Zig-Zag

   So another week passes by, another wet Bank Holiday Monday due, another government fiasco regarding GCSE results - did they or didn't they influence the Examining Boards? Another Royal embarrassment by all accounts but I'm still puzzled by what the BBC described as a "naked photo". What on earth is a "naked" photo? I presume it is something different to a photo of a naked person - or am I just being my usual pedantic self?

   To top it all, yet more idiot drivers throughout the week parking on zig-zag lines and one in particular causing mayhem on Saturday. Some things change for the better, some things for the worse - some things never change at all but when an accident happens and someone gets seriously injured or even killed on the pedestrian crossing on South Street, don't say you weren't warned. See The Highway Code Rule 191.

Sunday Trading

   For the duration of the eight week period covering the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Sunday trading laws have been relaxed allowing large shops to open for much longer. Now there are rumblings within government wanting to make this permanent. Whilst I realise that some occupations require Sunday working such as the emergency services and transport workers, Sunday for many people, religious or not, is still a special day of the week when they can spend time at home with their families or enjoy leisure activities.

   For me the relaxation of Sunday trading laws would be the thin end of the wedge and before too long I can see office and factory workers being required to turn up for work on any of the seven days of the week. Already many sporting events traditionally held on a Saturday have spread over into Sunday but taking it to its logical conclusion, if Sunday were to become just another day in the week, I could see major football matches for example being arranged on a Tuesday or a Thursday afternoon so that the Sunday workers could see them on their alternative day off - if they were still entitled to one. No enough is enough, the legislation was altered to accommodate the Olympics and when the games are finished the law should return to its previous state - and stay there. Or is it going to be yet another broken government promise?

A Seven Year "Hitch"

It's been a great two weeks for Britain's athletes at the Olympic Games - the culmination of seven years' planning from when the games were awarded to London and a lifetime of hard work for many of the competitors. As the Olympics were coming towards the end of a fantastic celebration of sporting achievements, my god-daughter Sharon was also celebrating seven years since she met James and on the anniversary of their meeting last Saturday, they became man and wife together. If their marriage is only half as good as the achievements of Britain's athletes then they will enjoy a long and happy marriage together.

   A seven year itch usually means the point where relationships start to cool but in Sharon and James' case, the anniversary would better be called the seven year "hitch" as they tied the knot. Every bride is beautiful but it has to be said that Sharon looked a picture and here's another picture that proves it.

Regeneration. Are You Serious?

There was dancing in the streets last Saturday as music sounded out across the Market Place. It was the music of my youth with some good old rock'n'roll tunes well-known by anyone of my age. Dancers in fifties dress showed how to jive and a large American car with a picture on the dashboard of Elvis was parked nearby. What was it all in aid of? Well nobody, not even the market traders, seemed to know but the general consensus was that it was an attraction to bring custom into the town.

   There were large gaps in the market with several regular traders missing. They could have been on holiday or taken heed of the mistaken weather forecast that predicted heavy rain and thunderstorms, none of which occurred or they may even have taken their wares elsewhere. But it becomes more and more obvious as time goes by that something drastic needs to be done to regenerate the town centre. The proposal to move students into the town centre and build a supermarket on the existing college site defies belief in its logic and common sense. Another supermarket on the edge of the town centre will drive another nail into the coffin of existing small businesses.

    Here's an idea. Car parking charges in Ilkeston deter many people and lead to illegal parking on double yellow lines and pedestrian crossings. In neighbouring Broxtowe, the first 30 minutes on council car parks is free, thus encouraging shoppers. In Long Eaton, Erewash's other big town, there are free car parks at Asda, Tesco and Aldi all in the town centre. In Ilkeston the free supermarket car parks are away from the town centre with those in the middle of town being fee paying.

   If the council is serious about regeneration, then the time is right to review their charging policy. Invest by sacrificing some parking revenue, even if it is only on market days but don't kill town centre trade altogether by being blind to the effect of planning decisions. Those who take the decisions should learn from the success of Team GB in the Olympics. Investment in the right place is what is needed - it will provide its own rewards. Austerity has not worked, is not working and will not work.

The Sounds of Summer

   The clickety-click in the still air of a distant train speeding along the tracks; children laughing whilst at play in a neighbour's garden; the drone of a lawn mower cutting the grass; the buzzing of insects pollinating the flowers; the thud of willow on leather at a cricket match; the crash of thunder as the rain teems down; the bells in the church tower calling people to worship on an otherwise quiet sunny Sunday morning, a Brass Band playing in the park - these are the sounds of summer.

Radioactive

   There was an entirely different atmosphere this Sunday afternoon though as The Carnaby Rocks, Radioactive (pictured) and the Midnight Pumpkin Trucks entertained in an event called "Summer Sounds"from the bandstand in Victoria Park. I suppose one of the sounds I missed in those listed above was the noise of a rock festival but at least we didn't get the squelch of the mud so frequently associated with the likes of Glastonbury!