Ilkeston - A Virtual Carnival
w/e 10 June 2012
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490 unless otherwise stated.
Anyone who saw the Queen's Diamond Jubilee Regatta
last weekend will have an idea of the weather conditions that
have been experienced across the UK during the last week and
if you didn't see it, then "wet and windy" sums it
up. It has been so wet that unfortunately, to the disappointment
of many, Ilkeston's Carnival scheduled for Saturday 9th had to
be cancelled on Friday. Whilst the weather did show an improvement
on Saturday, the street parade was also cancelled. That left
me with a bit of a problem as I was counting on the Carnival
for the images for this page so instead, I've taken a retrospective
view of some previous year's carnivals and come up with "A
Virtual Carnival" for 2012.
The carnival procession is normally led by a marching band, the
Long Eaton Militaires usually being prominent among them as they
were in 2002 when this image was captured. (Kodak DC280)
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Before going to the recreation ground for the end of the procession
and the rest of the organised events, I usually station myself
somewhere along the route to catch the procession passing by.
In 2010 I was at the bottom of Bath Street to capture this image
of the floats and lorries climbing the hill between the crowds
of onlookers.
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Three years earlier in 2007, I had been near the top of the hill
when this vehicle like something out the film "Easy Rider"
passed by.
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Another "easy rider" made short work of the hill as
he hitched a ride in 2008 on the Lower Market Place. It reminds
me of the classic Michael Crawford sketch as Frank Spencer in
"Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em" - link.
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After passing though the Market Place into South Street, the
floats turn into Queen's Drive which is where I caught this one
with a "101 Dalmations" theme in 2005.
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This scene shows how the event was staged on the rec in 2004
and also illustrates why it would have been impractical to hold
the event there this weekend on the waterlogged ground. Thousands
of people and numerous vehicles would have turned the ground
into a quagmire more akin to the Glastonbury Music Festival!
(Kodak DC280)
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A similar scene from 2011 shows where the floats stop to disgorge
their fancy dressed occupants along with other miscellaneous
vehicles parked nearby.
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In 2005 a man selling balloons was popular but if he had been
there in 2012, the wind would have probably lifted him off the
ground.
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Among all the stalls raising money for their various charities,
many displays are usually staged in the central arena and in
2002, Knights in armour and archers exhibited their skills. This
image is also interesting as it shows a corner of the old cricket
scoreboard which has since been demolished. (Kodak DC280)
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Overlooking the central arena this crowd of people had assembled
in 2008 to enjoy the events in the fine weather. It is such a
disappointment for all those who had organised this year's Carnival
that another crowd could not gather to be entertained in the
same way and raise a substantial amount for may charitable causes
in the process. Such are the vagaries of a British summer.
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