MISSING US ALREADY BACK FROM SHOWBUS

Sorry we missed last night but the ipad decided to lock up and I couldn't figure out what to do with it other than throw it out of the window, generally this has been my only experience of Apple and I wouldn't knowingly want to have another of their products. The solution when I was  able to look it up on Google was 10 second of button pressing but why the I Cloud back up request came on I know not as neither do I know what icloud is and certainly have never used it. Evidently they want to sell you an expensive service agreement if you contact them about it, thank goodness the net has solutions to these little ploys used to con us.

Show bus was despite the weather forecast very overcast for much of the time later on with frequents threats of showers which looked like really happening towards the end but rather smuggly we had already almost finished packing the van. I was provably our worst Showbus for 20 years for sales which is a bit of a blow, the last two years events at both locations were almost identical this year the usual crowds had thinned yet again and the numbers with bags and packages were few and with such a huge entry price I don't think it leaves much to spare. Thankfully this was offset by orders in the post and on the net which of course then leads you to think is it actually worth the cost, the stands are way overpriced, our little patch was £175 including gaping holes where there were drain cover. I asked Martin Isles if all the buses were coming through the one entrance after the pay booths, I was told yes but then the first 6 buses carried on down the runway, then I found there were two sections so gave up there although thankfully still early in the day and went to the site entrance and found they were being routed via the hard standing road rather than down the hedge surround by fences, thus a great improvement and I was soon joined by hundreds more photographers. Later in the morning the land warfare section hotted up with an old Soviet beast trying to bump start a tank, I think watching the DVD some may think there were some very throaty buses coming in.

It was back to the Showbus mix of some gems and new revelations, some special liveries you may have missed, a few new uns and then dozens of similar vehicles from local coach firms which certainly boost the numbers but don't add a lot of interest. I think last year near Stratford was a pleasing change and although the facilities were spartan and the wasps angry it introduced a fresh element and perhaps it could stand yet another location for next year and ring the changes but I don't think this would meet with general approval as the majority seem warts and all in favour of Duxford. We went straight down Saturday to Bedford, very cloudy, forgot me tripod had to find an out of town shoppinbg place which had a Currys they together with two Stagecoach lads guided me to my desired object and after getting back to our parking spot near the bus station I got into action just having to get used to the smaller and more wobbly Chinese tripod as opposed to the sleek Italian job I use normally.

The lack of sun ansd shadow made life easy so quickly got an hour of film at the bus station especially interesting as its being redeveloped , Stagecoach now getting more independent competition there. Cres all very friendly and then on via Bedfordshire with a diversion to get a couple of shots for an American customer whose family came from that way we landed in Cambridge as the town was grid locked with traffic and drunken football hooligans who were being marched out of town by the police, a good beginning. About 20 bus enthusiasts around at various times, quite a good turn out, weather shocking nearly black by teatime but the video camera seems to relish such challenges and another good batch of shots ready to edit, just downloading the images now and some shots from Bedford to start the photo review of the weekend. I hope to cover the brand new buses at Stockport before I go to Sri Lanka next Saturday.