2010 - Backwards & Forwards
w/e 02 January 2011
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Can it really be a year since I last sat to review
the previous twelve months? It doesn't seem that long ago but
when I started to look at some of the places we have visited
and some of the images I captured, I have to admit that many
from the early part of 2010 had slipped in my memory and seemed
to date from much further back. This selection of images is of
course a personal choice and none of them have appeared on the
"Latest Images" page previously but this look back
at 2010 may also stimulate some of your memories and also provide
me with some ideas for the future.
 The
year started in similar fashion to how it ended with plenty of
snow on the agenda. This image on the left came from a short
walk in wintry conditions along the Erewash Canal primarily for
a picture for the Ilkeston Cam Blog. I resolved to take a photo
each day during 2010 and post it to the blog but had no idea
at the time whether I would be able to keep it up or whether
it would end up like many more New Year resolutions and be broken
within days. I can now report that I did in fact manage to complete
the challenge but have resolved this year not to be so silly
again as at times it has been quite a burden.
January also saw a number of snowy images on the website, first
of all with a walk along Rutland Street in the First Impressions
series followed by another walk in bitterly cold conditions around
Dale Abbey. The third week of January saw a milestone birthday
for me and I relived my youth by visiting some old haunts around
Ilkeston. The final week of the month took us to Derby and the
start of a major new series discovering the heritage and history
of the city. This continued on a monthly basis through the year
and as well as looking backwards to the areas already visited
it reminds me that there is still a lot more to be discovered
in the city and at the current rate of progress there will be
at least enough to keep us going throughout 2011 and possibly
2012 too.
 In a poll
at the end of 2009 I had asked visitors to the site to vote for
places they would like to see and a series of "Country Walks"
came high in the results so for the first three weeks in February
I featured the Cranfleet Trail at Long Eaton. I finished the
month with the second part of the Derby Heritage Walk focussing
on Irongate but we were reminded that winter was not yet over
by another fall of snow around the 21st which left Ilkeston looking
white all over for a number of days. The winter of 2009/10 was
the harshest for a number of years but the early start to the
current winter may relegate that one into second place.
By March however we were on the lookout for spring flowers and
found them in abundance in the local parks. Another walk in the
country took us around Cossall Village on the Dragonfly Trail
whilst our regular Derby visit was to the Cathedral Centre. The
Mercian Regiment paraded through Ilkeston in March following
their return from active duty in Afghanistan and on the 17th
we joined crowds of people in Nottingham to witness the St Patrick's
Day Parade.
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A couple of weeks later we were back in Derby for the first of
two visits in the month and on this first one we were again among
jostling crowds when the Queen visited the cathedral for the
Maundy Thursday service. Our second visit enabled us to enter
the cathedral itself and see some of the interesting features
therein. With Easter falling in April, there was the Christian
Walk of Witness in Ilkeston and while the rest of the month on
the website was made up with a walk from Straw's Bridge Nature
Reserve to Kirk Hallam along the Nutbrook Trail and back via
the Nut Brook and Kirk Hallam Lake.
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The big national event of May was the General Election but have
to admit that the coalition of the Conservative blue and the
Liberal Democrat yellow was the last thing on my mind when I
captured this Iris in our garden. Flowers were also much in evidence
at the Methodist Church at West Hallam during their Flower Festival
but a scarcity of other events in the month meant we were able
to add a couple of parts to the First Impressions series as we
progressed a little further along Station Road. A walk around
Mapperley Reservoir and our regular visit to Derby provided images
for the remainder of the five week month.
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Events were far more plentiful in June and included the Hospital
Bed Push up Bath Street, an exhibition at the Stanton Regeneration
Site, the circus came to town, the Tree Trail in Victoria Park
was relaunched, a fire destroyed a listed building between Ilkeston
and Trowell and symbols of national pride appeared everywhere
in support of the England team competing (sorry, that should
be "taking part", they didn't "compete")
in the World Cup. Images of the World Cup Fever sufficed for
one week in the month though and our Carnival filled another.
A selection of random summer images like the one above made three
and need I mention the fourth? - Derby!
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In July we uncovered a gem in the Millennium Garden in the grounds
of Nottingham's University, began a new Village Trail series
around Jacksdale and Westwood and returned to West Hallam for
the Well Dressings and Scarecrow Trail. We crossed the Derwent
in Derby to the east side of the river and on a Saturday in the
middle of the month the Midsummer Happening took place in Victoria
Park where classic cars and rescued parrots were among the attractions.
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Over the course of the year, we visited the Erewash Museum a
number of times for various exhibitions, displays and musical
events. Earlier in the year we saw gardeners planting begonias
in the flower beds and in July on another visit we enjoyed the
fruits of their labours when the flowers were in bloom. At the
end of the month we were back for a Bank Holiday concert in the
gardens by Ilkeston Brass. There was also the Hospital Garden
Party and in another five week month our Latest Images came not
only from Jacksdale and Derby but also from Alport Heights in
Derbyshire and more from Station Road in the First Impressions
series. We began a three part Country Walk under the title of
"A Walk In The Clouds".
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As well as our walk in the clouds around Sandiacre, Stanton By
Dale and Risley, September was also the month when I did a fair
bit of walking in the Autumn Footprints Festival although a selection
of images from the walks did not appear on the site until October.
Derby, Westwood and the "Clouds" accounted for the
rest of September.
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 The
main event in October of course was the Annual Charter Fair where
this year we concentrated on the art work on the rides and attractions.
As well as our usual suspects of Jacksdale and Derby, the five
weeks of the month were filled with the Autumn Footprints images
and the Fair. In October we saw the start of the preparations
for Christmas too as men on cherry pickers began the erection
of the Christmas lights although repairs to the balcony on the
Town Hall meant the final pieces in the jigsaw didn't get completed
until just before the switching on ceremony towards the end of
November.
November gave us all a shock to the system when the first snow
of the winter arrived and a severe cold spell ensued. With a
harsh winter last year, an indifferent summer and an early start
to this winter the most unbelievable news of the year came with
the announcement that 2010 has been the warmest year on record.
Adopting my Victor Meldrew persona "I don't believe it!"
Early in the month though before the snows came, I did capture
some wonderful autumn colours in Ilkeston and a few more at Jacksdale
as the short-lived Village Trail there came to an end. Our Heritage
Walk in Derby brought us back over the Derwent from the Little
Chester area and a cold and foggy day on Station Road saw us
proceed a little further towards the town centre.
 We're now
almost up to date and as the snow continued through most of December,
the first two weeks presented wintry images from a walk along
the Nutbrook Trail and then in Victoria Park. A trip to Nottingham
proved a disappointment so it was a selection of Christmas images
in Ilkeston that made up the third week of the month before our
final part for this year from the Derby Heritage Walk. As I mentioned
earlier, 2010 has been the year of the blog and throughout Advent
I added a daily image of something connected to the season. Now
at the end of the year, it's not one that I would call vintage
but we've survived it and can do nothing about the past.
As well as looking backwards at 2010, it is also time to look
forwards to 2011 and ponder our plans for the future. There will
of course be more from Derby at the end of each month and I hope
to share some more Country Walks with you. I might even start
another Village Trail and we will be covering the usual events
like Easter, Well Dressings, Carnivals, Fairs and any other regulars
we can get to. Much the same as in previous years in fact but
we hope you'll join us each week and, God willing, it won't be
long before I'm sitting here again reflecting on 2011 and looking
forward to 2012. Our hope for the year ahead is that it will
be a better one for all of us so here's wishing you a happy,
healthy and prosperous twelve months.
The series mentioned on this page can be found in the Special
Features, Archives or Favourites page for 2010 which can all
be accessed from the links below.
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