I'm a 75+ year old divorcee who spent forty years working as a public servant in the NHS doing a job that paid well, but that I hated doing. So, for the last thirty of these years I also worked as a part-time bus/coach driver, mostly with OK Motor Services of Bishop Auckland, doing a job that maintained my sanity and gave me a great deal of pleasure - but didn't pay at all well.

From when I retired in 2003 until 2011 I worked at Beamish Museum in County Durham as a driver of their "crash box" buses and 100+ year-old restored trams. My colleagues and friends were wonderful and working there was an absolute pleasure. I always had my camera with me at work and my colleagues were invariably more than happy to pose for me, so my photostream at that time was mostly a chronicle of the daily life and sights spotted during my time in the museum. Sadly the management of Beamish Museum did not share this enthusiasm for my photography (despite frequently using my photographs in their publicity material), as a result of which I eventually lost my job there. Despite this, and because of my love of this very special place and most of the people who work there, I continued to work there as an unpaid volunteer driver.

Fortunately, after three years out in the cold, I was re-employed by the museum in 2014 and will hopefully be there for some years to come - albeit normally without my camera. My photostream now is mostly views of the endless stream of heritage vehicles that visit and/or work at the museum, although occasional shots of workmates do still creep in.

For the benefit of those who don't know Beamish Museum it is an open-air museum set in 300 acres of rural land in County Durham in North-East England. Within the museum are reconstructed buildings drawn from the surrounding areas, showing life in Georgian 1825 (at Pockerley Manor and the waggon way), World War II 1940's (at Home Farm) and in post-Edwardian 1913 (in the rest of the museum). A working tramway, mostly using restored Victorian trams (although there are frequently some more modern ones in evidence!), ably assisted by a small fleet of replica/restored buses, conveys visitors around the site. Staff are dressed in appropriate costumes and are able to demonstrate to visitors what life was like in these three time slots.

In 2017 the museum started on a major development of a 1950's town which was expected to take five years or so to complete, but Covid got in the way! Although the project slowed significantly for a time, it subsequently continued apace and early parts of the development will open in early 2022 with the remainder following incrementally. Perhaps, by then, I'll be ready to be stuffed and mounted in some corner as an exhibit! In the meantime, as part of this development, they have bought a 1954 Daimler CVG6 bus with a pre-select gearbox and a 1964 Daimler CCG5 bus with a "crash" gearbox - and it is my pleasure to spend a great deal of time driving these as frequently as I can!

I have a weakness for gardening (subject to the increasing limitations of old age) and get a great deal of pleasure out of the beauty of the wealth of summer flowers that I propagate each year. Some of these also feature in my photostream.

ALL OF MY PHOTOGRAPHS ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED

I don't mind you taking copies of my photos for personal non-commercial use, but if you want to do anything else with them please ask first.

Finally, a friendly warning. IF YOU HAVE NO PROFILE AND NO PHOTOSTREAM I WILL BLOCK YOU.