Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

The Abbey Pumping Station Steam Days are a chance for people of all ages to take a trip into our industrial and domestic heritage from street organs to chips "Fried the old way" and toys from Christmases past this festive look into the past is sure to bring the memories flooding back quicker than any beam engine could ever pump it back. We begin with Leonard (Lenny) the loco letting off some steam before we hear the distinctive sound of a street organ playing well known songs , whilst the organ plays on we see a long queue forming at the Chip Van which fries chips in the "old Style" in oil giving them a crispy coating. As the organ continues to play outside we head into the building to see the toy displays with model boats and is that Nessie on holiday ?. Next up the spectacular twists turns and trains of Charlie`s railway where TGV trains run through Knapford station alongside Thomas and his friends . Next we take a look at the Storm Pig Magical Flying S...

I take a look at the annual Christmas Toys & Steam Day held at Leicester Museums Abbey Pumping Station. Featuring Meccano creations of every conceivable type and model railway layouts of various gauges. These are the toys young and old dreamt of finding under the tree on christmas mornings though the decades.

I visited the Abbey Pumping Station for Meccano Magic a celebration of the well known construction toy. The large hall was packed with many different colourful and intricate models created by enthusiasts from the wide variety of shapes and colours available in the Meccano range. Many of the designs had been crafted without instructions showing the creativity of their creators. On one table sat a model of the Millennium Falcon from Star Wars which its creator believed to be the only one of its kind in existence and had been created purely from photographs of the iconic spacecraft. Other models on show included steam engines, cranes, Red Arrow and Spitfire planes and even remote control cars all created using the construction toy. My film aims to capture the atmosphere of the popular event and features just a small selection of the models on show.