Christmas In The Towns - Both Sides Of The Erewash
w/e 16 December 2007
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Last week we looked at some Christmas images from
Derby and Nottingham and now we can see some of the towns between
the two cities that lie on either side of the Erewash Valley.
We'll start our tour to the north of Ilkeston on Heanor Market
Place where the town's Christmas tree stands directly opposite
the Town Hall. The building has stonework above the door showing
the date 1867 and above that a more temporary addition is a red
Santa figure aboard a silver sleigh. To the right of the Town
Hall another old building now operates as a bank.
|
From Heanor we move to the east across the River Erewash and
into Eastwood in Nottinghamshire, birthplace of author D, H,
Lawrence. Here the main street is strung with multi-coloured
lights and a lonely little tree near the town centre. There is
a much larger tree on the way out of town towards Hill Top and
Giltbrook. This picture was captured outside Thorntons' shop
and I'm sure many people will be waking up on Christmas Day to
find a box of their famous chocolates or toffee among their presents.
|
 The next stop on our tour of the
towns is a little further to the east in Kimberley. A  couple
of years ago Broxtowe Borough Council agreed to enhance a small
area at the junction of Newdigate Street and Main Street and
rename it Toll Bar Square (left). This is where at the moment
the town's Christmas tree stands (right) and James Street, the
narrow one-way street directly opposite Newdigate Street, is
probably the most decorated street in the town with garlands
and lights strung across from side to side. Notice also the string
of Santas climbing the wall of the house on the left.
|
Moving back into Derbyshire across the Erewash but now to the
south of Ilkeston, the low afternoon sun casts long shadows across
Long Eaton town centre where the Christmas tree appears to be
listing to the right in order to catch the last of the warmth
in the sun's rays. Pigeons on the rooftops bask in the sunlight
and more scrape out a living searching for scraps around the
seats in the town centre.
|
All of the above images were captured on the same day and this
one of the Walter Parker VC Memorial Square in Stapleford was
one of the last of the day. It was much darker than it appears
in this image with the sun almost down below the horizon but
apart from the lights on the tree, the only other decorations
in the town were confined to small motifs on most of the lighting
columns. The Memorial Square, similar to the one in Kimberley,
is a fairly new feature having been opened on 1st August 2000.
Lance Corporal Walter Parker VC, a former resident of Stapleford
was awarded the Victoria Cross in recognition of his bravery
in Gallipoli in 1915.
|
Another day, another town and this time, decorations are strung
between the buildings again but this one should be more easily
recognisable as it shows the top of Bath Street in Ilkeston.
The vans in the foreground show that it is a market day and there
are plenty of shoppers about taking advantage of the fine, if
cold weather. No doubt one or two of them also took up the invitation
of the placard at the bottom right of the picture to partake
of the Christmas dinner on offer in The Observatory.
|
