Ilkeston - Spring Is In The Air
w/e 06 March 2011
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
Winter has not had its final say yet and for much of last week
there was a cold wind blowing across the East Midlands but it
did drop one day and with the sun shining down on newly planted
flower beds like this one at the main entrance to Park Cemetery,
there was a definite feeling of spring in the air.
|
Across from the cemetery on 'Illy 'Oleys, clumps of crocuses
and trees bursting into bud at the side of Cantelupe Road were
also another indication of the change of the seasons.
|
Making our way up to the Market Place from the cemetery, we found
a few more crocuses plus a few snowdrops beneath a tree in the
churchyard at St Mary's.
|
On the other side of the church by the wall overlooking the Lower
Market Place, daffodils are in bud but none were open yet. Similar
flowers are already in full bloom in Cornwall so that probably
means if the experience of previous years is anything to go by
that these in Derbyshire will not be fully opened for another
two or three weeks.
|
A short walk and a brief visit to Victoria Park presented us
with several views of which this is just one, of the carpet of
crocuses along the length of Bristol Road.
|
Our final port of call where we knew that snowdrops were in flower
was the old cemetery on Stanton Road. The cemetery has not been
used for interments since 1947 but is constantly being restored
and maintained by a local group, the Friends of Stanton Road
Cemetery. The snowdrops have almost finished for this year but
these at the side of one of the graves near the entrance still
look a picture.
|
Stanton Road cemetery is split into three main areas. The wealthy
purchased plots near the entrance with the not so well off in
the middle section and the poorer people were buried at the far
end. Over 4000 people were buried here but there are less than
300 headstones. Many of the graves had fallen into disrepair
but the Friends in conjunction with Groundwork Derby and Derbyshire
and with funding from the Lottery Heritage Fund are doing an
excellent job in repairing and restoring them. This view with
the white and purple crocuses around the headstones is from the
"rich" end of the cemetery.
|
At the far end in the "poor" section the headstones
are far fewer but the crocuses are even more bountiful and even
have yellow varieties amongst the white and purple. For more
information about this fascinating example of a Victorian burial
ground and some of the interesting Ilkestonians buried here,
visit the Friends of Stanton Road Cemetery website.
|
