Ilkeston - Signs Of
Spring
w/e 09 March 2008
All
this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490
I have an LP (that dates me) by Frank Sinatra containing songs
by Rodgers and Hart. One of them is titled "Spring Is Here"
and while I think we would be premature in declaring that, there
are some obvious signs around town that show that spring really
is getting closer as the days pass. Crocuses have been flowering
in Victoria Park for a couple of weeks now and it is just delightful
to walk along Bristol Road to enjoy them.
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There's a bed of daffodils on the Rutland
Recreation Ground too that are blooming although many of those
on the bank off Oakwell Drive near one of the entrances to the
Rec (left) are still only in bud. Perhaps it's the more sheltered
position between the trees (above and right) that has caused
those on the Rec to burst into flower. The view above is over
the Rutland Sports Park development to the Pewit Golf Course
and to West Hallam in the distance.
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There
are several beds of crocuses too on another of Ilkeston's parks
and these are in various stages of development. These were pictured
on Chaucer Old Park ('Illy 'Oleys) and whilst this purple variety
was in full bloom, the yellows and whites were not as far forward.
In another couple of weeks or so, the rolling parkland alongside
Cantelupe Road (left) should be a riot of colour.
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It's not just in the parks and the flowers that are heralding
the changing seasons. Trees are also blossoming like these near
the Health Centre on White Lion Square. The "Square"
of course no longer exists being lost when the huge traffic island
at the end of Chalons Way was constructed a few years ago, but
locals still refer to the area as White Lion Square.
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A circular flower bed
in the middle of a rectangular green area (left) near the busy
road junction of Cavendish Road and Lower Stanton Road has been
planted up with pansies (right) and whilst these are not necessarily
harbingers of spring, they do make an attractive setting for
the adjacent tree that is absolutely full of blossom plus a few
new leaves as well. It is to be hoped that an unwelcome drop
in temperature and subsequent frost does not have an adverse
effect on the blossom.
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There is another small green area nearby, this time triangular,
at the junction of Cavendish Road (pictured) and Inglefield Road
which has been brightened by the appearance of that proverbial
host of golden daffodils. It seems as though this is not to everyone's
taste though as several of the flowers had been decapitated and
the heads left strewn on the grass and the pavement. Why anyone
would resort to such acts of mindless vandalism is just beyond
me! Not only are there signs of spring, there are signs of stupidity
too.
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