Aidie's Blog 2009 - Coronation Street with Trees

17/02/2009 Welcome to this the new site for FoSF, It has been a very long haul to arrive here, far longer than was intended, but I hope you find this site helpful and if you feel so inclined joins us as a member or even get your sleeves rolled up and participate, we would be pleased to hear from you, please see the Help section. Please don't forget the Pre publication section, it's full of blood sweat and tears. Here

19/02/2009 I had a business meeting in Mansfield late afternoon, so I decided to visit Sherwood Forest, there were about five shots left in the can and I had a load of bird food in the car so an early start to the afternoon was in order. When I arrived the meaning of half term suddenly hit me, the car park was nearly full, any other time during the week and there would just be a handful of visitors. Fed the birds and sorted the camera, shot count as I guessed, batteries OK ( 8 Lithium >> no wonder it can shoot 35mm at 8fps ). As I walked around the corner into the Forest one of the paths was closed for access. ( Tree felling ). I asked at the Office and the Ranger on duty double checked to see if it was OK for me to venture down the path where the tree felling was taking place, ( I tend to be a bit of a well known character now). In no time at all the ranger returned smiling and said it was alright for me to proceed. I made my way past the barriers without disturbing anything and off I went. First sighting was a white Landover, I stopped to ask if it was OK to continue. The chappie I spoke to said I had no right to be there and asked me to leave, I replied by showing him my business card and stating I had permission to be there. He said he had not had any contact about my visit but he would contact the rangers for confirmation. I was shocked when this creature phoned in and said he had a man from the FoSF who was refusing to leave. I shouted back so that the rangers could hear me over the radio he was using, that I was not refusing to leave. ( How could he be such a bare faced liar ! ) A call came back over the radio for him to repeat his message, this time the reply he gave was different. He told the rangers he did not want me there, OK I thought, I grabbed a quick shot and said thank you to him ( Well at least one of us has some manners and decency ). I started back up the path I had come down, musing as to why people should be such so and so's, a shot came into view and as I was framing it up, a very old saying and belief I have, resurrected itself, " It's not always evident at times when things go wrong, but rest assured things do happen for the best, it may not always seem so at the time, but they do. " Framing up the shot I was distracted by the sound of footsteps, Arghhhhhhhhh it's the Black Labradors taking Izi Banton ( Head Ranger for Sherwood Forest ) for a walk. I could not have asked for a better shot if I had of set it up myself, absolutely perfect. If that chappie had not bunked me off I would never have had the chance for that shot. However I was looking for some help and only too willing to give the chappie some free advertising here on the site for his time, that's what happens when you lie about people. Yes I am aware of the dangers of tree felling as much as I am working a 36inch Stenner re saw or a spindle, Courtesy and good manners cost nothing, bad manners can cost an awful lot more.

20/02/2009 A couple of years ago I initiated a project called " Starlight Falls " most of the work was planned to be shot in Scotland, some of it quite groundbreaking, involving the use of external computers to create the images. However it was placed on the back burner as do so many other projects, it was not until we had the first snow fall of 2009 that I thought about the Starlight Falls project again, now as we all should know there are no waterfalls in Sherwood Forest, not even a stream, but it does enjoy a certain unique atmosphere, especially at night. With all this in mind I started rummaging around the camera store and unearthed some rather special equipment, Arghhhhhhhhh a vital cable was missing, this often means it is easier to locate a left handed astronaut than find a special cable. I have a supplier in the States, who just happened to have two of these cables in stock, ( Plus some other goodies ) well he did, they are now on a Jet to the UK with my address on the parcel. Very soon we can look forward to some rather different Images of Sherwood Forest. In the final outcome I should have enough fire power to kill a small army.

21/02/2009 Site tweaking ( Graphics and Optimising ) and backdoor work to-day, the bits and pieces you never get to see, site submissions, stats looking good, search engine indexing on the up, all I need now is a good cup of PG Tips.

23/02/2009 PayPal has now been implemented for Donations and Subscriptions. The shop will be converted to PayPal when the product line increases.

26/02/2009 Tweaking the site and I managed to loose the homepage, all of a sudden it had just disappeared, has taken a couple of hours to re build, no idea as to why I should loose it, but a similar thing happed a couple of years ago with a site containing 450 pages, that took four hours to sort. I was hoping for an early night, no chance! Before you all shout I do have two large capacity USB sticks, must remember to write on them PLEASE USE!

05/03/2009 Congratulations to Nottingham County Council for being awarded four stars for their services, Nottingham City Council scraped home with two stars, nuff sed!

06/03/2009 Back to burning the Midnight oil I should have shares in Texaco. turned in at 3.40am. Just like the days when I had the Furniture workshop I used to finish work at 6pm, then straight back home, start work at 7pm and probably hit the sack about 2am often it was 3am but I had been known to hit the sack at 4am. That was back in the early eighties, when I was pioneering a CAD project, the late nights paid off and it set our custom furniture business apart from the others. In those days if you needed anything apart from Wordstar ( Word equivalent ) or a Database program you had shot it. I wanted a computer that was programmed for drawing and designing custom furniture, It would have been easier to win the lottery. Sadly or not my Daughter puts me to shame, she seems to be content to work around the clock.

08/03/2009 What a turn up for the book >> I have just set myself up with two new email addresses >> Tell you later. It's a dreary and lazy Sunday afternoon, raining but not too cold. Brushing up on PayPal payments for the shop. The new project is looking good, thank heavens for EBay, otherwise sourcing rare items would be a nightmare. Forty years ago the idea of buying a small component from the States would have been regarded as a joke, to-day its just one big open market, with access on a global scale, I have components inbound from China on a regular basis, it makes the difference between success and failure. Had a problem sleeping during the night, new ideas racing around, so I find myself sat up in bed with a tiny light scribing ideas onto paper least I forget by morning. Looking at the content this morning I think it can go on the back burner for a while, researched the competition this morning and it's in our favour but I'm not quite ready to launch it yet. Perhaps you might wonder how a new project starts, well these days it often involves the soldering iron and angle grinder, the cameras come later, one or two projects would make good reading, but not here. Have cribbed some time to look at Dr Who on the BBC iPlayer, David Tennant really does put his heart into it, compulsive viewing. Just run a search on Google with only two fields i.e. " Tree " & " Forest " ( Examples only ) anyway I lost the ranking, it was up to No 3, feeling disparaged I was about to move on when I noticed it at No 1, ooooooh! Nice.

15/03/2009 Managed a couple of nights in the Forest this last week, the first night was glorious, I had a Waxing Gibbous Moon, needed my Moon glasses and Moontan lotion, second time the weather forecast said clear skies that night, was it heck as like, so I did not manage my radiation measurements.

The website continues to spread across the Globe reaching Brazil, Russia, China etc.

20/03/2009 Here is a brief idea of what is involved in one single project, and helps to explain why so often they can end up on the back burner, only to be resurrected in another guise. Here is a sample of the work towards Project Genesis.

	A drop bar is required to fit between the geared head and camera, so it will swivel with the camera as it is panned. The fitting will have to carry additional cameras or hammerhead flashes so it needs to be substantial. Sadly for me this channel is far to heavy, so apart from drilling tap holes it also has to be lightened. First job is to remove all the scale with an 80g flap disc in an angle grinder.
	Scale removed, the channel is now in white primer to help with marking, the primer is later ground off.
	Nearly finished, and two days work, just the holes to tap. Note threads for camera equipment are BSW either 1/4" or 3/8". Vintage equipment may well differ, if in doubt please check first before starting. After tapping a top coat of satin black cellulose will be applied.
	Second bogey, try connecting a 2.5mm stereo jack plug into a PC sync plug, LOL.
	Locating pieces like this can be a nightmare, here we have a 2.5mm stereo socket and a PC sync socket.
	I tend to spoil myself, a digital soldering station, this will solder and de-solder to precise limits.

My thanks to Adam and Gavin for their kind assistance given towards this project. Adrian.

21/03/2009 Spring Equinox, clocks go forward next week. Just recovered from an injured leg, been housebound for three days. Will be nice to see the canopy back in place for the Summer.

22/03/2009 Q.> Are there any Dinosaurs in Sherwood Forest A.> No definitely not - everyone knows they moved down to Sherwood Pines just over a year ago.

Q.> What do Dinosaurs dislike more than Salsa Dancing A.> Humans with no meat on them.

Q.> What is the favourite dish in the Sherwood Forest Restaurant A.> A triple Dino Burger.

Perhaps I should stick to the Day job, but if you can come up with any respectable Dino jokes please do let me know, the Guestbook is always open.

31/03/2009 Been taking a look at FireFox, Virgin Media screwed my Desktop computer up so I'm working on a Laptop and did not have time to take a long hard look at all the themes available, so it was no great surprise to re-discover a splendid array of themes and plugins. I have downloaded several themes and plugins, including a PDF facility, Google toolbar ( Now with Packman, Frogger and Space Invaders and the startling Google street maps). My favourite theme varies between Harley Davidson and Nassa Night Launch. Please refer to the Webmaster page.

02/04/2009 Unravelling a mystery that gets deeper the more you look at it, revolves around the Julian and Gregorian Calendars. More later. Just checked the fridge, no food in it I use it for storing camera film, what do you keep in your fridge. Need to order fresh stock for the summer, high street prices are horrendous so I have to import it to remain competitive.

03/04/2009 I had the afternoon free so it was up to Sherwood Forest, called in on a business contact, this proved to be a good call and I hope we can take the business further. Second business call was at the Rangers office, this is still ongoing which is as expected. The afternoon was glorious, warm with clear skies, there was no mistaking the fact that the birds and squirrels had also noticed. I filled all the feeding pots up on the fence in the car park, two hours later every single pot was empty, filled them all up again before I left. The squirrels made Spiderman look like a snail, how those creatures can race around tree trunks and chase one another to the tops of the trees is enough to send anyone dizzy. Finished off a film in the Nikon ( F5) Lithium batteries pegged out on me during the last shoot so I bunged some cheapo ones in just to get the film out of the camera and ready for processing. Ooooh mi feet r sore. Very distinct signs of fresh greenery are in evidence, the Oaks are usually the last to show and the last to shed their leaves in Autumn. Last year we had a total blanket covering of Oak leaves overnight, all the paths and tracks were obliterated as hundreds of tons of leaves all dropped at the same time. Stepped up the limits on my internet connection so last night I watched three episodes of Dr Who >> Magic.

04/04/2009 Yesterday I was again reminded about the dangers of being Dogmatic and the consequences of failing to make informed decisions based on facts and not just sheer gut feeling and spite. Again this morning another reminder landed in my Inbox, I am Webmaster to a local Poet and Artist Neil Broc' I was approached by a person in the Sates who requested permission to use one of Neil's Poems on his Website. I replied saying I would contact Neil ASAP but felt his request would be granted. Neil was contacted and permission granted. This was relayed to Rick the gentleman in the States, due thanks was received and Rick said he would send a link when the poem was installed on one of his Website pages. Now >> Think on >> If Neil had refused permission for whatever reason this is what he would have missed >>

05/04/2009 Busy day and I'm in for a busy night, had a four mile hike through Sherwood Pines to the scene of the fire, and then up to Edwinstowe for an excellent evening at the Miners Welfare, The only thing I can say about the Thoresby Colliery Band is, go and see them in Concert, you will not be disappointed

07/04/2009 The Forestry Commission have been approached regarding thief proofing their valuable marker posts. The rest is not for public consumption.

13/04/2009 Monday and the last day of the Bank Holiday, thank heavens. Setting up another Website, and now waiting for the Namservers to swing over, a bit like watching paint dry ( Nameservers are the electronic signposts that direct you to the server hosting the Website ). Nameservers swung over after about an hour, I now have the Project Genesis site published. >> http://www.projectgenesis.org.uk All to often I am experiencing difficulties with Broken Link messages in my browser from Google when I know all is perfectly well, please be aware of this situation.

19/04/2009 We have been for some time plagued by perverts trying to pedal pornographic material through this website. They moved from here to other sites linked to us to pester them with their depraved filth, well I suppose as a Christian I should have some sort of empathy for them as we are all God's creatures, well actually no, I don't - I trust they all burn in Hell. We know who they are, they are spread out through Europe, Eastern Europe, the Ukraine and Russia, we even have the name and address of the company responsible for providing these sick individuals with their Internet access, the company is located in Amsterdam. As the Founder of the FoSF it is up to me to maintain the Integrity of the Charity and it's website, but on this occasion I am prepared to change the rules a little bit as I narrowly escaped a thrashing by a Policeman in our local Police Station here in Nottingham when I took a Dossier on these animals in to file a complaint. Well I have a personal message for these creatures, place your cursor over the question mark and you will see my message to these twisted individuals.

As for the Police, they sent me a sort of half apology for the incident, I suppose its better than being murdered like that poor chap that got in the way of the G7 demonstration in London, he is now confined to a Marble Slab. R.I.P. All this beggars the question where does Richard Branson obtain his filth from to pedal on cable television?

21/04/2009 Had a disastrous morning so I decided to take some of my own advice and had a run up to Sherwood Forest ( 17 Miles ). It was another glorious day and I had my Canon with a rather nice Macro lens for the first time. Close up photography as in under the lens hood, Walked and talked all afternoon, Had another excellent cup of coffee in the restaurant > large for £ 1.75 finest Coffee in the County. Fed the birds and squirrels but they did not seem interested, called in at Rufford Abbey and it was the same there, full pots not touched all the way round, yet three weeks ago you could not put the feed out fast enough. Half a roll of film gone, had chance to try my new monopod converter block, worked exactly as it was intended, however did not have the right angled finder so my chin was on the grass.

22/04/2009 Back up to Sherwood Forest, and with three days of fine weather I did not need my modified monopod, the Oak leaves on the ground made a nice dry carpet, feed pots filled and hardly touched when I left, must be the warm weather and other matters taking priority.

23/04/2009 Saint Georges Day, I have received some good news this morning regarding Film processing, it's nice to know that one or two companies are prepared to support the more technical and creative forms of Photography. Naomi has her own webpage HERE a true dedicated Globetrotter.

25/04/2009 Within the next couple of months we will be offering Website Hosting packages on Quad Core Intel Q9300 servers boasting 2.5ghz with 6mb cache and 4 GB of DDR RAM. No sluggish BT two days to get your emails out job, click and it's delivered. If you are looking to publish your website and need the proper facilities to back your site up, or are just simply fed up with your present host and lack of facilities please contact us. Hosting with cPanel >> Fantastico, Frontpage extensions, Spam Assassin ( No more junk mail or virus problems ) etc Custom packages are no problem, we are looking to offer up to one terabyte of bandwidth a month.

01/05/2009 Have just located some very special film being sold in Germany, the type that has been used in spy planes and reconnaissance missions, I was thinking about the price - you have to be mad to buy this but it is so rare and in date, anyway it suddenly dawned on me, why would any Country want this type of specialist film any more, phone Google and send a Camera car round, does a dammed site better job, can just hear them in the Kremlin discussing which Rose clad cottage they are going to commandeer come the Revolution all thanks to big brother across the other side of the Pond >> Cheers Mate. Design and Build has it's first project, a Hotel in Nottingham needs some serious attention to the roof.

03/05/2009 Just heard on the news this morning ( Sunday morning news ) that the Church are drawing up coping strategies for dealing with " Swine Flu'". Guess what - Communion will be stopped in the event of an outbreak, well as we are involved in not only the Forest of Sherwood but also the Community I thought this was a suitable subject to be mulled over. Many years ago I took ill, it took about four years for the illness to be diagnosed but eventually I was told the illness was incurable just at that point when my life was in total ruins. I suffered terrible pain and relentless fatigue, it devastated my life for ten years. The illness had been the result of a nasty virus called influenza "A" which we are now familiar with as "Avian Flu" and the H5N1 virus. Well at that point I decided as the health officials in the UK knew little or nothing of this illness and even today there are still medical practitioners who will discriminate against patients who do not conform to their ideology regarding treatment, well I decided to keep myself to myself, as I did not wish this illness on anyone and neither did I wish to pick up any further infections that may hinder any progress I could make towards getting myself back on my feet. Holy Communion was one thing I could do without, I was a Nurse trained in Barrier nursing and disease and infection control, I knew the dangers of communal items like the Chalice, I mentioned this to my local Vicar and was greeted with the sort of off handed reply " Well I'm all right Jack" Nothing more I could do, and it was not my job to be the saviour of my local congregation or any other for that matter. I abstained from communion and have done so ever since as it was and still is a filthy and unhygienic ceremony that should have been looked at years ago. So now the Ecclesiastical hypocrites are doing a "U" turn and will ban Communion when Swine Flu hits the Community, that's very kind of them to be so considerate, but it's a pity they are not capable of taking into account seasonal epidemics of influenza that still kill people, that's not severe enough I'm afraid, I would like to say to the Church Commissioners >> go on get your filthy act cleaned up and bring the Church up to date and help the Community stay healthy.

Back to more sober topics, I am manufacturing some gel holders for Project Genesis, progress is good and I am on track for shooting this summer. Next item is the electronics and making wireless signals bend around corners, this is the part where I trust I am not greeted with little puffs of blue smoke and fizzing sounds, that usually translates into messages like " Overdone the Cooking again Aidie".

07/05/2009 Official confirmation of Hayman Rookes Birthday just received as 20th February 1723. ( eMail )

09/05/2009 Back to Sherwood Forest last night, the moon was shrouded in mist and low cloud, still can't have your cake and eat it all the time. Took some equipment for Project Genesis out for a test run, all was as predicted or better, please see www.projectGenesis.org.uk

12/05/2009 Received a copy of the Official record of Heyman Rookes Christening / Birth Date and noticed Hayman is spelt as HEYMAN -- Groan. He however seems to have settled for Hayman in later years as Books and documents testify to this. Perhaps a spelling error by the recorder of his Baptism.

20/05/2009 Out and about today in Collar and Tie, surprised at the responses I received, very encouraging. Just past the 3 month mark from the opening of the site, stats look good on a Global scale, and on the upwards climb. Looking at the exchange rate for the Pound / Dollar, it looks like visitors from the States are going to have to dig a little deeper this summer for a UK holiday, yes the pound is showing positive signs of climbing against the Dollar.

24/05/2009 In Town yesterday, their was a concert in the Square hosted by Nottingham City Council featuring The Mersybeats, Dave Berry and the Cruisers, The Manfreds with Paul Jones, Zoot Money and Alan Price. Ended up with sunburn, could not believe it, the last week in May and I get sunburn, really good concert and well attended, well it was free. Had to laugh ( Aidie gets on his Soapbox ) just in front of me in the crowd were a couple of Amateur Hacks with obligatory rucksacks and Nikon DSLR's these two poor chaps were trying to take shots of the concert, well nothing wrong with that but they were shooting just over peoples heads, why God gave them arms I do not know, I just wanted to tell them to get their eye out of the viewfinder, stretch their arms and reach up over the heads of the crowd as far as possible, point the camera and shoot. They should know their own equipment well enough to be able to produce satisfactory shots from above the crowd. Major Oak Day celebrations takes another step forward, >> more later.

01/06/2009 Sorting some new shoes for walking in the Forest, sadly I can no longer wear Boots so the days of roaming around in Zamberlans have gone. Decided on a good pair of Doc' Martens as they are very comfortable with a very springy sole. Why was I sorting out new shoes, well not mentioning any names but a certain individual could be seen walking around the Forest in snow and ice wearing plimsolls.

I have a height problem, well it's not that I'm six foot tall but my Studio tripod reaches up to nine foot, now to use this at full extension means you need to be about eleven foot six tall, as you need to look down into the camera. How to put that extra five foot six inches into the equation is a headbanger. The problem was solved with a working platform and a small set of steps mounted on top >> please don't try this at home, unless it's properly constructed you could have a nasty attack of Gravity.

09/06/2009 A special T shirt arrived in the post this morning, see here for further details >> your support would be welcome. During these past few days we have had local elections for County Councillors, the entire heap has been overturned, hope the new lot are a dammed site better than some of the old ones. ( Nuff sed ).

17/06/2009 Managed to get my fingers burned over a camera purchase, store states " We will not debit your card until item is ready for dispatch " So I ordered, stock level was quoted as LOW, however that did not appear to be a problem as they were receiving regular deliveries, A couple of days later I enquired into the stock situation and was told to enquire in two weeks as they might have some in by then but they were not certain. I cancelled the order, the money could be put to better use elsewhere, and I would re-order when they were back in stock. When the Company claim that your card will be not be debited that is total bunkum >>>> they will debit your card and place the funds on hold, so while you can still see the funds in your account you cannot access them, so in reality they have gone. After cancellation I was informed by the Company that it would be anything up to two weeks before the funds in my account were available for me to spend - SPIT ( Excuse ME ) NO CAMERA, NO MONEY, NO NOTHING.

18/06/2009 Spy film arrived from Germany, placed in the fridge as it will denigrate very quickly otherwise. Look forward to shooting this. Good excuse to get my Russian Radioactive filter out for some serious work, yes this filter glows like no other, I heard of one Russian Glass Vase collector who keeps his entire collection in the loft as it's as hot as Hell. It is common practice to use Radioactive elements in certain high end camera products and Scientific lenses.

21/06/2009 Motored up to Edwinstowe this evening for the Concert. Had some time to spare so I wandered up to the Forest and fed the birds. Naishes field is still growing crops, no signs of anything happening re the new visitor centre. Back down to Edwinstowe for a splendid concert at the miners Welfare. Graham Thomas the Bands Chairman passed away recently, a fitting tribute was paid to him during the evening. As always the Band was on top form with the Timpani section rattling the foundations at every twist and turn. We were greeted with a wide variety of music including the traditional last Night of the Proms favourites including Jerusalem, Land of Hope and Glory and You'll never walk alone.

23/06/2009 Getting really busy just lately, but first I must welcome Ms Diane Wilson to the Board of Governors, I am certain she will be an asset to us all, welcome Diane. The MOD Concert is moving forward, I'm certain we will be in for an excellent evening on the 20th February. Swine Flu' hits Nottingham eleven cases recorded to-day.

24/06/2009 Back to Sherwood Forest on business, I really do get to meet a wide variety of people ( Hi Alice promise I won't huff and puff and blow your house down ), My main reason was to enquire about the grazing project in Sherwood Forest. There has been considerable publicity recently regarding people being killed or injured through cattle. No sooner had I arrived and was talking to the Lady in the Information centre than the radio went, Rangers were requesting assistance as Cattle had broken out of the fenced area and were on the paths or anywhere they cared to go. After help arrived they were all back where they should be, thankfully. The statistics ? well according to the BBC website the Health and Safety Executive were quoting 481 injuries and 19 deaths in the past eight years, I was assured that the breed of cattle in Sherwood Forest English Longhorns, was docile, I was also told they would not bite ( I get told a lot of things ). If you have any concerns please keep out of the fenced area, Warning Marker signs are displayed at all gates, the signs are not there for nothing. The FoSF advice is to keep out of that area when it is being grazed during the summer.

25/06/2009 Just received a text, Naomi has passed here exams, CONGRATULATIONS Dr Naomi Wilson.

26/06/2009 Back to Edwinstowe, first call Mansfield Woodhouse, and St Edmunds Church. Arrived to find everyone out, but a very kind lady who was mowing the grass around the Church did her best to help, and when she was aware of the reason for my visit she obliged and let me into the Church, most Churches are locked to-day and I agree with that. Hayman took a little bit of finding but sure as anything he was in the Chancel, his tombstone on the floor is very worn, I'm now hoping that something can be done to preserve one of Mansfield Woodhouse's most famous celebrities tombstone while something is still left of it. Called in to see Alice ( She's still speaking to me ) The final call was Sherwood Forest, all the bracken is up and everywhere you look is lush green vegetation. New seats have been placed in the Forest by the Sherwood Volunteers Workforce. Plagued by Chelsea Tractor drivers, one tried an idiot manoeuvre twice to force his way past, using the size and weight of your vehicle to push your way around is a Criminal Offence, low and behold on the way back another CT driver cut me up and then half a mile down the road decided to make a right turn over red lights.

30/06/2009 Heard on the Radio this morning that Nottinghamshire G.P's are no longer bothering to test victims for Swine flu, so contacts are very unlikely to receive prophylactic treatment. Worse still we will have no clear idea of the real numbers of those affected.

06/07/2009 Despite recent problems I managed time to nip back up to Edwinstowe on Friday evening, part business and part fresh air as I had heat stroke. I was pleased to see someone had placed a container of water on the car park fence for the birds and squirrels, whoever you are Thank you, your act of kindness did not go unnoticed, on Sunday I managed to catch the tail end of Warsop Carnival, I did not realise the Carrs was such a large place, a Funfair was in progress but the Carnival had just ended ( 5pm ) Must take a stand next year as it is very well attended and very well organised, managed to find a Forum friend.

14/07/2009 A new Digital camera arrived this morning, all singing and all dancing, really impressed, probably at my choice of camera ( FUJI ) than with the camera itself, sounds funny but I'm like that. No doubt it will see a lot of hard work as it can even produce movies for HD TV, I think it's suffering from an identity crisis. An 8gb chip gives space for over 11,000 images. A lot of work on this site has been done with digital as opposed to film.

16/07/2009 Remember that all singing all dancing Digital Camera mentioned above, it's on it's way back for a replacement, I do get em !.

19/07/2009 Flag waving at Clipstone Miners Welfare, Thoresby Bands " Last Night of the Proms " again another excellent evening of music, The Major Oak Day ( MOD ) concert takes another step closer.

22/07/2009 Recent articles in the press suggest that the rail link from Ollerton to Warsop could be reinstated, looks like a ploy by the planners to justify development in Edwinstowe which could double in size in the coming years. http://www.chad.co.uk/news/New-bid-to-extend-rail.5478521.jp News released about a new heathland grazing project involving Ponies at Sherwood Pines, more later. Replacement camera arrived, seems OK needs a real road test tomorrow. FireFox has a new release 3.5 fastest browser yet, it just gets better and better.

23/07/2009 Today's Blog is published straight from the centre of Sherwood Forest >>> That's what I thought, but for some reason or other the server in the States rejected the signal, back to the drawing board. I am pleased to say the Archbishop of Canterbury has urged all clergy to take note of hygiene during Communion, a little overdue in this day and age, nuff sed. Fed the birds and took off for a long walk, road testing a new camera ( The Fuji ) Worn out two sets of batteries, fingers crossed. Car parking charges are now in force £3.00 for the day until 3rd September, after then it's week ends only for charges. Obtained my pass for Rufford and Sherwood Forest for £15.00.

24/07/2009 The Fuji Digital Camera is now destined to be returned. I captured 82 images on my walk yesterday and rubbished exactly 82 in total. So much for the Fuji Finepix S2000HD not recommended, however to retailer selling the camera handled my problems very well, > Thank you. With all the drama of the Fuji this slipped my mind > I had parked next to a Chelsea Tractor in the Sherwood Forest Car Park, I was somewhat annoyed at the fact he was half way over the markings so I had to park in a similar manner, very annoying. The windows in the rear were blacked out, but a dog guard had been installed, the day was hot as expected, unknown to me there was a dog in the back of this vehicle, fortunately the driver returned to see to the dog and then took it out for a walk, had the owner not have returned to the vehicle as he did a 999 call would have gone out, the drivers door window smashed and the dog freed in the presence of a Police officer. We have just had two Police dogs die in similar circumstances in Nottingham, dogs left on their own in a car will be rescued > they will not be left to die as the Police dogs were > Please be warned, do not leave your dog in an unattended vehicle.

29/07/2009 Sherwood Forest Visitor Centre is now on hold according to this mornings BBC Radio Nottingham, finance being the main problem, the Council claim that with more time they can plan better, sounds of former Councillor Chris Barron finger wagging and talking down to people about how they needed to vacate the old visitor centre as " This was not an option " we have a different swansong now.

30/07/2009 Took the Manfrotto 303SPH head to Rufford Abbey for some promotion shots. After that I decided to have a go at a Panorama, wasn't set up or anything, just swung the camera round and hoped for the best, a fair rendition was achieved with no effort at all, second one will be better. Up to Edwinstowe and parked at the side of the Lime Tree Bakery shop, tum's rumbling so I ventured inside for some first aid, Cornish Pasties looked nice and at £ 1.20p straight from the oven it was too good to miss, fabulous, so much so that two hours later I was back for another, had to walk round Sherwood Forest to work it off. then fed the birds. A very good day for business.

03/08/2009 just finished a walk around a Bear Garden, in fact it was Sherwood Forest, it's a complete disgrace, supposed to be the Robin Hood Festival, children and young men are climbing trees, an open fire on bare earth is burning no more than 50 yards away from the Major Oak. The whole area is supposed to be a Site of Special Scientific Interest >>> it's more like a Circus for Clowns trading crappy goods with anyone daft enough to buy. You have to actually witness this sort of organised mayhem this so called Festival produces in the Forest, it leaves you seriously worried as to the real future of Sherwood Forest, the present rule of " Do as we say not as we do " will have to go along with all the hypocrisy if Sherwood is to survive with a viable future, and if that means jobs and staff replaced, so be it. Latest news on the Circus > we have campfires 24hrs a day, traders are camping at the side of the Major Oak, if anyone dares tell me they need to camp there I will personally tear a strip off them right on the spot.

05/08/2009 All done and dusted, the Park authorities have now taken the fire hazard and camping problem on board and are dealing with it.

07/08/2009 Due to a spate of vandalism at Rufford Abbey security measures are being stepped up, more details will be made available in due course. This is another " I don't believe it " The BBC have a Video on their site that is causing concern by sending out the totally wrong message, they have been asked to remove it forthwith. If we have any more news about this I will forward it to you.

08/08/2009 An apology is due for my comments of 05/08/2009 It was a bit of a lie, I was not prepared to accept assurances from the head of the County Council, I preferred to see for myself what had happened. That statement was designed to mislead any potential midnight revellers at the Major Oak into a false sense of security. I was out all night, I visited the Major Oak at just turned midnight, the party was in full swing, lighted torches and lanterns festooned the area posing a considerable fire hazard. Nothing of any effect has been done to curb this midnight revelry, lets pray those stupid individuals do not burn the forest down, because that is the best we can hope for at the moment.

09/08/2009 Further evidence has come to light to-day regarding the Robin Hood Medieval Market, I will need expert opinion on this before the full article is published.

12/08/2009 Chad publishes details of offenders at the Major Oak together with the Councils defence for this deplorable behaviour. I was caught up in an incident this evening adjacent to the Major Oak, resulting in Police involvement, received an emailed letter from Nick Broomhead head of the Country Parks, I have never read such rubbish in all my life. Chad link will be in place hopefully by tomorrow.

16/08/2009 Confined to Barracks to-day with paperwork and research. The ground enclosed by fencing around The Major Oak was used for demonstration fighting for the Robin Hood Festival, that area of ground has been chewed to pieces, no doubt Festival goers thought it was great fun to see the ground ripped up in such a sensitive area. From a Professional Photographers point of view that constitutes Criminal Damage, take a look at the end of this Video >>

That's what I call CLEVER, I have over two hundred pounds worth of specialist film in stock ready for shooting. What a waste. It will take until next year for that ground to recover, nothing will be done by staff to assist restoration so it may not all return to normal, that is deplorable.

Would you pay several hundred pounds for a Fine Art Canvas of the Major Oak with that mess in the foreground !

17/08/2009 It's strange, you organise your day and then it all falls to pieces, no sooner had I written up yesterdays entry ( Sunday ), of course looking forward to all those letters I'm destined to write, than I find myself up in North Yorkshire of all places, funny old world.

22/08/2009 Received correspondence from Nott's County Council and natural England, it appears that Nott's CC have a lot of awkward questions to answer. Further clips of the fenced area at the Major Oak being used for a Circus Ring.

The ground has suffered considerably. Action has already been instigated to ensure this does not happen again, and that the Oak should have it's dignity restored for good.

24/08/2009 I have placed a PDF Forest Code on the site, the Forestry Commissions Code is basic and Nott's CC has not bothered. FOREST CODE.

26/08/2009 Tend to get into the habit of shooting film and then dropping it into a canister in the fridge, nothing wrong with that but it stays there for months, shame as I have just had the last few cans developed, I've been missing some good images including one of the Major Oak by Moonlight.

01/09/2009 Looking back at my 2008 Blog I notice two significant dates, one at the end of this month when the Acorns drop and the other just after the second week in November when the Oaks shed their leaves, a site to behold, all the paths in the Forest disappear under a dense carpet of Oak Leaves.

06/09/2009 Shooting by available light on Friday night at 1am. ( MOONLIGHT ) Very surprised to see the results, just like shooting in daylight, must have overdone the cooking to achieve that sort of result, but at least the one hour processing was OK ( Jacobs ).

11/09/2009 Meeting arranged this morning between the Police and County Council staff, it appears there are still other matters that warrant investigation.

16/09/2009 Today is a landmark day in the history of Sherwood Forest, we still have a lot of mileage in front of us but God willing we will achieve our goals.

04/10/2009 Warning you have read about my late night activities re Sherwood Forest and Photography, please take care if you are on your own, the Police are looking for the driver of a sign written 4x4 who has terrorised lone motorists and subjected them to death threats. It is believed this man is local or has definite connections with the area he is approx 50 years old and has a distinct Irish accent, please report any sightings or incidents regarding this man or his vehicle to the Police immediately.

8 Dogs die and more affected in local forests around Sherwood, could be bracken spraying responsible.

15/10/2009 Up to the present moment 14 dogs have now died in the Sherwood Forest area including three taken ill at Centre Parks holiday village, Various causative agents have been named including herbicides used to kill bracken and Paraquat, ticks and Mites and also Blue Green Algae have been mentioned along with Fungi spores. Toxicology test are being conducted by Natural England but the results will not be available for another four weeks. Please take care with your dogs, possibly avoid the Forests if you can. It is always a delight to meet a friendly dog while out walking, I'm certain I could have taken to all of them, Another four weeks is not an eternity and it will give the Authorities a chance to identify the causal agent. Questions are also being asked if this disease has been passed on to Humans, I wonder where that has come from ?

Further thoughts on this matter include the possibility of an Avian type virus spread by birds in their droppings, however the speed of onset of symptoms is rapid and this suggests a type of poison, but a virus should not be discounted. The authorities would not be so keen to publicise this and would opt to play the matter down if this were the case.

I suppose Acorns should not be overlooked, this is the time of year now when they start falling, as we should all know Oak leaves are very poisonous, and it is the small green Acorn that is the most potent, chewing them will release more of the toxins than if swallowed whole, so please mind your dog if you see it eating anything.

23/10/2009 Had my head stuck in the toy cupboard all week, took delivery of two new Guitars, the Bass being my favourite, it's a bit like running the tips of your fingers over a cheese grater, and the noise is even worse.

25/10/2009 Doc's partner Lionel is inline for congratulations, he has just won the three day tour of Fiji cycle race. He won every stage, apparently no one could catch him, well done Lionel. Lazy Sunday, kicking my heels and wearing my fingers down on the Bass.

26/10/2009 I have created an image to commemorate Major Oak Day depicting the 4th Duke of Portland's horses rising from the dead at the Major Oak. Have had some surprising comments so far. It will be sold on canvas through this site and elsewhere, one not to miss !

01/11/2009 Changes to the management plan for Project Genesis are to be looked at with the object of bringing the project into a more realistic line with it's anticipated output. FIREFOX has just released it's latest update, downloads yours now.

02/11/2009 Need to think about my year end report, both the good and the bad.

03/11/2009 I was asked how best I would describe my Blog and after some careful thought I replied - " Coronation Street with trees ".

05/11/2009 Sherwood Forest this morning with the Nott's Fungi group, really interesting, but don't eat unless you are an expert, which makes this group very special. The Oaks have lost most of their leaves now, leaving the familiar carpet on the ground.

They shall grow not old,
as we that are left grow old,
age shall not weary them,
nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun
and in the morning,
we will remember them.

10/11/2009 Suffering from minor health problems, seriously aggravated by a GP that thinks they have the right to act out of order. Why is it that some professional people think they have the right to do as they please regardless and are not prepared to listen properly to your concerns. I now feel twice as ill as I did before I walked into the surgery, could not sleep because of the distress, these people get paid good money for inflicting themselves on you. moan moan moan. Think there is only one good Doctor left in the Country and she's across the other side of the border. Isn't that right Doc'.

11/11/2009 Remembrance Day - Armistice Day. In some Countries this is a National Holiday. The States remember it as Veterans Day, different Countries adopt other names as a mark of respect.

Missed breakfast this morning so I decided to call in Beedhams the Butchers in Sherwood for something different. End result > Chocolate sausage sarnies, this must rate as one of the wackiest snacks ever. Real sausages and a powerful chocolate flavour, I will have you know Johnnie's Chocolate Sausages have won Gold Medals, next week I am in for the Cappuccino Sausages. Just over a couple of Quid ( $3.30) buys four pieces, an absolute bargain, Cheers Johnny. Now comes the hard bit writing an overview for Project Genesis.

16/11/2009 Looking at Wireless microphone systems and brought a very posh rackmount receiver off eBay for just under four pounds, now I'm still fairly green with regards to music and I was aware of the problems relating to CB radio especially between the UK and the States, so I started to look at the frequencies available. They seemed to be all over the shop and very ambiguous. That was until I cam across the Audio Technica website,

they have a neat little PDF ( Top right of page ) covering OFCOM's DDR ( Digital Dividend Review ). That sorts the wheat from the chaff, after Ist Jan' 2012 about 80% of wireless systems will be redundant. But not to worry OFCOM has a compensation scheme > It closed a couple of weeks ago. Where are all these frequencies going, well Mobile broadband is set to swallow the lot up, so your local bands are being kicked in the nuts so we can have a better service on our Laptops. The frequencies we are left with are restricted, and above that Licensable in various degrees, the real niggle with these devices is that they only kick out a fraction of the power of your ordinary Mobile phone, but are being pushed right on to the sidelines. Perish the thought of going out to a Gig and listening to Eastenders over the Band's PA system or worse still ( If possible ) hearing a constant stream of Mobile Data signals. ( Sorry about the Eastenders jibe but I do not watch television, it could in all probability be quite entertaining ).

19/11/2009 Ebay are giving me some serious grief, they try to be too clever with the listings and in the process create all sorts of problems, I am not alone with this one, Come on eBay you're loosing ground. On a more pleasant note, managed to get some more of Johnny's sausages Cappuccino flavour, I ended up with two eggs, bacon, chestnut mushrooms and the sausage, mind blowing, if you get the chance Beedhams is on the main road in to Nottingham ( A60) in Sherwood.

20/11/2009 Out shopping this morning, can you remember the film " Goldfinger " and the nuclear device that was to devastate the U.S. Gold reserves at Fort Knox, well the film makers purchased that Bomb from a company here in Nottingham, well I just happened to be there this morning looking for a Sub atomic de-linear particle transmogrifier, you guessed none in stock.

22/11/2009 Is Sherwood Forests new visitor centre taking an even greater step backwards ? Nottinghamshire County Council has announced the need for Job cuts and book balancing in a further £85 million pound exercise in an attempt to maintain Social Services and Child protection agencies for the future. While I would agree these departments should have priority there must be some incentive to develop resources to provide funding for these agencies, you cannot keep bleeding the Ratepayers and Government for every penny you can claw out of them.

26/11/2009 Nottinghamshire County Council has decided to clean up its act, an outside company has scanned nearly 1,000 of the Councils 8,200 computers so far and found " Inappropriate " Images on no less than 25% of them. Perhaps we should all be able to see what exactly Council employees find so interesting while at work.

Just heard on the Grapevine that Kings Wood just west of Edwinstowe is to be sold, however a deal done on eBay about five years ago resulted in over 600 plots being sold off with 1,000 year leases to aid conservation work, it is now up for grabs regardless, is this iffy or not ?

30/11/2009 Kings Wood leases, no one has registered their plots with the Land Registry, if as stated over 600 people have subscribed to this scheme something is sadly lacking.

No use buying an expensive bit of paper if you don't want to do anything with it, come on you lot you brought the lease to a plot now register it against the Land.

News over the week-end our Medical Officer was married on the Island of Fiji during the summer of this year, Congratulations Dr Evans best wishes for the both of you.

01/12/2009 Started my Christmas shopping, now have a Son in Law to think about as well. Christmas page is on the front, and all is well ( Better not push that one too far ).

10/12/2009 Just had a report from our hosts in the States re our server Escalade, apparently it's in need of some care and attention and is having a new hard drive added plus some other work, this was a brand new server barely a year old, if you are experiencing any problems please be advised this matter is now underway.

13/12/2009 Plans for a reorganisation of communications have come to fruition, it's new mobile phone numbers all round for the new year on Lyca Mobile. Christmas shopping done apart from the perishable items, well it's supposed to be different when you have grown up kids for Christmas, but not with me. Hope they are not reading this.

20/12/2009 In the grip of a cold snap, it now looks as thought Nott's and Derbyshire are heading for some real snow. Have a couple of students booked in for a driving lesson on snow.

23/12/2009 Had a walk around Sherwood Forest with my daughter and Son in Law. Sunshine with a very cold snap made the day enjoyable, not only being in good company but I was startled to find a Robin hovering around and feeding out of my hand, the Robin was flitting from one hand to another seemingly amazed to have so much feed to go at. I could not but feel overwhelmed at this fragile creature in the palm of my hand with its claws gently holding on to me, truly moving. There is a surprising end to this story on our way home but I will not say apart from God Bless.

31/12/2009 This is my last entry for the year, I wish you all a happy and prosperous New Year, I trust you will find my report for 2009 when published interesting.