Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

A disused toilet block on Townsend Road in the center of the Leicestershire village of Enderby has been transformed with a Street Art/Mural piece by artists Rebecca Bromley and Ellie-Rose. Enderby Mission Church and Enderby Parish Council commissioned the work depicting various scenes from Enderby`s History after securing a grant from the Enderby Co-op 'Local Community Causes' fund. The artists met with Enderby Heritage Group and explored ideas for the work. The main (front) of the building depicts the pink/red brick houses of enderby and quarrymen returning home from work at the quarry, the background depicting the roads that the quarry stone was used to construct. The right-hand side wall contains images of quarry trucks or 'hoppers' a competition was held for residents to create a design for the side of each truck which attracted entries from a wide age range.  the left-hand wall depicts a 'frame knitter' at her loom using local wool to create product...

In this film I take a look at The Gravity Slate Train that operated as part of the railways 150th Anniversary event in 2013, When the Festiniog Railway first opened in 1836 and before steam arrived, all "down" trains were worked by gravity. A horse would pull the empty wagons to the top of the mountain and after being loaded with slate they would be allowed to travel back down under their own weight with the horse riding in specially designed dandy wagons. When Steam was introduced to the railway (in 1863) they took the place of the horses in leading the trains. My film features the locomotive Prince working hard to lead the wagons on wet tracks before being uncoupled and allowing the wagons to travel back down the line with a brakesman at the front sounding his horn to alert the station master to the trains imminent gravity powered arrival. images follow