2007 - That Was The Year That Was
w/e 30 December 2007
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

As another year draws to a close, it is customary to look forward to the next twelve months with a backward glance at what has taken place in the current year. With few new pictures to show this week, I decided to conduct my own review of 2007 and show a few of the pictures that didn't quite make it the first time round. Much of January was wet and windy and by the third week sufficient water had fallen to cause flooding in the Erewash Valley (above). This proved to be only a foretaste of much worse conditions that were about to affect larger areas of the country later in the year. Many people as we end this year are still living in temporary accommodation. January also saw the start of the Miller-Mundy Memories series but that has been covered adequately elsewhere and the series was concluded earlier this month so I decided against including any more images from Shipley Park in this review of the year. In February though I was struck down by the 'flu but not before a visit to South Derbyshire to see the Staunton Howard Reservoir and the snowdrops at Dimminsdale Nature Reserve (left) at Calke. We ended the month as I recovered from my illness with a look at some of Ilkeston's factories. By March we were well into the Miller-Mundy Memories and also started a new series following a walk through Historic Nottingham. I had hoped to finish the Nottingham walk by the end of this year but events, or to be more correct one event at the end of July, meant I could not progress with this as speedily as hoped and the series will not conclude now, God willing, until January 2008. We ended the month with a short walk through some rather drab countryside (right) between Ilkeston and Cossall. The only bright colour to be seen was in the gorse growing at the side of the towpath by the Nottingham Canal.

In April, all of that was to change as spring flowers and blossom were to be seen in abundance all over the district like these blooms near the entrance to Ilkeston Community Hospital off Heanor Road. A pleasant stroll along the River Trent at Beeston Rylands brought the month to a close whilst images from the Walk of Witness earlier had provided the images for Easter week.

It was another religious occasion that was featured at the end of May following a day out in Derbyshire at Tissington Village for the annual Well Dressings which attract many visitors around Ascension Day. The rest of the month was taken up with more instalments from Shipley and Nottingham. June saw the return of Ilkeston's Carnival (left) after an absence of just one year due to unavoidable problems and enjoyed one of the hottest and sunniest days so far. We also took a tour of Ilkeston's "Saintly" roads during the month and finished with some flora and fauna shots around the Straw's Bridge Nature Reserve. July was another month devoted to the Miller Mundys and also St Mary's Church in Historic Nottingham but we also found time in the five-week month to feature the first of an occasional series under the guise of "Sentimental Journeys". But by far the largest amount of photos taken during July were from South Devon where we enjoyed a week on the English Riviera (right). We were blessed with good weather for the majority of the week - the rain held off until teatime on Friday - but the rest of the month brought misery to thousands as the floods returned to large swathes of the country. In fact the week after we returned, traffic chaos ensued as vehicles were stranded on the M5 by the rising waters. apart from the few "Postcards From Paignton" page I added in July, most of the images from our holiday have not yet seen the light of day - a project for the New Year perhaps. Another event that I referred to earlier happened on the last day of July for it was whilst out on a photo shoot in Shipley Park that I suffered my now infamous fall and the subsequent damage to my ankle that severely curtailed my mobility for quite a while.

Just for the record my ankle, five months later, has still not fully recovered but in August I spent a lot of time sitting in the garden, reading, listening to music, watching the flowers grow and the fruit ripen. Outings were short and did not involve a lot of walking but I did manage a couple of trips to the first Erewash Canal Festival at Cotmanhay and also took a look at the centre of the neighbouring village at Trowell. September was another five-week month and three of them were devoted to some more of those sentimental journeys. The first which again did not involve a lot of walking featured the Larklands area of Ilkeston whilst the other two resulted from a day out in Matlock Bath and Matlock Town. The final week of the month again featured a number of "close-to-home" shots as we toured the town (again by car) to capture images of some green and open spaces used as play areas. Although I was able to reach most of the locations needed for the Miller-Mundy series by car, my lack of mobility caused a postponement of the Historic Nottingham series.

By October, things were getting back to normal but local autumn colours, the Annual Charter Fair and an invitation to visit Chatsworth House and Gardens (above) meant that Nottingham again took a back seat.

We made up for that in November with Parts 7 and 8 from Nottingham plus the eleventh about the Miller-Mundys. We also saw Ilkeston's various markets that are held throughout each week which prevented a number of photos including the one above of Chaucer Old Park showing some more autumn colours from being utilised on the site. At least this review of the year gives me the opportunity to show one now. December of course was all about Christmas. From the cities of Derby and Nottingham to the towns and villages around Ilkeston - Ilkeston seen here on the right on Christmas Day morning- we saw some of the decorations and lights that have brightened up the area during the dark days of the month. Now as we look forward to 2008 I, and I suspect many other folk, didn't think I would be sad to see the back of 2007. Illness and injury are things that spring easily to mind but preparing this page has made me realise once again that there were far more blessings in the year than troubles. Happy New Year to you all.

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