Happy Christmas To You All

In keeping with the season of Yulltide I have preparedt my Christmas slideshow.
Hope you all enjoy it. Thanks for supporting my Blog over the last lear.

And You all have very Happy Christmas and a very Merry New Year

see you all in the New year

Lerit snow Lerit Snow

This week I was caught up in the heavy snow that affected the South East of England. Good job too, as I had not managed to get any reasonable pictures this week, but this episode sorted that out.
A quite week in terms of trips. Monday was taken up with a run to Torquay and Weston Super Mare, with a very cold and damp overnight stay at the old RAF base to the South west of the town that now houses the helicopter museum. Tuesday, and I returned to ALC to load two drops for Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil.

The Yellow Pearl looking a little bedraggled by the heavy snow at Newington Est

With a trip to Yorkshire and Linconshire cancelled it was looking as though the week might be a washout. However a run to London and Kent came up on the Thursday morning. With heavy snow forecast for the South East of England I set off with trepidation. Doing one call back in Weston on the Thursday afternoon I then made my way east to Sittingbourne. All the way round the M25 and along the M2, I did’ent see one gritting wagon nor did I see any of the matrix signs giving any worming of the impending heavy snow. I got into Newington Ind East around nine when the snow was just starting. I was wakened around six to the sound thunder and lighting overhead and blizzard conditions. by seven thirty the snow had stopped and the sun rise started to show off the winter wonderland that had been left behind by mother nature.

I had to detach the Moffatt from the rear of the trailer to get of the very snowy estate and turned West towards Rainham and join the long line of lorries and cars trying to make their way towards the already jam packed M2 and M20. I got stuck several time on the small hills along the route through Rainham towards the M2. Once I was clear of Rainham and the A2, I got onto the M2 and my road was clear. I ran all the way along the M2 and then A2 into the Blackwall tunnel to my two remaining drops on East London.

However It was the usual trudge through London on a Friday afternoon to get back onto the M25 and then the M4 to head West back to South Wales.
the biggest problem that the traffic on the Kent roads was experiencing in the wake of the heavy snow’s, was a lack of gritted roads. The snow had been compacted into solid ice about an inch thick and it was the ice that caused all the problems, with the cars and lorries not being able to get any traction on the hills, plus people driving to fast and having minor bumps.

This weeks route

Winter paddocks

Winter paddocks, originally uploaded by class 50.

This shot is one of my favourte to come out of my series of shots taken Nr Sittingbourne in Kent on the morning after the recent heavy overnight snow fall.

Whats new

This weeks blog is another experiment in what format is the best. During the week I took my cam corder with me, and, did what was intended to be a vidcast, but due to the vast amount of footage I captured, I am struggling to edit down to a palatable vidcast, with out making people to bored. So I have hit on yet another format, the sparse but informative. let me know your thoughts.

Where did I go last week ?

Well I went to all of the above

Was there a highlight to this weeks travels?
Yes there was. Going into the centre of Manchester, which I had never been to before and going over the Kingston Bridge and heading down into Ayrshire, which I had not been to for some time. In the process I got some interesting video footage of the bridge and the M77 in a very golden light after heavy winter rain.
but I think the real highlight must have been the challenge of capturing the video footage of my travels. How to get the best angle's, what to shoot, what not to shoot, will the camcorder sitting on the dash work well. yes to all but just to much footage to be able to cut down to a realistic vidcast. If I take out to much, the story looses its flow and purpose, and if I keep all the relevant clips in, then I run the risk of boring everyone to death.

Was there a low point to this weeks travels?
Yes. Crossing Shap summit in blinding rain and driving winds in the dark on the Tuesday night.

What photographs did I take this week?
very few but there was one or two interesting one's.

Lothian Sunrise

Taken on the M9 Eastbound towards Edinburgh. One of those that are snapped through the windscreen, on a very frosty cold Scottish morning.



Aliens in the wood.
I came across this whilst overnight in Cumbernauld. These lights are actually flood lights in a factory compound, seen through some woods late at night.

The dawning of a new era

The dawning of a new era, originally uploaded by class 50.

This is a new version of an old shot. the original was color and done many years ago. I came across a new app called color splash. Great for selective coloring.
The shot show the Clydach colliery memorial in the Rhondda Valley South wales. I managed to work out on what day the sun would rise in direct line with the face of the wheel, giving a the sun's reflection across the face of the wheel.
The original can be viewed here