I must start with a thank you to all those who participated in the vote for the next monthly series on the Ilkeston Cam (www.ilkcam.com) site. To be perfectly truthful the vote was somewhat flawed in that it pitted one city walk against two town walks, a number of individual village trails and numerous country walks. On face value the country walks topped the poll with the city walk a close second but if all the votes cast for the town and village trails are added together, then the the vote share was roughly equally spread with about a third for each category.
From a practical point of view the city walk is the easiest to plan for and better suited to a monthly series than the country walks so my plans for 2010 mean that I have opted for the Derby Heritage Walk which will feature on the site during the third or fourth week of each month. I will continue to cover the usual annual events like the Walk of Witness at Easter, Carnivals and Fairs etcetera but will pull in as many country walks as possible on an ad hoc basis. I may also add a town walk with Long Eaton being the most likely or perhaps a village trail around Little Eaton which attracted most votes from the villages listed. I also hope to continue with the First Impressions series which has presently stalled at the end of Millership Way.
All in all it looks as though I have a busy year ahead, planning routes, researching information and taking the photos but I'd like to think you'll join me each week as we explore more of the East Midlands in and around Ilkeston. So with that in mind let me wish you all a happy, healthy and prosperous 2010.
Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary. - Steve Jobs (1955 - )
There have been heavy snowfalls mainly down the eastern side of the country this week and I heard one weather forecaster say that it wouldn't be Christmas without snow. I don't think that is strictly true as a white Christmas in the UK is not that common but it set me thinking about the things that make for a modern Christmas.
For many people it isn't Christmas without hearing carols or popular songs including old favourites like Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", Harry Belafonte's "Mary's Boy Child", Nat King Cole's "Christmas Song" or Judy Garland's "Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas". Then of course there are more recent offerings from the likes of Cliff Richard, Wham, Wizzard, the X Factor winners and not forgetting the perennial "Merry Christmas Everybody" by Slade.
For others it's a Christmas film that makes the season - "Holiday Inn", "White Christmas", "Miracle On 34th Street", "Elf", "Santa Claus - The Movie", "The Grinch" - need I go on? There's TV regulars too like the Queen's Speech, Christmas specials of popular shows, endless repeats of programmes we've seen several times before but who would miss a Morecambe and Wise Show? "The Great Escape" or "The Eagle Has Landed" will probably be on at least one channel even if it is a satellite station and many would say that it just wouldn't be Christmas without "The Sound Of Music" - again!
For yet another group of people, it's the shopping, the baking, the turkey and the stuffing, the drinking, the merry-making and the family gatherings and while all the above contribute to making a good Christmas, isn't it time this week in particular to focus on the REAL reason for the festival - the birth of Jesus? However you celebrate, don't leave "Christ" out of "Christ"mas. After all it really wouldn't be Christmas without Him.
It was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One! - From 'A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens
When I was in West Hallam in July for the Well Dressing Festival and Scarecrow Trail, there was a figure outside the Old Post Office dressed as Guy Fawkes. Now as Christmas approaches, the figure has had a change of costume and is now standing beneath a small umbrella that offers a little protection against the elements.
I'm not sure whether the umbrella is a subtle comment about global warming but it seems "change" is the operative word - a change of clothes, a change of character and of course climate change. Whilst world leaders gather in Copenhagen to discuss the reduction of harmful emissions and attempt to thrash out an agreement the sad fact remains that whatever your view on the science surrounding the changes in the weather, you can be sure someone will have the opposite opinion.
Let us take things as we find them: let us not attempt to distort them into what they are not. We cannot make facts. All our wishing cannot change them. We must use them. - John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801 - 1890)
It's surprising what you see and who you meet in the town centre at this time of year but in case there are any children viewing this, let me just confirm that these Christmas characters were not the real Elf, Santa or Frosty the Snowman.
They had in fact, arrived in town from the Festival Inn at Trowell and were promoting their new menu for Christmas. They were also distributing gifts in the form of mince pies to passers-by but as I was getting my camera ready to take this photo someone came along and snaffled the last one. All they could offer me was best wishes for Christmas - gives a whole new meaning to the phrase "It's better to give than receive" but I wished them well and went on my way.
A gift, with a kind countenance, is a double present. - Thomas Fuller (1608 - 1661)
Have you ever wondered about that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow? Well I've got news for you - I know where it ends and what the gold is used for.
And here's the evidence which shows the rainbow coming to rest at a property on Market Street. Anyone familiar with Ilkeston will realise that those premises house a dental practice so the next time you see someone with gold fillings in their teeth, you'll know exactly where they've been!
And when it rains on your parade, look up rather than down. Without the rain, there would be no rainbow. - Jerry Chin
