THE WONDER OF BLACKPOOL NEVER ENDS

I'm not being mean but there are many things about Blackpool which leave you staggered, the amount of beer consumed in hotel rooms rather than pubs, the amount of bars and pubs, the number of bouncers, the number of people overweight in skimpy clothing, the intelligence of people there, why anyonme would live there by choice etc. Anyway not our concern as transport enthusiasts are focused on their hobby and for years if not centuries now we have loved going along at this season of the year when just as summer passes the illuminations bring a welcome return to busy tram schedules and ensure a full bus timetable is available. It must have been a while since I last visited, if the trams rem,ain much the same the buses continue to develop and the new livery seems to be a better combination and the paler shade of yellow sits nicely rather than the strange choice out of all the route brandings to have picked up the old Topline colours of black and yellow which are just cheap and cheerful.

It was a pleasure to bump into so many other enthusiasts in the town, certainly a surprise with it being Showbus weekend but the sun shone all day and there was much to see, I suppose I missed a few gems in a short visit but my new knee stood up well to this first full outing to shoot a whole programme on the same day, several hours hard at it on the kerbside. Thus we have two new DVDs this week as well as archive features. The grass at Woburn may have been a bit of a challenge for a full day but we wish them well with the weather and if you wonder where we were now you know, see you next time perhaps. I still haven't seen any sighting of trucks going to the Cheshire show ground for Truckfest North West so I don't think I'll be attracted by it tomorrow. I'll try and get some more of the garden tidied then get the van configured for the Dublin Port rally next weekend. We have booked the ferry and hotel going over first thing Friday so will have an afternoon to film and then back on Monday afternoon which will leave a morning free to cover the buses. I'm really looking forwards to seeing the remarkable restorations of so many vehicles that I've first hand memories of and perhaps a chance to meet some of our many customers in the ROI.

We had a family crisis after Mandy's cousin in Wales was admitted to hospital. A blood clot in the brain had been bleeding for days and missed by the doctor it then caused an accident, anyway after emergency treatment she was released into an ordinary ward and looks like making a full recovery. I'm still working on the central southern English bus DVD, I seem to have an abundance of material to pick from. Meanwhile lets have some of that wonder of Blackpool, clips on Youtube later and the DVD will be ready tomorrow.