Countdown to Christmas

I thought it was about time I brought you up to date with the latest news from WME, although in all honesty there isn't that much to report. At the moment I am concentrating on the WME Canal Register - things had stalled for a while, but I've now compiled the register up until March 2008 and hope to fill in the rest of the year pretty quickly. This has meant that work on the WME galleries has once again gone on the back burner, although I've been considering a change of approach to try and get more of my photos online. As things stand, a tiny fraction of my archive has made the cut, and I do wonder if I'm being far too selective when testing photos on WME1.

Exploration wise its been fairly quiet. I've done a couple of walks with Dad, including an autumn special investigating Bishops Wood, Boscobel House and White Ladies Priory for some Staffordshire history. There have also been a couple of mini-local adventures exploring Daisy Bank and Long Knowle to keep the photos ticking over. I don't anticipate there being too much to report trips wise between now and the new year, as Christmas shopping will have to take priority because I'm in danger of leaving everything til the last minute as usual!

Finally, a couple of news items that have caught my eye recently. Following on from the Dudley Bus Network Review earlier this year, Solihull is due to have its local bus network overhauled come January. The details are still being finalised, but it seems a number of current routes will be replaced with localised Solihull services (S1, S2, S3 and so forth). Hopefully I might get a chance to record the crossover period and add to my Solihull bus photos in the process. You might also recall me discussing a number of library closures as part of library modernisation in Dudley some time ago - well it seems Wolverhampton Council may be following suit. Budgetary issues mean the Council has to make significant savings which could result in the closure of Bradmore, Daisy Bank, Mary Pointon, Oxley and Scotlands & Underhill libraries, although any proposals are subject to scrutiny and consultation. Of these, Oxley particularly catches my eye as it was a library I visited as a kid, so it holds a few sentimental memories for me. It could be worth monitoring events to see what happens...