So here we are, three months into 2016, and shock horror, its an actual blog update, brought to you from a public house in Nottingham as I sup beer, eat bar snacks and have a laugh with our good friend and co-owner Calum. And on that bombshell, I shall now hand over the reigns to him, for another one-off celebrity guest special...
"The weekend began with a slight accident whilst walking the dog, resulting in me hobbling around for several days like Herr Flick of the Gestapo! (sorry Calum, I shouldn't, but I did laugh - Dan). With the mutt having suitably apologised in his own way, we move on to the day itself...Trans Lancs 2015! We prepped the RE, and set sail around 7am from 'World HQ' in the direction of urban Derbyshire, stopping off at Derby City Centre and Ashbourne (where naturally we caused chaos with a photo stop with the local controversially-named ale hostelry - Dan), and up through the peaks - grabbing Gary and Jean from Newhaven en-route - to arrive at Heaton Park around 1130hrs. There was a buzz of excitement amongst our band of happy travellers, around 20 in all, and first port of call upon arrival was for coffee, as well all know bus enthusiasts function well on either coffee or beer, or in my case, a cup of dar-jeeling infusion drink (or tea, for those less cultured among us - Dan)"
"Among the exhibiters were the usual suspects, namely SELNEC Preservation Group and North West Vehicle Restoration Trust, but the ones who caught my eye the most was the collection of the Walsh Brothers, with an impressive line-up of exotic commercials, restored to the highest standard. What amazes me about the collection is the timescale, as some are restored in a very short timeframe! Other impressive vehicles that caught my eye were a newly-restored Yelloway AEC Reliance, Routemaster Buses' ex-Ulsterbus Leyland Tiger (new to them as their 341 and the oldest survivor of the Tigers), and of course ex-Ulsterbus Leopard 285 owned by our good friend Richard Davis."
"We all ended up going our separate ways throughout the day, and I joined up with friends of the group Jon and Simon and headed off to pay a visit to the Manchester Museum of Transport as the sun was causing issues for photography, and I'd not been over for a couple of years. We enjoyed a leisurely wander around the exhibits while sampling some more dar-jeeling infusion drink, and overall I found it to have a broad range of interesting subjects, from the earliest Mancunian Horse Bus to a mock-up of the first generation Manchester Metrolink trams. But the highlight of the day has to be after the bulk of the exhibits at Heaton Park have called it a day, and the individual groups of vehicle owners create their own mini-photo displays, including Stagecoach, Howards Travel, and for what we believe to be the first time, the largest gathering of Ulsterbus vehicles in one place on English soil, featuring Leopard 285, our own 2599, Routemaster Buses Tiger 341, and Tom Mitchell's Tiger 1250, and a good number of photos were taken before we all parted company and set off for home. Overall, it was a good event, and everybody enjoyed themselves, which is key with events such as this!"
Calum Maclennan - speaking about Trans Lancs rally at Heaton Park (06/09/15)
So another excellent write-up on proceedings from our guest blogmaster, and normal service will be resumed from our next blog, with your very own blogmaster now settling down into another new career path and finding time to actually dedicate to the project once again...
We arrived in good time at the East Midlands Conference Centre, and left with a decent load for the church at Long Eaton, where we enjoyed a short break during proceedings before greeting the newly married Mr & Mrs McEntree and heading off with a full busload to the picturesque surroundings of the Trent Building at Nottingham University, where we were most privileged to be invited to the silver service buffet meal and celebrating the happy couple's new marriage. After a hearty three course meal (of which your blogmaster approved thoroughly), we set about getting some final photos with the happy couple and 2599, before passing on our well wishes and heading back to world HQ. Paul then had to indulge in the scandalous art of 'work' before we began preparing for our next adventure in less than 24hrs time...Showbus. Now that, dear readers, is a blog in itself...
