SAturday 25th April Cultra Museum near Belfast

Saturday 25th April 2015 – ‘Annual Bus and Coach Rally’

After years of clashing dates we shall finally be heading over to the annual premiere Northern Ireland bus event .

As in previous years, we will have total use of the car park at Cultra and as a result there will be no car parking on site. Last year we had around 50 entrants and if we get that sort of number again this year, we will need all the space we can get. Disabled parking facilities will be available at the Transport Galleries for blue badge holders only (badges must be displayed).

Please remember that this is our best opportunity to promote the Irish Transport Heritage and its aims and activities to the public in general and to both the enthusiast movement and the transport industry and that a little help can go a long way in making this event a success. I'm sure that the more visitors that make it the more warm than ever that great Ulster welcome will be. We promoted the events in Scotland heavily and thousands took up the road to the north and visited Lathalmond after that we promoted Bridgeton GVVT at Glasgow. Now that Scotland has introduced draconian anti street photography laws we see the future draw will be across the Irish sea with Cultra in the spring and then in late summer a two day event at Dublin Port celebrating 70 years of CIE. We shall still be attending Lathalmond and Bridgeton to see our friends but perhaps cutting down the overall visit to a minimum.

We have also made more progress on the Scandinavian archives and are about to burn the master for Bergen in May 2000 and then start on the Swedish material.

Great family news that Mandy's cousin Dudley and Anne are going to finally get hitched at Beaumaris on Anglesey this coming December, we've already booked the hotel room and expect it will be a splendid family bash strictly all teetotal of course, maybe not. Last night we went through some of the rally bookings and downloaded forms, quite a different set up from previous years and we plenty of gaps to get out trips in.

At work lots of doom and gloom as they spread consultations over possible redundancies following the takeover of Foster wheeler last year. You could cut the atmosphere with a knife but with just on forty years I guess whatever happens a change would be as good as a rest.

We've got my birthday meal sorted we are being treated to dinner by Mandy's cousin Trish and Derek , I think it's at Mobberley, lots of good vibes from that direction on the food scene.

Bergen May 2000