Blue, Blue. Electric Blue

There was an event in the Old Market Square today promoting the advantages of electric vehicles, like this Nissan Leaf

Various makes of cars were on show, together with a local bus operated by Nottingham City Council.

Due to the rain, there weren't that many people about to see what was on offer. I bumped into a photographer that I know who was taking some publicity photos for the council.

I just wonder if rain and electric cars are really meant to mix. But I suppose the rubber tyres will protect you from being electrocuted, should water get in the batteries!

You're Not Going Anywhere

A grand day, so I drove over to Wollaton Park to see the annual car show, that happens on the first weekend of June.

As it was such a lovely day, there seemed to be a thousand cars to look at, both old and new.  Some quite common like the Mini, to some really rare and valuable vehicles, that would set you back many thousands of pounds.

But me being me, I wanted to find something unusual to take. So what about a Dalek, strapped to an old American pick up truck? Now that's different. I have no idea about the what and why's, but it makes for an interesting photo, especially with Wayne Manor in the background.

Night Vision

Gail and I visited the cinema last night to see Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple. The story followed his life from the early 80s up to the launch of the first iMac in 1998.

It was quite an interesting film, seeing what Jobs was supposed to be really like; egocentric, rude and never admitting he was wrong.

Michael Fassbender played the part well. Kate Winslet was completely unrecognisable as his PA Joanna. Complete with East European accent.

It was the first time we had been to the Showcase since it's had a refit. Now everyone has their own individual leather recliner, rather than the old group seating, which had been around since the cinema opened during the 1980s. They've also added the words "de Lux" to their name.

When we came out, I danced driving down the road to the Nissan garage. Not to look at getting a new car, but to see their showroom. As you can see from my photo, they have a four storey building and I've wanted to see it since it was built.

I'm not sure how they get the cars up there; whether they use a lift or ramps. Although there doesn't seem to be enough room to have ramps, like you have in a multi storey car park. Maybe one day I'll take a look inside.

Big Cats

Two Jaguar model cars that I bought the other day. Each one cost me £1.

The rather battered one is a Dinky Toys Type D that I got from a charity shop. If it was in mint condition and had its box, it would be worth about £120. But in its present state, it is only worth about a fiver. Still its nice to have, especially as it was made in the 1950s, the same time as the real one, and I never had one as a child.

The E Type is easily recognisable and has often been called the sexiest car ever made. 1960s cool at its best. The model made by a company called DeAgostini. and came from one of the many pound shops that have sprung up over the past few years. I think it originally cost a lot more, as its quite detailed, but may have not sold well, so it found itself on the shelf with a load of other toys, stationery and food.

Stigmata

Besides some expensive cars parked in the Old Market Square The Stig from Top Gear made an appearance.

Of course he didn't say anything, as The Stig never does. He just stood around posing for photos.

Health Service

Early this morning I had to go to the QMC hospital. No, fortunately there wass nothing wrong with me, I just had to take someone in who was scheduled to have a small operation. Thankfully nothing too serious, but it will mean that they will need to have around a month off work for their recovery time.

While they were in theatre, I took some photos of the views that I could see out of the ward windows. At the front of the photo you can see the new tram bridge, which I saw being put into place during September 2013. Then there is the main A52 road that takes vehicles towards Newark and Grantham.

There used to be a number of nurses' quarters where all those cars are parked. But they were knocked down a couple of years ago, to expand the existing car park, as the old multi-storey car park had to be knocked down due to crumbling concrete.

The hospital is meant to be building a new multi-storey car park that's going to have a helipad on the top. They just have to find all the money to build it.

There's been a lot written about the poor state of the NHS; the cuts in service, shortage of beds and overworked medical staff. But I have to say, the nurses and doctors that were involved this morning did a wonderful job, and the operation went well.

Battery Life

Motor racing took a new turn today at Donington Park. Although not as high profile yet as Formula 1 racing with the likes of Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, electric racing cars are the new kids on the circuit, and go by the name of Formula E.

They look the same, go as quick, but they are a lot quieter and obviously don't use petrol. You just plug them into the mains and an hour later you can go racing again.  As it's a pretty new sport, there are only about 20 cars in existence, and they are all the same model. But no doubt the teams will be able to tinker with them in the future.

The first ever official race is going to take place in Beijing on the 13th of September. If you want to learn more about this exciting new motorsport, then here's a WEBLINK to the Formula E site.

A Little Bit Of Over There, Over Here

Independence Day in the States today, and so I was hoping to come across something American  during my lunch hour walk.

Sadly I didn't come across anything, so instead here's a photo of a 58 Cadillac that I came across at the recent classic car show in Wollaton Park. The guy in the shot looked impressed with the vehicle, as he posed for a photograph.

As we have a time difference of some 5 hours ahead of New York and 7 hours ahead of Los Angeles, I still have time to wish all my American visitors a Happy Holiday.

Super Star

The Star Inn in Beeston has a new owner and has just gone through a major re-fit over the last few weeks.

Today was it's grand opening. Alas, we weren't able to be the first customers, as it opened during the day, but we popped down tonight to see how they had done up the old place.

It was originally a coaching inn, hence the large doors you can see where the coaches went through. The pub also appeared in two TVdrama serials that were made in the 1980s, Auf Weidersehen Pet, which was about a group of builders and Boon, which concerned an ex fireman who became a private detective.

As you can imagine the place was heaving, as locals were seeing what the place now looked like from it's earlier 'spit and sawdust' incarnation. In fact it was that packed, I found it a little difficult to take any decent photographs, so I took one of the freshly painted brickwork outside instead.

Maybe when the publicity dies down & no so crowded, we will visit again and I'll be able to take some better shots, of the different rooms. Although you can see one of the rooms which has been designed like a library, with book wallpaper. But there is a small collection of real books that you can read whilst enjoying your pint.

Passing Strangers

One of the so-called rules of photography is that you're not meant to shoot into the sun, but rules are meant to be broken, especially those that are to do with photography.

The sun was very bright when I shot this at lunchtime, and I like the way that it has made the road shimmer, like it was wet with rain.

Yes, I've tweaked it a bit in Lightroom, but only to enhance the silhouettes and to turn it to monochrome.

I'm intrigued as to why the person is walking in the road, especially with some cars that are heading towards them.

Faster Than The Speed Of Night

I haven't done any car light trails for quite a while now, and as there's little to photograph at the moment, I thought I would have another go.

So I stopped along University Boulevard on my way home and shot a few frames. Sadly, still being the holidays, there wasn't that many cars on the road, even at 6pm. Still I don't think this one of a 4x4 is too bad.

The boulevard is currently in a mess as it's where the new tramline is going. So there are traffic cones everywhere. They have realigned the road slightly and put a long strip of concrete blocks like a wall, so I was able to perch my camera on there, at just about the right height for the headlights.

Moving Time

For some reason, I've not come across that many photos of car transporters on the Internet. I'm sure there are, but I've not seen any.

So I thought I would put this one on. It had parked up, as some new hire cars were being delivered to the local Avis depot near the Broad Marsh shopping centre.

The Flying Lady

I came across a 'fake' Rolls Royce and Bentley wedding cars the other day, that were parked outside Beeston's church.

Chatting to one of the chauffeurs, he said that one was built on a Ford chassis, while the other had been constructed around a London taxi.

There haven't been that many weddings at the church this year, possibly due to the tramworks that are going on at present.

The route of the tram is going right past the church, so scenes like this one of wedding vehicles waiting for the new Mr and Mrs are sadly numbered, as I think they are actually metaphysically parked on a tramline.

Models And Motors

Gail and I have just spent an exciting day at Donington Park shooting models and motors, separately and of course together.

There were plenty of Ford cars on show, as it was geared towards Ford owners, but there were others, like these Caterham 7's, waiting for the checkered flag.

I came across a message on Facebook for asking for 'togs' and models to walk around and interact with people who were there.

Here's Lucy posing with a Ford Escort from the 1970s. The weather wasn't brilliant, and it did rain a little bit, but not enough to deter us for enjoying the day.

Donington Park is close to the East Midlands Airport. So every so often jets would scream overhead, either taking off or landing; just like this Ryanair Boeing 737.

Day One

Well the first day in my new job passed fairly well. I cycled in with a slightly heavy heart, as I wasn't going to my old job and to see all my friends anymore.

The day didn't start that good either, as it had been snowing during the night, and it was very, very cold. It took me ages to get to town as the wind was blowing against me all the way. There were a couple of heavy blizzards during the morning, but it had melted by the time I took this photo of the place where I am now employed.

I have to look to the future now and my new life in a different job. I am hoping that it works out well for me and I have as just an enjoyable time as I had before.

Bridging The Gap

The construction works for the new tram lines is moving along slowly. Unfortunately this has meant the chopping down of even more mature trees. And they say that it's an environmentally friendly form of transport!

One big development has been the installation of a new bridge over Queens Road. It also runs over the railway station, and will eventually join up with the existing terminus.

I can't say that it looks particularly attractive, and I'm not sure that it is in keeping with the area. It will certainly stick out against the Edwardian majestic splendour of the station, with it's ornate brickwork and art nouveau motifs.

But things are designed these days to be as cheap and as easily built as possible, with hardly any thought into the aesthetics, or how it will look in relation to the other buildings around it.

Crane And Able

I've got a day off from work today, as I have a few days holiday to take before I move jobs next month.

One of my goals today was to mend the loo, as it wasn't flushing properly. This meant a trip to a local DIY store. Whilst driving down a road that I always use,  I found out that the road had been closed and came across this scene, which explained.

Two houses were being redeveloped, and as neither has a driveway, it clearly was impossible to deliver the building materials to the back of the house. So it seems that using this big crane was the only method.

It was certainly very easy for the builders, but a tad inconvenient for residents and motorists, as they had to do a long detour around some other streets, to get where they wanted to go.

It's Snow Time

Well we had a little dusting of snow last night, so work up to more whiteness, as it had settled on the compacted snow from the last couple of days.

So here's a couple more photos taken today. Above is the castle. I'm not sure if it the front, back or one of the sides, as the building has no clear demarcation of what side is what. But this is the side that has the cafe in it and the main viewing area towards the west of the city.

Below is a bit of the canal towpath, not far from the Broad Marsh shopping centre. It runs parallel to the road above, although more in line with the castle itself.

The Cars That Ate Leeds

Back to Leeds today and two of James Martin's cars. The first is is a Ferrari 275 GTB,  from the late 1960s, which apparently used to belong to John Lennon. Imagine..

While below is a somewhat modified and highly decorated Fiat 500 from around 1972.

Standing Tall For Elizabeth

I came across these two 'soldiers' at the Autokrama in Wollaton Park over the jubilee holiday.

They were larking around, ticking passers by with their extra long feather dusters.

They were happy to pose for me, before finding other victims to annoy, while they were looking at the classic cars!