Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

  Once Upon a Time in Leicester ...  It is a period of nostalgia. Galactic travellers and sci-fi fans from across the East Midlands gather at the @LeicesterMuseums Art Gallery on the historic New Walk . In an upstairs gallery, a legendary collection has been unveiled. MAY THE TOYS BE WITH YOU showcases the rare artefacts of a bygone era, the plastic heroes and star ships that have fuelled the imaginations of countless generations. As fans marvel at pristine action figures and vintage cinema posters from across the epic space saga, they rediscover the magic of a galaxy far, far away , ensuring that the Force remains strong in the heart of the city of Leicester. Come with me as I explore this exhibition and rekindle memories of epic garden battles, where the suburban borders became forest moons and the sandpit became a vast desert world race track for Podracing under twin suns. As far as local links to this intergalactic Toy Story, we find the Palitoy factory in Coalvil...

Travel back to possibly the brightest most colorful decade that ever there was, see the items that made the 80s so memorable. For those growing up in this decade it was a neverending story of great films, tv, music, toys and the first true home and portable gaming systems, we truly felt like masters of our own little universes. In the I Grew Up 80s Exhibition curator Matt Fox takes us through his personal collection of 80s objects triggering memories of our own 80s Childhoods. How many objects do you remember ?.

Once upon a time in a galaxy far far... wait a second lets start that again, Once upon a time in Leicester a collection of vintage toy figures, spacecraft and artwork from a popular science fiction film franchise where brought together by collector Matt Fox at the cities New Walk museum. Fans both young and old jumped into their transport craft (cars) eager to relive countless childhood hours spent recreating scenes from that adventure among the stars. May The Toys Be With You brings together the UK`s finest collection of Action Figures, Spacecraft and Artwork from the popular generation spanning Star Wars films, toys from which where created at nearby Palitoy based in Coalville (Leicestershire). Being the main UK distributors of the films toy line Palitoy where behind the unprecedented demand for the iconic toys that went on to sell more than the films that inspired them from 1977 - 1985 an estimated 300 million figures where sold. My film aims to bring a flavor of the exh...

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.

I visited Abbey Pumping Station in Leicester for the annual Christmas Toys & Steam Day. The event usual held in December features many historic steam powered Vehicles and collections of toys from Christmas past. Visitors are invited to take a ride on the museums steam train Leonard and see the Pumping Stations beautifully designed beam engines in operation which can be seen in my previous post at http://leigh984.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/AbbeyPumpingStation.html Images Follow

Leonard is a narrow gauge steam engine that operates at the Abbey Pumping station, an industrial museum in Leicester, England. During the museums regular Christmas steam days the engine can be found giving visitors rides along a length of track which runs along the edge of the site. My video follows Leonard as oil and various parts of the engine are checked before heading off on a journey pulling small carriages full of exited visitors.