Ilkeston - Men At Work
w/e 16 November 2008
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
At the time of writing, roofers have almost completed the replacement
of this side of the former Larklands Mission building now occupied
by a day nursery called the Toddlers' University. When I took
this photo though they had only just started removing the old
tiles and having seen their progress since I cannot say I am
overly impressed with their health and safety precautions. I'm
no expert but at the very least I would have expected them to
be using crawlers on the roof rather than be standing in seemingly
precarious positions like this.
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There are no such safety concerns though on Nottingham Road where
the new Littlewick Medical Centre is being constructed as the
plethora of signs on the fence indicate. Although not to be seen
from this angle, the site is swarming with men wearing hard hats,
safety boots and fluorescent yellow jackets. The first phase
is due to open in May 2009 with Phase 2 following by January
2010.
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Health is also prominent on a banner that has been erected on
Toll Bar House, the former Council office previously occupied
by East Midlands Electricity and the place where I spent part
of my working life. The banner is promoting the Council's Leisure
Centres and suggesting we give the "Gift of Health"
for Christmas. For me it was the gift of being in the right place
at the right time just as the erection of the banner was nearing
completion.
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Speaking of Christmas, workmen have been busy recently installing
the coloured lights across the town's main shopping streets and
are seen here near the bottom of Bath Street.
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The Christmas lights will be switched on later in November in
a night of celebration on the Market Place which at the moment
is also being given a face lift with all the bollards, tubs and
planters receiving a much needed coat of paint. Prior to last
week's Remembrance Day and Armistice Day services the War Memorial
also benefited from a steam clean.
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It's not just outside that improvements are being made as part
of the Town Hall has been off limits for a number of weeks as
refurbishment work is carried out. I'm not sure whether it has
anything to do with the work but a telephone engineer was busy
last week with a jumble of wires in the pillar outside the Town
Hall on the corner of Wharncliffe Road. As he worked most people
passed by with hardly a glance in his direction; perhaps they
were admiring the colours of the trees by the church wall.
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The colourful leaves on the trees are visible all over town but
many of them will not fall to the ground naturally as tree pruners
are also busy cutting branches and shaping many trees into more
manageable shapes. I caught them here on Park Avenue but evidence
of their work can be seen at many other places too.
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All of the above "men at work" once their job has been
completed will disappear from view but there are several  occupations that are
visible day in, day out throughout the year. Until people become
more conscious of their home town environment the litter picker
(left) will always be in employment. As he stoops to pick up
the rubbish, he may not even notice the Christmas decorations
in the shop windows. On the other hand, postal employees are
bound to notice the onset of the festive season with an increase
in their daily deliveries. When my wife saw the image of the
postman above she quoted "Postie, Postie, don't be slow,
be like Elvis and go, man, go!" I've no idea where that
came from but it certainly dates us!
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