Welcome to my blog, Whats this about then?

This is a place where I will be posting all sorts of things not just things relating to Derby and Derbyshire. On here you will find details of any videos I’ve made of things in Derby and also Time-lapse, stop motion animation, Tutorials etc. If I find some useful software for PC or iPhone then I will feature it here.I’m sure that there will be something of interest to someone on my many posts.Please leave comments on any posts if you like them.
Don’t forget if you are new to my blog and would like to read through the previous posts then see the Blog Archive section on the left side of this page.
Also there is a Search box at the top left of the page if you are looking for something but cant remember where it was. I am a trustee member of "Friends of Friar Gate bridge", aiming to get this bridge restored.

Monday 31 January 2011

Web visitor statistics, 21 million hits in last 3 years !

If you are a webmaster then web stats and visitor traffic is something you will be all too familiar with.
I used to use some software called Openwebscope to create the graphs but this used to involve downloading large log files from the server and then running them through the software to analyse the data.
In recent years things have progressed a lot and you can now look at the data via a web page based system.
Below is a screen grab of SmartStats Enterprise running on my web host.

The chart covers all of the months February 2008 to January 2011 and shows how many visitors Hits and bandwidth was used for each month along with a total.
My website has been online since 2001 but stats like these were not as easy to create as they are now.
As you can see 21 million hits in the last 3 years, serving nearly 250Gb of data.

Statistical web site visitor traffic for derbyphotos.co.uk over last three years :

Smarterstats for my website last three years

My YouTube video channel has been online since July 2006 and has quite a following of 574 subscribers so far. I have 196 videos on my channel, most of them are local videos of Derby and Derbyshire and they have had 2,198,306 views so far !!

I started my blog in July 2009 and this has had over twenty one thousand visitors so far which is not too bad.

Hope you found this of interest.
Andy

Saturday 15 January 2011

Great new local video : Lightsabers Over Matlock, dispute over results of a pickled onion eating competition.

Here is a wickedly funny new video from a local video producer.
You may remeber the trailer teasers back in July and then December well hes finally finished the film.
Must have taken so many hours to create this masterpiece. The footage was shot on two seperate days - one in March and one in November hense the dramatically different weather conditions that are especially evident in the high tor stuff at the end!

The film features a Lightsaber fight around Matlock.
A disagreement about a pickled onion eating competition results in furious lightsaber duels all across Matlock, Derbyshire

Enjoy his new video here :




I liked the fight scene in Matlock park best, with the train and boats. Very silly.
Were you one of the many people that saw this being flimed last year?
That bit in the middle of the crown round-a-bout !

Even if you don't find the film funny I'm sure you will enjoy the many local Derbyshire views such as High Tor.

I hope you enjoy this video.
Andy

Thursday 6 January 2011

Claymills Pumping Station receives an Engineering Heritage Award.

I went to see Claymills pumping station "in steam" on Sunday, If you like Victorian engineering then do try and visit this place you will really enjoy it.

I see that they recently won an award, its an Engineering Heritage award from the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. See my photograph of the plaque here :

Claymills Pumping Station Heritage Award Plaque

The engine is next in steam on Saturday & Sunday February 26th & 27th (10.00 am - 5.00 pm)
Here are the next steaming dates after that...
Easter:     April     24th, 25th
Spring Bank Holiday:       May     29th, 30th
August Bank Holiday:       August     28th, 29th
September:     September    24th, 25th
October:     October     15th, 16th

If you go on one of their free tours ask to see the "secret bath", this is not on the main tour you have to ask to see it.

Admission prices on Steaming Days:
Adults £4 Concessions £3 Children £2 Family £10

The Museum is also open for static viewing on Thursdays (10:00am - 3:00pm) and Saturdays (10:00am - 5:00pm) When admission is free, but donations are gratefully accepted.

How do I get there from Derby?
Claymills is just an 8 Minute drive down the A38 from Derby (The A5111 Kingsway Island). If you are using a Sat Nav then use the postcode “DE13 ODA” to get to the end of Meadow Lane.

Once there you need to drive straight over the level crossing, assuming the gates are up :) then follow the road around until you come to a left turn at which you need to drive straight on, eventually this road will take you to the car park. Once parked up you need to walk back the way you drove in and look for the Gatehouse entrance to Claymills pumping station.


View Claymills pumping station, Burton upon Trent. in a larger map

For more information on Claymills Pumping Station please visit their website:

www.claymills.org.uk

If you have never been to this place before and like Victorian engineering then get yourself along to the next open day. Post your comments to this blog post if you enjoyed your visit there

Thanks
Andy