2012 - An Eventful Year
w/e 06 January 2013
All this week's pictures were taken
with a Kodak DX6490
As we cross the threshold of another year, it's time
to take our customary look back at the previous twelve months
with a few images that didn't make it onto the site at the time.
2012 was an eventful year if not only for the weather which saw
the wettest April, the wettest June and the wettest April through
June since records began. It also saw more rainfall towards the
year end and places that had been flooded earlier suffered the
same fate again. All in all 2012 was the wettest year in England
since records began over 100 years ago and it ended up being
the second wettest in the UK too so I make no apology for repeatedly
referring to the weather as we take a look back at the year.
Not only was it an eventful year it was a year full of events
not least among them were the Diamond Jubilee celebrations, the
European Football Championships, the Olympic and Paralympic Games
and nearly overshadowed but not forgotten by these events was
the success of Derbyshire's County Cricket Club that secured
the Championship and promotion from the Second Division in the
last match of the season.
 At the
start of the year though those events were still some way off
and in January we began another route into Ilkeston at Gallows
Inn in the "First Impressions" series. This series
is a "fill in" for when there is little else to feature
in any particular week but I have not had cause to add to the
series since then - maybe a project to continue in 2013. We also
worked our way through the town looking at places of worship
from Cotmanhay to Kirk Hallam and were surprised to fine there
were nineteen such places in total. We ended the month in Derby's
Arboretum Park (left) with the first of twelve monthly visits
for the Heritage Walk.
 Another
visit to Derby starting at the Arboretum was preceded in February
by a walk around Osborne's Pond in Shipley Country Park (right)
a similar walk we were to repeat whilst dodging the showers much
later in the year (October) and the third part of the Whittlestone
Walk in the Country Walks section of the site, a walk that concluded
in the following month. In the middle of February we celebrated
the tenth anniversary of the start of Ilkeston Cam with a repeat
of the images we first featured back in 2002 including images
from the town centre, the Pewit Golf Course and Dale Abbey village.
No sooner had we finished the Whittlestone Walk in March than
we began another Country Walk, The Coffin Walk from Breaston
to Draycott and back a couple of weeks later. As well as our
regular Derby visit we also took advantage of some of the best
weather of the year to enjoy the spring flowers in Victoria Park
and just before the end of the month visited Attenborough Nature
Reserve (above) the images from there being featured a little
later in April. It's worth noting that at this time in the year,
drought conditions had been declared and hose pipe bans imposed
in some parts of the country!
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April also saw an event at the Erewash Museum where some temporary
shelter in the yard between the main museum building and The
Hayloft offered some protection against the heavy showers for
the dancers and musicians at a Rock'n'Roll day. This was one
of several special events held at the museum throughout the year
that included a Tudor Day and a Motorcycle Day. Despite April
being England's wettest for over 100 years, we were fortunate
enough to pick the best of this part of the year for walks at
Trowell and on the campus in Nottingham University Park. We also
kept dry at Draycott and in Derby for our regular features.
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Sandwiched between the wet months of April and June were some
fine days in May like the one when the Duke of Rutland visited
the town to raise a Green Flag, a national mark of excellence,
in Victoria Park. The rest of the month was changeable and we
dodged showers during four days in one week for a selection of
images in and around the town. I can assure you that this one
of Dale Abbey seen through the damp atmosphere with the colours
on the trees suggesting an autumnal timing was actually captured
during May. It was also in May that the previously mentioned
Motorcycle Day was held at the museum.
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One of the big events of the year of course was the Diamond Jubilee
and the flower beds on the island at the end of Chalons Way drew
many admiring comments at the beginning of the month. But who
can forget the pictures of the Royal Family standing in the pouring
rain as the flotilla sailed past them on the River Thames?
  The weather was so bad (left) that Ilkeston's
Carnival had to be called off at the last minute causing me to
delve into the archives for previously unused images from earlier
years to add a "Virtual Carnival" to the site. Olympic
fever started to take hold during June and again we had to dodge
a sharp shower by going for a coffee in Matlock before joining
the crowds (right) to see the Olympic Torch convoy pass by.
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Homage was paid to both the Queen and Olympians at West Hallam's
Well Dressing Festival and Scarecrow Trail at the beginning of
July as well as many other characters including Jubilee Jack
pictured above. A brief respite in the bad weather enabled us
to pack several more events into the same weekend as the Well
Dressings and we also visited a celebration in Stanton Road Cemetery
and the Summer Happening on Victoria Park. Even the Nottingham
Food and Drink Festival that we visited the following week was
cut short by the bad weather. July also saw the completion of
the Coffin Walk in Breaston and we were able to avoid the waterlogged
ground by sticking to paved paths along the route of the former
Derby Canal.
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Having circled Draycott with the Coffin Walk we decided to take
a closer look with a Village Trail there which began in August
appropriately enough at the Olympic Hotel and which should reach
its completion early in 2013. A walk with Jewl the dog around
town provided the images for another week and included another
of the island at the end of Chalons Way which again proved a
popular choice for the "Pick A Picture" vote. We were
also able to pull in a visit to the home of Super Heroes, Wollaton
Park, but again had to take shelter during a heavy shower. At
this point in the year we were beginning to wonder if we would
ever get a summer but the weather did behave on the wedding day
of my goddaughter although none of the images have appeared on
Ilkeston Cam until now - but it was worth waiting for, don't
you think?
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The changeable weather continued into September but I took advantage
of one fine day to experiment with a seines of black and white
images around the fountain on Ilkeston Market Place. As well
as the regular visits to Draycott and Derby we looked forward
with eager anticipation to joining several guided walks in the
Autumn Footprints Walking Festival. We had planned to take part
in walks most days during the two weeks of the festival but mishaps
on a walk along the old Cromford Canal meant that we were unable
to enjoy any walking during the second week. Images from the
first week then had to suffice for two weeks out of the month
but the one above taken in Locko Park was not one of them.
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A planned visit to capture some autumn colour was unsuccessful
because of the wet conditions and resulted in an unscheduled
call at Shipley Park where we repeated part of the walk around
Osborne's Pond that we had done in February. We were more successful
capturing the season's colour closer to home near the Erewash
Museum (above) and October wouldn't be October of course without
a few images from the Annual Charter Fair, which with the regular
features completed the month.
 More
autumn colour graced the Latest Images page in mid November with
a selection of images from close to home and we also took a trip
up to Cromford to scale Scarthin Rock where we enjoyed the Derbyshire
scenery and surrounding countryside. In Cromford we were at the
side of the River Derwent and were also on the bank of the same
river as it passed through the county capital in the penultimate
part of the Derby Heritage Walk. In between times there was the
annual Remembrance Day service (left) on the Market Place which
was held like many other places at 11am rather than in the afternoon
as in previous years.
 So as
we entered December and the year ploughed on towards its close
we took another trip northwards to spend a couple of hours in
Crich's National Tramway Museum. With Christmas fast approaching
I went looking for Ilkeston images that illustrated some seasonal
songs and carols and in the final week before Christmas, the
Tree Festival in St Mary's Church (right) took centre stage.
In the few days between Christmas and New Year, the weather showed
no signs of improvement although it was quite mild for the time
of year so the final set of images in Pride Park at Derby were
taken under grey skies and more rain showers.
So there we have it - an eventful year and a year full of events.
There would have been even more events had it not been for the
weather that caused the cancellation of quite a few. Prior to
the Diamond Jubilee and the Olympics hardly a day went by without
some mention of celebrations or "London 2012". Now
they are done and dusted so what 2013 holds we shall just have
to wait and see. At least come the summer, we will be hoping
for much better weather than in 2012 and look for the continued
success of Derbyshire Cricket Club as they embark on their campaign
in Division One of the County Championship. Keep your fingers
crossed on both counts!
The series mentioned on this page can be found in the Special
Features, Archives or Favourites page for 2012 which can all
be accessed from the links below.
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