St George's Day

Not so very long ago Ilkeston was at the forefront in the country of celebrations for St George's Day with parades and fun events that attracted visitors from all corners of the country. Then rules, regulations, restrictions and prohibitive costs all conspired to put a damper on things so today the celebrations have been somewhat muted in the town although they do seem to be picking up elsewhere.

For the most part Ilkeston's nod to the Patron Saint has been restricted to a few flags flying from public buildings and some decorated shop windows apart from the pubs that have turned the day into an excuse for a beer festival. Even those people that did take the trouble to dress for the occasion congregated at The Borough where St George left his trusty steed outside whilst quenching his thirst.

Irish For A Day

Anyone locally with any connection to Ireland was probably in Nottingham today for the annual St Patrick's Day Parade but in Ilkeston it appears to have passed largely unnoticed. There were of course window displays in the shops selling greetings cards but apart from that it was only outside the pubs that the day was advertised.


On the Market Place an A-board exhorted people to become "Irish For A Day" with live Irish music from 6pm and another to celebrate the day with a pint of the black stuff. It's been quiet during the day but no doubt there will be plenty of good craic tonight.

St David's Day

As it is St David's Day I made a special journey to the park to see if the daffodils were flowering yet, although with the cold weather of recent days I went more in hope than expectation. There were some clumps of snowdrops, yellow crocuses were flowering and even a few purple ones were starting to open but all I could see of the daffodils were green leaves that were only a few inches high. So I had to resort to the shops for today's picture and outside a fruit and vegetable shop were some pot plants that contained some miniature flowers.


Not only that but outside the same shop were some trays of leeks, that other symbol of Wales and often worn on the lapel of Welshmen today like a buttonhole flower. I think these were a little too big to wear though, not that I would want to as I'm not Welsh. The wife's maiden name though was Evans so there must be some Celtic ancestry somewhere along the line.