Leigh984, The creative portfolio of Leigh Spencer

On Friday 27th March a week of events marking the reinterment of king Richard III concluded with a spectacular firework display from the roof of Leicester Cathedral and Leicester Glows a fire garden featuring over 8.000 flames placed around the city's old town. The evening began with a spectacular firework display from the roof of the cathedral with bright colors and fiery serpents snaking into the sky delighting the gathered crowd in the cathedral gardens many joked that after having just getting settled King Richard might be awoken by the noise. The mood changed to one of quiet wonder as the crowds dispersed into the fire garden in front of the cathedral and surrounding streets where over 8.000 flames flickered and bathed the area in candlelight. Meanwhile in the courtyard of the RIII visitor center the outline of Richards crown was created by spark arts using night light candles. images follow

I visited the village of Great Bowden in Leicestershire to see the Fernie Hunt. the annual event begins with the horses and hounds leaving the kennels and travelling to the village green where they are greeted by many spectators. The festive meet allows a chance to see the horses, hounds and talk with their owners about the rich history of the event which also raises money for many local charity's and groups. The horses and hounds follow a sent trail on a planed route around the local countryside laid by a quad bike and bird of prey before retiring back to the kennels at the end of the day. Images follow.

In this film I take a look at The Gravity Slate Train that operated as part of the railways 150th Anniversary event in 2013, When the Festiniog Railway first opened in 1836 and before steam arrived, all "down" trains were worked by gravity. A horse would pull the empty wagons to the top of the mountain and after being loaded with slate they would be allowed to travel back down under their own weight with the horse riding in specially designed dandy wagons. When Steam was introduced to the railway (in 1863) they took the place of the horses in leading the trains. My film features the locomotive Prince working hard to lead the wagons on wet tracks before being uncoupled and allowing the wagons to travel back down the line with a brakesman at the front sounding his horn to alert the station master to the trains imminent gravity powered arrival. images follow

Rails On The Wharf features a demonstration of Horse drawn slate wagons of the type used widely in Wales during its mining past. The Horse is seen walking the length of the rails before returning lead by its owners in period costume. The demonstration was part of the Ffestiniog Railway`s 150th Anniversary event in Porthmadog and took place on the Wharf alongside the harbour area of the town. images follow.

Leicester Riders Presentation Evening 2011 Cover and Back Page Leicester Riders Presentation Evening 2011 inside detail Created for Leicester Riders Basketball team for their 2011 presentation evening and auction this double sided A4 programme informed visitors of the lots for the evenings auction. The style is deliberately "rough around the edges" to reflect the dynamic fast paced nature of the sport of basketball and ties in with the Next game posters and brand image used throughout the riders public facing media output