Tuesday, January 31

WME Flickr Focus: January 2012

Greetings everyone, and within no time at all the first month of 2012 has hurtled past us already. It doesn't seem five minutes since New Year's Eve and yet here I am reflecting on another month of developments from the WME Flickr photostream. Let's see what January had to offer...

As things have turned out, the last 31 days have been surprisingly productive. Top of the bill is WME Birmingham with a chunky batch of 70 reinstated photos, whilst WME Dudley gets the nod for best supporting act with a healthy enough 36 pictures. WME Sandwell has a bit-part 10 images to report, whilst our almost silent extras are WME Coventry and WME Solihull to bring the ensemble total to a round tally of 908 items. Those are the bare facts of the January nominations, so lets add a bit of padding to the performance.

WME Birmingham has indeed provided most of my recent drama. There has been plenty of rescued content, particularly as regards rail and local photos. Hamstead and Stechford Stations made a welcome return to the stage with Yardley Wood and Kings Norton Stations beefing up their respective roles, and a trio of train shots are putting on a show for the Bournville Station set. My local repertory now features such luminaries as Woodgate Valley (with its bridge over the Bourn Brook), Stechford Shops (specifically the tile centre) and a couple of shopping scenes from Highfield Road Yardley Wood. A few buses have breezed through in the background, notably the 103 at Woodgate Valley North and the 26 at Bromford Bridge, not forgetting that the Dudley No. 2 Canal has made its presence felt with some photos plotting the remains of the line at Selly Oak Park.

To WME Dudley next, where the growing cast now includes the likes of Bromley (the Fox & Goose pub), Gornal Wood (the Bush Inn and the post office), Brockmoor (the Commercial Inn and another post office) and Hayley Green (two views of the Foxhunt). Bus-wise I must mention a selection of 246s at Stourbridge, plus a brace of 251s, although perhaps my favourite resuscitated photo is of the Dock Off Licence and General Stores now screening on my Wordsley selection.

Elsewhere, WME Sandwell was reduced to a mere cameo this time around - although saying that, it can still boast additions to Great Bridge (the Lounge Bar, previously the Limerick) and the reappearance of Hamstead (the former Joker pub featuring prominently). Look carefully and amongst the closing credits you might just spot the camera-shy WME Coventry (a further train at Canley being the only new arrival) and the first steps for WME Solihull, which overcomes its stagefright with a 966A bus at Solihull Station and a couple of piccies from Birmingham International.

Finally let's take a quick glance behind the scenes where we find that the backstage crew (yours truly) has been hard at work uploading another sizeable wedge of the WME archive. All of my Fotopic pictures for Telford, Warwickshire and Shropshire are now in place ready for release when I get round to it, which just leaves me with Exploration Extra to get back onto the roster. Preparations are now underway for the next round of performances and we wait to see just which of my collections will prove to be star-of-the-show Oscar winners in February...

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