Local Area - Spring, Spring, Spring
w/e 23 March 2014
All of this week's pictures were
taken with a Kodak DX6490
Oh, the barnyard is busy in a regular tizzy,
And the obvious reason is because of the season
Ma Nature's lyrical, with her yearly miracle
Spring, Spring, Spring.
Well I don't know about the barnyard mentioned in the opening
verse of Johnny Mercer's lyrics for the song from the musical
"Seven Brides for Seven Brothers" but spring has certainly
begun to show its true colours around the local area in the past
couple of weeks.

The crocuses are past their best now on 'Illy 'Oleys but I caught
them at their best when all the different shades and hues were
in flower.
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When I walked through Shipley Country Park in January this year
for "The Three Parishes Walk" there were
lots of green shoots on the bank near the steps leading up to
Beggars Walk (behind Derby Lodge) but these developed into a
sea of white snowdrops.
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More green shoots nearby in Horsepool Hill Woodland have also
burst into flower and the woodland floor is dotted not only with
snowdrops but also that famous host of golden daffodils.
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On the other side of Ilkeston at Wollaton Park there are acres
and acres of green grass on the rolling landscape but someone
has been busy tending the flower beds outside the Camellia House.
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Daffodils at Wollaton were not as plentiful as I had anticipated
but I did spot a few in the shadow of the Hall.
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Flower beds in Victoria Park have also come in for some tender
care both at the main entrances and here in the centre of the
park.
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But the pièce de résistance in Victoria Park at
this time of year surely has to be the hundreds and thousands
of crocuses that line the border onto Bristol Road. Sadly this
display is fast disappearing as time passes.
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There is quite an attractive spot down by the Erewash Canal too
but I find it a sad reflection on society that it has been necessary
for someone to post notices on the trees requesting people not
to pick the flowers!
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It's perhaps not surprising though as heads have been pulled
or kicked off daffodils that were flowering in green areas near
the town centre. To paraphrase the old saying, we should leave
nothing but footprints and take nothing but pictures - and this
particular picture certainly shows the primary colour of spring.
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Another colour that is fast becoming prominent is the pink of
the blossom on some of the trees like this one on The Crescent
in Stapleford. The tree-lined street has several like this but
here too we can see a cluster of daffodils and the yellow forsythia
peeping over the wall on the left - all sure signs of spring.
It's been a relatively mild winter but even now there is still
a slight possibility of snow and ground frosts are not out of
the question. This time last year we visited Alvaston Park in
Derby on a bitterly cold day at the end of March but if we take
our lead from nature this year, it must be "Spring, Spring,
Spring". All I have to do now to finally prove it, is find
a busy barnyard!
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