Heanor - A Return Visit to the Memorial Park
w/e 03 August 2008
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
It was April 2006 when I first passed through the gates to the
Memorial Park in Heanor and then, despite the presence of some
spring blossom, a cold and damp morning made it feel much more
like autumn. I said then that I hoped to return in some sunnier
conditions and this week I did indeed return on what proved to
be one of the hottest days in 2008 so far. For comparison and
before viewing the rest of this page, you may like to see the
images
from that first visit. Press the back button on your browser
to return to this page and pass through the entrance gate again.
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The flower bed around the Falklands Conflict memorial just inside
the gates is much brighter than the drab appearance of two years
ago and the symmetrical beds (above) either side of the main
path now have much more intricate patterns with their summer
planting. Even the "Christmas Tree" in mid-summer doesn't
look out of place now.
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Equally attractive but with more subdued colours is another bed
further into the park.
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Beyond the beds, there is a large expanse of open parkland and
the grass was benefiting from a mowing being done by a young
lady on a motorised machine. Now that's a job I could take too
on a day like this!
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A dog was being exercised on the parkland retrieving a plastic
disc but with the sun beating down, after a few retrievals, it
decided it was not a good idea and went and lay down in the shade.
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On that first visit to the park, I looked down on this small
pond from the slope opposite and wondered what lay beyond. This
time I descended into the hollow and looked back up the slope
beyond the pond, now three quarters full of greenery. There was
the sound of running water but I wanted to see what lay along
the path to the right where I had previously expected an extension
to the park.
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The path though only leads out of the park to join a public footpath
that runs alongside the park from Ilkeston Road to Westfield
Avenue and Ella Bank Road. Returning up the footpath towards
Ilkeston Road I rejoined the park through a gap in the boundary
hedge under the shade of these trees. In the distance I could
see the main memorial in the park.
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The memorial to "The men of the Heanor Urban District who
fell in the Great War 1939 - 1945" had also found favour
with a group of well mannered youngsters who were practising
their skate boarding skills on the path that surrounds it. Well
that's Heanor Memorial Park in two of the four seasons - maybe
next time I'll try for an autumn or winter visit.
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