Alan's Birthday Lunch

A very pleasant afternoon lunch spent with friends at the City Inn (yet again lovely food, highly recommended), in Manchester celebrating Alan Ferns' birthday. (Legal reasons prevent mentioning his age!).
I've know Alan since I moved to Manchester 10 years ago.
Amongst many things he is an avid admirer of buses.
Within the bus industry bus spotters are known as moquettes, from the material used to make the seat coverings. As with train or aircraft spotters, bus spotters spend much time outdoors with notepads, cameras or camcorders, monitoring bus routes. Often, bus spotters are only particularly interested in one type of vehicle, such as: vintage vehicles, or articulated buses, while others may only prefer trolleybuses.
Alans particular forte is for trolleybuses and his knowledge for someone who has no driving license is scary.
I have yet to see him with either a notebook or camera but as he has a photographic memory he carries everything in his head.
Happy Birthday and Cheers Alan!