Welcome to my blog, Whats this about then?

This is a place where I will be posting all sorts of things not just things relating to Derby and Derbyshire. On here you will find details of any videos I’ve made of things in Derby and also Time-lapse, stop motion animation, Tutorials etc. If I find some useful software for PC or iPhone then I will feature it here.I’m sure that there will be something of interest to someone on my many posts.Please leave comments on any posts if you like them.
Don’t forget if you are new to my blog and would like to read through the previous posts then see the Blog Archive section on the left side of this page.
Also there is a Search box at the top left of the page if you are looking for something but cant remember where it was. I am a trustee member of "Friends of Friar Gate bridge", aiming to get this bridge restored.

Thursday 28 July 2011

Videos of the Bombardier march in Derby, Trying to save the UK's last train builder.

I have now completed uploading all of my video footage I took at the Bombardier March that took place in Derby on Saturday 23rd July 2011. Including the speeches Bob Crow, Margaret Beckett etc.

Bombardier March in Derby - Part 1
In this video I have captured every single person that was part of the march near the start on Station Approach. It takes over 16 minutes for it to pass by.
If you were in the march at the start then you will be in this video !



Bombardier March in Derby - Part 2
In this video I have joined the march and this video starts at The Morledge near Derby Bus Station, I follow it on its way through the Corn Market and up Full Street to Derby Cathedral Green.


Bombardier March in Derby - Part 3
In this video I have captured the speeches at Cathedral Green.


Bombardier March in Derby - Part 4
In this video I have captured the speeches at Cathedral Green by Bob Crow.


Thanks
Andy

Sunday 24 July 2011

Videos of the Bombardier March in Derby will be posted soon.

I was at the Bombardier March in Derby on Saturday 23rd July and captured the entire march on Video as well as the speaches at Cathedral Green.
It was great to see such great support for this, I have never seen so many people in Derby join together.

I will be uploading my videos very soon so keep an eye on my blog and my YouTube Channel.
Its all in 1080p and rather a lot of footage for me to edit together so may be end of week before its all uploaded.

My Videos :
Bombardier Derby March Part 2.

Andy

Friday 22 July 2011

The Bombardier march on Saturday 23rd July 2011 in Derby. Show your support by joining the march.

This is not just a local issue, its a national one !
SUPPORT THE MARCH & RALLY TO SAVE BOMBARDIER
I have tried to answer all questions that you could want here such as What time does the march start, where does the march start from and end up, What is the marching route map and what roads are going to be closed in Derby during the march.

You don't have to be from Derby to know about this as its been on all major news channels. Bombardier is the UK's last train builder so this is very important.

The protest, which calls on the Government to reverse its decision not to award the £1.4 billion Thameslink contract to Bombardier, promises to be one of the largest events of its kind here for a generation.

Those who feel that the Government has made the wrong decision not to back city train-maker Bombardier are being urged to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with workers whose jobs have been put at risk.

Since losing out on Thameslink, Bombardier has already shed 1,429 jobs at Litchurch Lane. And the firm is carrying out a full review of its UK operations.
A further 1,500 job losses could be in the offing in Derby if Bombardier decides to pull out of the UK.
There is also the impact this would have on Bombardier’s supply chain. Conservative estimates believe around 12,000 jobs could be affected. Unions are saying the figure is more likely to be about 20,000 across the East Midlands.
The RMT union claimed that more than 500 train maintenance and cleaning jobs in London and the South East are now under threat as a result of the Government awarding the contract to Siemens. The union said that as well as train manufacture, the contract covered train maintenance.

Join the The Bombardier March in Derby on Saturday 23rd July.
The protest will begin at 10am when participants start gathering at Bass’s Recreation Ground.
At 10.25am, the crowd will be addressed by speakers introduced by Julia Long, national officer at the Unite union. The marchers will then set off at 11am following the route I have marked on the map below, reaching Cathedral Green at noon.

The Bombardier Protest March is 1.2 Miles from the start at Bass Recreation Ground to the end at Derby Cathedral Green.
Bass Recreation Ground does not have any parking places so you will need to walk to the start of the march. The main entrance to it is near the newly built Skate Park on the corner.
Cathedral Green does not look like its shown in Google Maps or streetview due to it being revamped after they captured it. But you can see the new look of Cathedral Green in my Virtual Tour.

Below is a route map showing the exact route that the rally is going to take. I have based this on the information from Derbyshire Police and the Derby Evening Telegraph.
If you click the link below the map then you can print out a large version. Or if you own a smart phone then use my smart phone GPS drop pin locators to get to the march.

The Bombardier marching route map for 
Saturday 23rd July 2011.

View Bombardier march in Derby July 23rd 2011. in a larger map

Smart phone GPS Locator points:
If you have a smart phone (iPhone,HTC,iPad etc) then you can use a navigation drop pin I have made for you. While viewing this blog on your phone tap the links below to get very precise locations for the start and end of the march on Saturday:

The Bombardier march Staring point  <--- Tap this link on your smart phone.
The Bombardier march Ending point  <--- Tap this link on your smart phone.

When you tap a link above, it will launch your mapping application and place a "push pin" onto the map with the exact location of the start or end of the Bombardier march . You can then use this marker to get driving, walking or bus directions from your current location.
For example on an iPhone you tap the Directions button at the bottom and this will pre-fill in the start and end locations so just tap the Route button at the bottom and it will show you either the driving route or the walking route. If you tap the middle button at the top, this will even show you which bus number and when the next bus departs !



Of course this protest march is quite a major thing in Derby so some roads are going to be closed due to the amount of people expected for this rally.

These are the Road closures and times so you know where to avoid.
Station Approach - 10.30am to 11.45am.
Siddals Road - 11am to 12.15pm.
Traffic Street - 11.30am to 12.30pm.
The Morledge - 11.30am to 12.30pm.
Albert Street - 11.45am to 12.45pm.
Full Street - 11.30am to 2pm.

You can print out your own Banner for this march HERE.

Want to learn more about what this is about then follow these links :
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-14019992
http://shirazsocialist.wordpress.com/2011/07/21/march-to-save-bombardier-jobs/
http://www.unitetheunion.org/news__events/events/support_the_march_and_rally_to.aspx
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-derbyshire-14249116

Some videos about the Thameslink contract:
Another stitch-up for our railway.
ITN News - 1,400 jobs go at last UK train factory.
Sky News - Bombardier Cuts Over 1,400 Jobs In Derby After Losing Key Government contract.

See you at the march! I will hopefully be recording the march so subscribe to my Youtube Channel and you will get notified when I upload my Bombardier March video at some point in the next few days.
Andy

Saturday 16 July 2011

Amazing song and video by local singer Lynzi, Watch her video "Magical".

Always keen to promote local videos, This is an amazing song written by Lynzi who is from Eyam in Derbyshire.I must have played this song about thirty times over and over now as I love it so much.
She has been singing and writing her own songs for many years and Magical is her debut video and song.
You may recognise the backdrop in her video as its the hills above Eyam and Foolow.

The music video "Magical" by Lynzi :

Best viewed in Full screen mode.
Or use this link to view it Lynzi - Magical video.

Hope you enjoy listening to her track too, I wish her well with her musical career and hope she does an album soon.

Thanks
Andy

Tuesday 12 July 2011

Derby Caribbean Carnival Saturday 16th July 2011 with Procession Route Map.

Update Sunday 17th - I found a video of Saturdays procession 2011.

Here is my complete guide to this years Derby Carnival. Complete with detailed route map for the procession so you know where the best place to stand along the route to get a view of the dancers and their great costumes. I have also provided a smartphone mapping pin. The procession generally moves very slowly so if you have trouble getting here and parking then don't worry as you can soon catch up with the front of it.

On Saturday 16th July 2011 the 36th Derby Caribbean Carnival Parade will take place, show your support for this annual event. Its always very popular and attracts lots of people. Derby's annual Caribbean Carnival has been running since 1975 !

The Procession starts at 1pm from Pear Tree Street in Derby. After leaving Pear Tree Street, it turns right onto Portland Street, right onto St Thomas Road, Left at the mini round-a-bout onto Pear Tree Road, right up Normanton Road to very top where it meets Lara Croft Way/Mercian Way, Down Babington Lane, left onto St Peters Street, down The Corn Market and finally onto Derby Market Place at about 3pm.

If you are a car driver and are around this area then expect to have to wait while the carnival passes through.

Samantha Glasgow from Normanton is the 2011 Derby Caribbean Carnival Queen, she will lead the procession through the streets of Derby.

Here is a HD video I took last year of the Derby Carnival:


I have taken quite a few photographs at these events over the years but have only got around to uploading photographs I took at the 2005 Derby Carnival. Have a look at my photographs here - 2005 Derby Carnival Photographs on www.derbyphotos.co.uk.

Derby Carnival Procession Route Map
Here is a detailed map showing the complete route that the 2011 Derby Carnival Parade will take on 16th July 2011. Click the link below the map if you want a large version you can print out:


View Derby Caribbean Carnival Procession Route Map. in a larger map

Smartphone mapping pin.
If you have a smart phone (iPhone,HTC,iPad etc) then you can use a navigation drop pin I have made for you. While viewing this blog on your phone tap the link below :

Smartphone push pin <-- Tap me on your smartphone to get exact location of the start of the Derby Carnival.

Smartphone push pin <-- Tap me on your smartphone to get an exact location of the end of the Derby Carnival.


When you tap the link above, it will launch your mapping application and place a "push pin" onto the map with the exact location of the carnival parade start. You can then use this marker to get driving, walking or bus directions from your current location.
For example on an iPhone you tap the Directions button at the bottom and this will pre-fill in the start and end locations so just tap the Route button at the bottom and it will show you either the driving route or the walking route. If you tap the middle button at the top, this will even show you which bus number and when the next bus departs !



360 Degree Views of the Carnival route, use your mouse to look around.

360 view of Pear Tree Street
where the parade starts at 1pm.
360 view of St Thomas Road where the parade turns left up Pear Tree Road.
360 view at the bottom of Normanton Road.
360 view at Lara Croft Way (note that this no longer looks like this since the Derby inner ring road was completed)

The Derby Carnival 2011 Poster that you may have seen posted about Normanton.


On Sunday 17th July 2011, the Caribbean Carnival will descend upon Osmaston Park, where music acts will perform on stage. There will also be a fun fair, catering stalls selling Caribbean and European foods and arts and crafts stalls.

The weather forecast for the Derby Carnival does not look that good at the moment but hopefully the rain may go for the procession. If you are driving in from another city then you can always have a look at my local webcams to see for yourself if its raining right now.
 
Thanks
Andy

Saturday 9 July 2011

At the Derby beer festival again

Its day 4 of the Derby summer beer festival. This is a live post from the Beer festival, perhaps you are here too. There is only one more day of the festival to go now.
After being here for a couple of hours I got the rather devastating news that "Pickled Pig Porkers Snout" had run out !!

This band are performing in the Darwin suite. They are The Little Giants.
Little Giants at Derby Beer Festival Saturday 9th July 2011




These Ladies performed in the Main Hall then again in the Darwin Suite.
Derby Beer Festival Saturday 9th July 2011

Tomorrow (Sun 10th July) the beer festival is open from 12.00 to 14.30 and is FREE.
For more details on the festival see my post - Derby Summer Beer Festival 2011.

I managed to find a video of Derby Beer Festival that was filmed from the balcony.

-- Post From My iPhone
Location:Market Pl,Derby,United Kingdom

Thanks
Andy

Video - Ticknall Scarecrow Trail, July 2011. Scarecrows take over the village!

Here is my latest local video. This features most of the Scarecrows that were on show around the village of Ticknall in Derbyshire.
This is Ticknall Scarecrow Trail 2011, where the entire village is taken over by scarecrows !
I have photographed most of the scarecrows but missed a few of them.

Did you visit this event? Which scarecrow did you like best.


Or use this link to watch it : Video of Ticknall Scarecrow Trail 2011.

This is a HD video rendered at 1080p so looks great in fullsreen mode at 720p or 1080p if you have a fast pc and net connection.


The music I have used in my video is Beyond My Sound by 808Chunk used under creative commons license "Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)"



Thanks
Andy

Friday 8 July 2011

The 2011 Derby City Charter Summer Beer Festival, On until Sunday 10th July.

This years Derby summer beer festival opened on Wednesday 6th of July and is ongoing until Sunday 10th July. So there is still time to go along and enjoy the real ales and ciders.
This is at Derby Assembly Rooms which is on Derby Market Place near the Quad.

If you have never been to a beer festival before then you are missing an experience, there are not just beers on sale there are ciders and Perries.  You can get some hot or cold food too. T-shirts and glasses are available to buy. And live music to watch each day.

Its best to arrive by foot, there is plenty of parking outside for your Beer Scooter :)

If your looking for a downloadable pdf guide to this years festival then click the link below. It lists all the beers and ciders along with their location in the hall :
Complete Beer list and guide by CAMRA.

When you pay the entrance fee, you go up the stairs and turn left to either hire a glass or buy a glass.
Its £2.50 for glasses which you can redeem at the end if you like.

Here are the opening times for the three remaining days of the festival.
  • Fri 8th July - 11.30 to 16.00 then 17.00 to 23.00
  • Sat 9th July - 11.30 to 16.00 then 18.30 to 23.00
  • Sun 10th July - 12.00 to 14.30
Admission Prices
  • Fri Lunch: £2 17.00-18.30: £3 Eve: £6
  • Sat Lunch: £3 Eve: £6
  • Sun Lunch: Free
Admission is free to CAMRA Members.

I love the ciders they had on.
The best one was "Pickled Pig Porkers Snout" a Med Sweet cider at 6.5% but we also tried "Three Cats" a local brew, "Old Goat" and "Westons Old Rosie". There was a cider called Woodthorpe Hall Ruby Suzie which was 10.5% which I did not try !!

Here are a few photographs I took on Thursday afternoon.

the stage at Derby Summer Beer Festival 2011
Derby Beer Festival sign on stage

This is The Bill Bailey Jazz Band who were performing on Thursday afternoon.
Bill Bailey jazz band at Derby Summer Beer festival 2011

This was the view in the Main Hall on Thursday 7th July. I'm standing near the ciders.
Derby Beer Festival, near the Ciders

I found this review of the Cider I liked..
Pickled Pig Porkers Snout.

Pop along and enjoy the real ales and ciders.
Leave comments of which Beers and ciders you liked.

Thanks
Andy

Wednesday 6 July 2011

Where to Pick Your Own Strawberries near Derby. A Time-Lapse drive to Scaddows Farm, Ticknall.

One of the best things about Briitish summers is being able to pick your own Strawberries. Here in Derby you don't have to drive too far out of the city to get to a farm where you can pick your own fruit.
Just in case you did not know about this farm I have created a time-lapse driving video below of a drive from Osmaston Road in Derby to the PYO farm.

Do you like the taste of freshly picked English Strawberries with cream?
There is nothing quite like the taste and its cheaper than buying them from the supermarket.

Here in my video I have recorded a time-lapse car journey from Derby to Scaddows Farm near Ticknall in Derbyshire.
As you will see its not too far from Derby City to this "pick your own" fruit farm and well worth the drive.
As well as Strawberries they also have blackcurrents, Raspberries, Redcurrents and Gooseberries, also locally produced fruit and veg etc available in their farm shop.

The PYO Season is June to late July and its open 7 days a week from 9.30am to 7.30pm. Because you can collect so much fruit its great for those people wanting to make Jams or cakes but I just like to eat them with cream.



Driving Details:
The car journey starts on Osmaston Road (A514) in Derby and ends at Scaddows Farm, Ticknall, Derbyshire.
The ENTIRE journey from start to end is on the A514 road so very easy to drive.
It starts in The Osmaston area of Derby then through Allenton, Shelton Lock, Chellaston, Swarkestone, Stanton by Bridge and Ticknall.
This trip is 9.3 Miles and takes about 17 minutes if there is no traffic.

When you arrive at the farm entrance you need to turn left and follow the track along and down to the parking area.
Here you can get your plastic punnet or basket with a handle (you pay for the basket when you weigh in your Strawberries). Speaking personally from experience I find that the best quality Strawberries are found furthest away from the entrance to the field as  most people are lazy and just walk to the nearest plants but of course those plants tend to have been picked the most of all.
Also you can find some good crops of berries near weeds and Thistles as people don't like picking near them.
Because you are picking the fruit yourself it means you can select the best of the crop, no point in picking fruit thats not quite ripe or fruit that has started to go mushy. Remove as much of the stalk as possible and don't leave discarded fruit in the walking areas as it ends up all over your shoes!

If you don't want to pick your own Strawberries then you can also buy punnets of Strawberries in the farm shop but seems a bit silly going all that way only to get some picked by someone else.

Costs:
As of July 3rd 2011
We picked 7lb 15oz of fruit and it cost £7.10 (including price for two baskets).

Here is my video:


Music :
Mighty by Olaf used under creative commons license
Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported (CC BY-SA 3.0)
This Track
Olafs music channel.


Driving Route Map
Detailed map of Scaddows Farm

Time-Lapse details :
The driving video is made from 1115 photographs (at 2272x1704 pixels) taken using a modified Canon Ixus 430 camera. Sequenced using Sony Vegas 10 Pro. Video rendered in 1080p (519Mb uploaded video file).

Hope you found my video of use.
Rate and comment if you enjoyed it.

Thanks
Andy

Friday 1 July 2011

Mercia Marina festival 2011 is this weekend, Saturday 2nd and Sunday 3rd July.

This weekend Mercia Marina at Willington have their annual festival. This is the third festival, if your looking for something to do this weekend then why not pop along there is something for everyone to enjoy.
The festival is open from noon to 10pm on Saturday July 2nd, with live music and a fireworks display and on Sunday 3rd July doors are open between noon and 6pm.
Note that the live music and a fireworks display are only on Saturday.

There will be a raffle for a chance to win a ride in a hot air balloon!, Looks like the weather for this event is going to be good so show your support and have a look.
Check out the latest local weather here.

Why not have a look at the Mercia Marina live webcam to see whats going on. You may even spot someone you know walking past the camera. Their webcam looks out over the marina where all the narrow boats are moored up.

If you have never been to Mercia Marina then have a look at my 360 degree VR photograph which I took just outside the Willow Tree Tea rooms.

How to get to Mercia Marina Festival :
Mercia Marina is located on Findern Lane, Derbyshire.
If you have a smart phone (iPhone,HTC,iPad etc) then I have created a drop pin for you. While viewing this blog on your phone tap the link below :

Mercia Marina smart phone drop pin <--- Tap me !

When you tap the link above, it will launch your mapping application and place a "push pin" onto the map with the exact location of the entrance to Mercia Marina. You can then use this marker to get driving, walking or bus directions from your current location.
For example on an iPhone you tap the Directions button at the bottom and this will pre-fill in the start and end locations so just tap the Route button at the bottom and it will show you either the driving route or the walking route. If you tap the middle button at the top, this will even show you which bus number and when the next bus to Mercia Marina departs !

In this Google Street view of Mercia Marina you can see the entrance.




Here is their poster detailing whats going on at Mercia Marina at this years festival.

Example screen capture from my iPhone using the smart phone drop pin link I have provided above, in this example I have tapped the bus icon (middle button). As you can see it shows you which bus to catch, where from and at what time!

Now there is no excuse for not being able to find the marina. I'm sure it will be well sign posted anyway.

Last year, 5,000 people visited the Mercia Marina festival ! I wonder how many will attend this year?

Thanks
Andy