Ilkeston Fair was still in full swing when I captured this image outside a local fruit and vegetable shop where preparations were already in hand for the forthcoming event of Halloween with pumpkins being prominently displayed outside.
I'm not sure quite why or how the witching hour on October 31st and all the associated activities of Trick or Treating, dressing in spooky costumes and pumpkin carving has become so popular in recent years but suspect the commercial opportunities it presents have a lot to do with it. Never mind, the shops are already filing up with Christmas produce and I expect Cream Eggs for Easter to be on sale any day now.
Beginning today, treat everyone you meet as if they were going to be dead by midnight. Extend them all the care, kindness and understanding you can muster. Your life will never be the same again. - Og Mandino (1923 - 1996)
Nice of the BBC to use this image on their website this week under the Derby area "Things To Do".
Just a shame they didn't add a credit for it this time round although they did in 2002 (link)! The original came from the 748th Fair in 2000.
In their wisdom, Derbyshire County Council decided it would be a good time to work at this exit of the large island at the end of Chalons Way into Stanton Road today. Traffic was at a standstill this morning and backed up into all the adjacent roads.
At the other end of town it has been decided probably by the local council for Erewash that this week would also be a good time to start to erect the Christmas lights on Bath Street. This week is also Fair Week which means that as from today all the roads in the town centre are closed to allow the rides and sideshows to be erected. Combined result - TOTAL MAYHEM!
People at a bus stop on Bath Street waiting for the half-hourly 23 service to Kirk Hallam were left standing for over an hour when I passed with still no sign of the bus. Don't get me wrong; I like the Christmas lights as much as anyone and the road works in the area have been going on (and off) for several weeks but surely the planners know when the fair rolls into town - it's a fixed time every year after all - so why didn't they plan their work to miss this week? It seems you don't have to be blessed with common sense these days to be in a position where your decisions create havoc for the general public.
Tuesday is the day every week when two lanes are usually coned off on Chalons Way to allow litter picking and/or grass cutting but today the cones were not there. Someone obviously got that decision right but I wouldn't be at all surprised to see them appear before the weekend. And then no-one will be able to get into or out of Ilkeston at all.
At what age does an angry young man become a grumpy old one 'cos whatever it is I've reached it. - Me
I am so pleased I still have this photo taken nearly two years ago of some of the trees on Chaucer Old Park ('Illy 'Oleys") as it shows a splendid example of a Horse Chestnut almost in the centre of the picture.
Since then it has been chopped right back - I think the correct word is pollarded although mutilated is another word that springs to mind - and only the main trunk is still standing. I actually saw the men working on it one day earlier this year and thought they were just pruning it but was shocked to see how severe the cut back was the following day. I guess they know what they are doing as Horse Chestnuts throughout Britain are suffering from attack by insects and bacteria but it will be a long time before this one will be able to put on such a fine display again in autumn even though there are already signs of new growth. There is hope for Horse Chestnut trees though and there is a potential cure which actually treats the symptoms without the need for cropping but sad to say, it has come too late for this particular tree.
Trees, though they are cut and lopped, grow up again quickly, but if men are destroyed, it is not easy to get them again. - Pericles (490 BC - 429 BC)
A profusion of pyracantha and rowan berries caught my eye this week alongside a busy road in Ilkeston. This is just a fraction of the total display and my first thought was that there is a wonderful harvest here to help feeds the birds throughout the winter.
I was surprised to learn though that pyracantha berries are not poisonous and although they are very bitter, they can be cooked and are edible when made into jelly. Rowan berries too are again bitter and also make excellent jelly which is usually served with meat. They have several other uses including being soaked in spirits to form a liqueur or even made into wine and an infusion of the berries can be used as a gargle for sore throats. And here I thought they were just for the birds!
In all things of nature there is something of the marvellous. - Aristotle (384 BC - 322 BC)
Band concerts took place all over the country on Sunday 27th September and twenty of them were in Derbyshire towns. Ilkeston Brass played in the Market Place outside the Town Hall as part of the national Bandstand Marathon.
The national event was part of the Cultural Olympiad which is a series of arts events to celebrate the run up to the 2012 Olympics. I believe one of the aims of the Bandstand Marathon is to bring bandstands back into use and Ilkeston is a prime example of where this is needed. The Victoria Park venue has not been usable for a couple of years and is in desperate need of repair and restoration. The local council were reported to be spending some money on it and I heard that some £20,000 had already been spent but it's difficult to see exactly where the money went. An application to the Heritage Lottery Fund was rejected in April this year because the bandstand "did not provide opportunities for learning" but Erewash Borough Council officials were trying to revise the bid to resubmit. So far nothing further is known but no news is good news so they say.
Unfortunately as winter creeps up on us it looks as though the bandstand will have to suffer the vagaries of the weather and suffer further deterioration which will then cost even more to put right. I may be naive in my assumption but surely a programme of preventative maintenance in the first place would have kept the bandstand in good order and made grovelling around for funds now avoidable! Derbyshire County Council’s Market Towns Initiative with funding also from Derby and Derbyshire Economic Partnership sponsored the Bandstand Marathon concerts and whilst this was welcomed by the participating bands, I question whether this was the best use of the money available. That money has now gone but investment in the structure and fabric of bandstands would have made sure that future concerts could take place in their right and proper place.
Life is often compared to a marathon, but I think it is more like being a sprinter; long stretches of hard work punctuated by brief moments in which we are given the opportunity to perform at our best. - Michael Johnson
