops and not a thing which would be of interest to me other than stocking up on M&S marzipan balls which were sold out. Back home for early evening, all a bit weary, Mandy got the ham on boiling then roasted while we tucked into a sort of alternative monopoly game which being made in China came with its own spelling mistakes, without any ( much?) cheating Mandy won albeit we stopped before dinner was ready, the game wasn't that good that we would jeopardise dinner but passed a happy couple of hours

We did get more DVD orders today so not one day without orders, those now ready to post will go out tomorrow Friday which I presume sees post services resumed. A momentous day in one respect, one of the family on my fathers side has done the Ancestry DNA test and came straight up with a very close relation may as should a great nephew. This was the first modern living relative confirmed , previously it was all several generations back. Tomorrow we have a National Trust Christmas lit up park trip at Dunham Massey. The hm went down well tonight as did the remainder of the Christmas pudding, no one could face more Christmas cake though.

In the past many of our Christmases were spent abroad and the first in 1980 was in Sri Lanka, here are shots I took back then, we hope you have all had a super Christmas and are looking forwards to the new year next week, if we are lucky I may get out with the camera on Monday.

We did get a few DVD order through today but generally speaking we had what for us passes as a very traditional day enjoyed with my sister Yvonne and brother in law Graham. We were fairly late to bed Christmas eve having gone to midnight communion at St Oswalds, a respectable turnout and visiting priest who also prepared the hosts for Christmas day services by permission of our one remaining  bishop. We managed to get ourselves together for breakfast and had that wrapped up by about twelve midday. I ran off a few cine films through the scanner while we pottered about and all settled down for the queen at 3pm, what a dodging the issues talk that was. Anyway we then has presents and Yvonne and Graham surprised us completely with a huge hamper of goodies they knew we liked including marzipan fruit, cheese and nougat from their recent Italian trip. The afternoon drifted on with a bit of tv in the background and early preparations for dinner which looks as if it will be just before seven this evening, just the four of us but we have a spread fit for a dozen.

We do appreciate that this time of year is difficult for many people, so many of our friends have lost love ones and there are those where the sometimes forced and insincere jollity can make life hard to bear. Not withstanding that we with health warnings bring you No17 at Christmas for this afternoons photo show.

I guess everyone is fully wound down for Christmas, even those who have to work are usually on skeleton crews. We are just waiting for family to arrive and our Christmas can start. We haven't ventured further than the post office today, just a couple of DVD orders to send on their way. I'm running off the scans of old cine film,s which pretty well takes care of itself with just a peek now and then.I've finished the second film from yesterdays Lymm truck film and the trailer is on Youtube. I'll do the covers over Christmas. We had a clean up around the house and I've given the offices a good dust especially round the back of machines with the blower canister.

We shall soon be looking at film locations for next year, just a few rolling over but we do have three possible days next week. It has been a mixed year, generally we've been in good health but sadness has come through losing friends and family members. We have on the credit side gained more relatives from the O'Grady side of the family. I've been tic tacking with other researchers and more work is ongoing to establish our correct relationships and Irish ancestry. We've just had the post, yet more cards, I'm popping the late comers between books in the dining room cum library. To be getting on with some more shots from yesterdays visit to Lymm. Have a super Christmas.

We have a bit of a tradition of filming at Lymm Poplar services around Christmas time and today I got over two hours of material to work with, originally I was heading down to the A50 at Uttoxeter but it looked that cloudy that it seemed possible to film at the services. With the foliage gone my work with the secateurs seems to have paid off, the bank up is as slippery as ever in winter and great care is needed. But this was all after we had got up at 5am and headed off to Handforth Dean M&S, they had been open since 5am, and the parking spaces were already filling up. It took less than 30 minutes to get there and away with what we needed, really the limited life stuff which needed to be fresh. Mandy was busy in the kitchen department when we got back and I gave the cars a clean. By this time we were quite chilly to put it mildly.

When I was at Lymm this morning, hurrying across from the roundabout centre back to the slope I pulled something in the back of my knee, I'm now hobbling around but it is ok if I don't move! Just a sprinkling of DVD orders coming in now but it usually picks up before new year. Anyway tonight we can have a look and see if any of my still shots came out well, the light was up and down all the time. I'm busy running off the cine scanner with more of John F Bromley's material, it looks superb copied in this fashion. I want to get set up to tackle the 400' reels soon as I want to get the OTA material copied, digitised and back to storage asap.

Not really the time of year for a lot of film work so not so hard to keep up to date with releases and certainly among the last for 2019 are the above films loaded to our shop this afternoon. I've also put another couple of recent films on for digital download. I've had the replacement cine scanner going all afternoon, I'll check the results and see if they are ok, I treated myself to a proper old fashioned splicer and it has seen use twice today on the late John F Bromleys films where a few of the original joints have gone 'dry', no cutting required just re-cemented. I want to get on with the OTA films which I'm digitising and listing contents, I've already got another twenty films to put in long term storage with OTA.

If the weather is at all suitable anywhere near for truck filming tomorrow I will have a go, I know it should be dry but too sunny for Lymm, still we have a few days before the New Year. We'll be at St Oswalds in Lower Peover this evening for the 9 lessons and carols service and then attend the midnight service on Christmas eve. I haven't put much on about family history for a long time, I did get a lot done recently and from my Vincent related ancestors I've linked in to the Randolph and Spencer lines which passed down to the Churchill family and have at last grandparents x 13 back into the 13th century. There are masses of old latin texts around which i wonder if they will ever get translated and online, this is how I located my oldest Vincents in 1400s through Norfolk genealogists some years back.

I think the punch up scene in Sunderland has had a few shares on Youtube and Facebook, not somewhere I'd go for a holiday!