Ilkeston - World Cup Fever
w/e 20 June 2010
All this week's pictures were taken with a Kodak DX6490

In recent weeks an epidemic of footballius patriotismii (*see note below) has swept across the nation and many households in Ilkeston have succumbed to the virus more commonly known as "Flying The Flag".

Single House

The world cup fever has struck at random and this particular case spotted on Lord Haddon Road has suffered a severe attack with a minor infection even being passed on to the vehicle outside.
Neighbours

Neighbours too are not free from contracting the viral infection and these two, the first residences to be seen on entering the town via Nottingham Road are a clear warning to all visitors to be aware if they want to avoid being infected too.
Community

Whole communities too have been affected and on Dale Street bunting strung across the road show possible routes of infection. The last time the town was hit by a similar infection was during a Royal Wedding and prior to that a more severe case was reported during the post war years when trestle tables had to be erected down the middle of the road for communal feeding. Coronation Day 1953 was a case in point.
Market Trader

The current strain appears to be of South African origin but local market traders have also been blamed for the spread of the disease by bringing more of the red and white infection into the town at regular intervals.
Peter James

Shopkeepers too are not immune and customers of Peter James Hairdressing on South Street could end up with St George's flags or red and white football symbols emblazoned on their heads. (I've not forgotten Red Nose Day yet when a red proboscis was sprayed onto the back of my head!)
Global Food

Also on South Street another mild case of flag flying has been reported but of more concern to the authorities is the side affect of chicken breasts in South African, Argentine Fire and French Garden style together with Italian burgers and Spanish style pork steaks. The Chinese ribs seem unrelated to the current outbreak but the Firecracker sausage is still to be investigated.
Bulldog Spirit

An injection of the bulldog spirit to the shirt on the right in the window at the Treetops charity shop has offered some protection against the flag flying virus but its effect has been minimal.
Red & White

Most of the Co-Op is showing some signs of the infection and for those who decide to take to their beds until it is over there is still no escape judging by the bedding on display in one of the windows. News has filtered down that Downing Street has also been infected and the Town Hall in Ilkeston has come out in sympathy and is also showing signs of red and white. It is not expected that the virus will continue much longer than a month but results of tests in South Africa could bring it to a conclusion much sooner. Fears still exist though that a European strain last seen in 2008 could return in a couple of years and this could be complicated by the Londinium Olympiarcus 2012 (*see note below) strain.

* note - Don't bother looking up theses viral infections, they are purely figments of my warped imagination!

Site Navigation

Home
"Pick A Picture"
Weekly Favourites
Latest Images
Holidays &
Days Out
Special Features
The Guest Page
Archives
Site search Web search

powered by FreeFind
Jigsaw Puzzles
Recommended Links

Terms & Conditions of Use
This website is copyright but licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 Licence.
Please credit the photographer Garth Newton, or add a link to these pages.