Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

I visited the Great Central Railways Quorn and Woodhouse station where numerous vintage buses from across the decades and county had met for a Bus rally and heritage running day. Once a regular sight on the roads of #Leicester and also in the wider country many viewers will remember catching a "Midland Red" or a "Fox Cub" into Leicester City center and the destination board at the start of my film features many familiar stops. Also featured in this film are buses and coaches used by many for trips to the seaside in skegness or maybe to Wembley Stadium for a Leicester City Cup Final this event and the vehicles featured are sure to bring back fond memories for many. Look out for a bonus appearance by the GCR Rail car which could be described as a sort of "Bus on rails". Fun fact I found my old School Bus at the event !.

My short film follows a Traction engine in steam as it arrives at the Abbey Pumping Station for one of their regular events. We join the beautifully kept engine as it makes its way carefully along the nearby streets and through the front gates of the Victorian Pumping house before later taking a closer look at the workings from a unique drivers perspective. Images follow.

I was given a rare opportunity to explore the disused area beneath the former Leicester Corporation Tramways Edwardian District Tram Depot during their Heritage Open Days event. Hidden below ground level the disused dark and dusty space makes for a spooky atmosphere of cobwebs, dark rooms and shows many echoes of its past as both a tram and bus depot. The area was originally used to repair and service the trams during the depots working life but after having a concrete floor installed has remained untouched for many years before the LTHT took over the lease of the building. photos follow

Every year, during the festive season, The Great Central Railway in Leicester runs special journeys along the length of the line called Santa Specials, in this video I follow one of the specials as it travels between two stations. The temperature was low and so the engine created more steam and due to the lack of wind the steam shrouded the engine making for a spectacular sight as it picked up speed and broke free of its veil. The sun having only risen a couple of moments earlier lends the video an almost magical feel illuminating the stream with an warm glow as it rises.

This short film features two Pannier Tank engines (7752 & 9600) as they speed full steam through Narborough station on their way to Leicester. I have given the video a deliberately cinema style effect evocative of classics such as brief encounter etc, the cropped image also highlights the drama of the trains as they speed past.

End of the Line - The Last Night of the Classic Blackpool Trams, details the end of the Blackpool Tramway in its current form. The 6th November 2011 saw the end of the Blackpool tramway. As part of ongoing work on the famous seafront the tramway and its trams are due to be replaced by newer more modern variants, So against the backdrop of the famous illuminations the classic trams had one last night of operation before returning to the depot destined to end their days in rail museums and scrap heaps.

2010 is the 125th anniversary of Blackpool's famous electric trams - one of the very first in the world and the first in the UK. Various events took place to celebrate the fact including an Anniversary Week from 23 to 29 September. My video from the 26th includes a visit to the tram depot and various trams running along the famous seafront. For more infomation on the weeks events see http://www.blackpooltramevents.co.uk/ Tweet

2010 is the 125th anniversary of Blackpool's famous electric trams and a number of events have been taking place along the famous seafront to celebrate above are a selection of my photos from the depot open day event of Sunday 26th. To find out more about the event visit: http://www.blackpooltramevents.co.uk/

Taken aboard the oporto tram as it visited Blackpool Rigby Road tram depot open day on the 125 anniversary of the Blackpool tramway. I shot from a low angle to truly show the amazingly detailed interior of this portuguese tram and applied a high contrast mono filter to give the image a aproriate aged feel.