Happy New Year

    As we come to the end of another year we also reach the end of our Heritage Walk around Derby. We have been visiting the city on a regular basis since January 2010 to take photos for the Latest Images page at Ilkeston Cam where a new part to the series was added on the last weekend of each month. This week sees the 36th and final part of the walk but now we will have to think of somewhere else to go before the end of January. In the meantime we wish you all the best for 2013 and hope it brings all you wish for.

Merry Christmas

   This week's Latest Images at Ilkeston Cam (www.ilkcam.com) all come from the Tree Festival held in St Mary's Church and another image from there is the basis of this greeting. One of the trees in the Festival was topped by a simple message and with the addition of a couple of photos and a bit of clipart, it enables us to say "Merry Christmas" to all the visitors to Ilkeston Cam.

Life Goes On

   Sometimes when I come to write this spot, I have the words all figured out and search through my archive of images to find one to illustrate it. At other times I look for a recent image and write the words to go with it. A third option is to be motivated by something heard on the news during the week and then take a new image to go along with my thoughts. 

   Then there is this week and the tragic loss of life in the American shooting where so many children lost their lives. Any words at all are so inadequate and no photo taken by me would be fitting but in Ilkeston on Saturday, life went on as normal with shoppers in the town centre looking for Christmas bargains on the Market Place although thoughts of those tragic events across the Atlantic were never very far from anyone's mind.

Overpriced

   What price a cup of coffee? There been a lot of discussion this week about large multinational companies like Google, Amazon and Starbucks and their tax avoidance schemes. Whilst none of these schemes are illegal, much has been made about the moral aspects but if you were in the same position, wouldn't you be just as inclined to pay as little tax as possible?
 
    It does however seem a little odd that Starbucks claim to have made no profit whatsoever whilst trading in the UK. During all that time they have employed and paid a large number of people, traded from numerous outlets and been able to pay their shareholders a dividend. Now they have offered to contribute £20,000,000 over the next two years to the Treasury in lieu of taxes. It just crossed my mind that if they can afford to carry on trading here without making a profit and still afford to pay £20m that they don't need to, then surely what they charge for drinks must be a little excessive. So I ask again - what price a cup of coffee?

Christmas Lights

   And so it begins not that it hasn't been around for several weeks, nay months! As we enter December the first Sunday marks the start of Advent and with Ilkeston's Christmas lights being switched on last Friday evening, the build up to Christmas is well and truly under way.

   On Friday we were treated to a visit by not one but two Santas. Whilst one appeared on the Town Hall balcony and then came down to distribute sweets to the children, another similar figure clad in red and white sat in a Grotto (left) to greet another queue of juveniles. I suppose with the additional work at this time of year the real Santa has to spread the load and it no doubt reduces the jobless total. I wonder if he can claim all the additional suits as a business expense and just where does he pay his taxes? He'll have the Chancellor after him soon.

   You know sometimes I write a load of rubbish here - will have to give it some serious thought come the New Year. Suggestions?

   As is customary with the British psyche the main topic of conversation at the moment is the weather. Heavy rainfall on already sodden ground has caused major flooding and many people are enduring damage to their properties for the second time this year. The Environment Agency has said that work on flood defences since 2007 has prevented the damage from affecting large numbers of people but that's little consolation to those who are suffering.

   Whilst we can all have sympathy for the flood victims, I am still amazed by the fact that plans will be submitted to build more housing estates on flood plains - that's just asking for trouble. A phrase commonly heard after any major disaster is that "Lessons will be learned" but it doesn't seem that they are learned quickly enough. And how often do you hear "It's the hottest/coldest/wettest/driest since .....whenever" which only goes to prove it has been this ... whatever... previously and yet we still get the same thing happening over and over again. Obviously there are still a lot more lessons to be learned.

Blink & You'll Miss It

I was bemoaning the fact that Christmas arrives far too early in the year these days with cards on sale in August and shops decorated by October. Now in mid November although some of the trees are still hanging onto their autumn colours, others have already drifted into their winter appearance and two weeks from now we will be in Advent, the Christian period of preparation for the celebration of the birth of Jesus.

Festive lights are being switched on up and down the country - Derby's ceremony took place on Saturday and those in Ilkeston are due to be lit on November 30th. In another six weeks, Christmas will have passed and we'll be on the verge of 2013. Hard to believe I know but that's the truth of it.