2024 - The Annual Review
w/e 05 January 2025
All of this week's
pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300 or a Galaxy S20 Mobile
Phone.
As the calendar ticks over
to a new year it's time to look back once again at the places
and events that we have enjoyed during the previous fifty two
weeks. Fifty two updates to the website in 2024 but half of those
were made up of photos from Victoria Park, our holiday on the
English Riviera, a Walking For Health walk, and an exploration
of Wollaton Village. Below, as we look back, are images from
all of those places plus a few more from other places/events
that didn't make the website.
2024 started with a bang, literally, as the first photo of the
year was taken from the front doorstep as the clock struck twelve
and fireworks lit up the night sky. The first update of the year
though was Here We Go Again the
first of our twelve monthly visits to Victoria Park. This was
followed by a walk in Shipley Country Park
whilst a Parkrun event was being held and we finished the month
of January with a two part exploration of Wollaton Village. This
marked a change from our usual visits to Wollaton as we didn't
walk in the Deer Park this time.
Our Victoria Park visits usually occurred at the beginning of
each month and in February a deceptively spring-like day meant
that our visit coincided with groups of children being led through
the park. The following week spring was even more apparent around
the town and there were many more signs of The Changing Season.
Expecting a colourful display the following week, we headed to
Bramcote but if I'm honest, even though snowdrops were flowering
and daffodils were starting to open, it was not as colourful
as I had anticipated Around The Walled Garden.
One abiding memory of 2024 is the weather and in February we'd
certainly Had
Some Rain when we took a walk along
the Erewash Canal towpath. Towards the end of the walk we were
forced to divert around a large puddle and later in the year
we had to abort another walk at Pewit Carr due to a flooded path.
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In March we were back at Shipley as the snowdrops
were coming to an end and daffodils were starting to bloom but
we also noticed tree casualties of the winter storms. Dull and
wet weather continued but the following weekend brought a bright
spell and Spring
was (well and truly) Springing in Ilkeston.
The changeable weather persisted throughout the rest of March
and although a walk through the Rutland Sports Park allowed me
to reminisce with some Memories of the Rec,
we had to dodge some early April showers at the Good Friday Walk
of Witness at the end of the month.
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Easter Sunday was at the beginning of April but it was later
in the month that the Archbishop of Canterbury visited Ilkeston
and prayed with the community outside St Mary's Church during
his tour of Derbyshire. Our website updates during April though
included a walk in Marlpool as a Prelude To Lunch, a
selection of flower
photos from our garden and the first
part of a Walking For Health route titled Cotmanhay Loop.
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May saw us complete the Cotmanhay Loop at which time there was
a lot of disquiet voiced on social media about the state of the
town's parks and gardens. To many people the Council's Green
Policy combined with No Mow May, as seen above on Wash Meadow
(Johnny's) at the end of the Health Walk, had not met with universal
approval. This was further evidenced a week later on Old Park. We ended the month with a Walk Through History
at Cossall Village which was uploaded at the beginning of June.
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It was reported that May was the warmest on record and there
was also a lot of rain. It was One Fine Day in June
though, when we took our regular walk through Victoria Park (link
to index for this series), that
the warm and wet weather, coupled with the removal of the flower
beds and the No Mow policy (which extended far beyond the month
of May well into autumn), that brought the social media criticism
to a crescendo. For the rest of June we escaped the controversy
at a Folk
Day event at the Erewash Museum, explored
Smalley
Village and were finally able to say
Summer
is Here with another walk along the
Erewash Canal.
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In July we went on holiday and at the end of the month uploaded
photos from Paignton, the first two of what turned out to be
a nine part series that ended in November. Before that, there
were more photos from Victoria Park and also from the West
Hallam Well Dressing Festival.
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There were more festivals in August when a Spitfire paid A
Flying Visit to the Heritage and Classic
Vehicle Festival followed a week late by the Glow Music Festival,
both in the Market Place. Our holiday photos were from Brixham.
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There were more photos from Brixham and Paignton in September,
Paignton Zoo would come in October and two parts from Buckfast
Abbey (above) would conclude the English Riviera series
in November. September is also the month of the Autumn Footprints
Walking Festival. I didn't take part this year. A lack of funding
resulted in a reduced programme of walks at times and dates that
were inconvenient for me but I did take a retrospective look
at a route in Crich from 2019.
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October to any Ilkestonian means only one thing - the Annual
Charter Fair and 2024 marked its 772nd anniversary. There were
some Small
Changes to the Fair this time with
new rides and a slightly different layout of some of the rides.
There was also something else small with several fairgrounds
in a large display, a small portion of which is shown above,
in Malcs Models shop on Bath Street. By October of course, the
season had changed again and we ended the month with An Autumn Walk along the Manners Link footpath.
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If October is synonymous with the Fair, November is likewise
with Remembrance and we had A Week To Remember
at various locations in the town at special services with schoolchildren.
The culmination of the week was the main Remembrance Service
in the Market Place. This was the month of course that the holiday
photos reached a conclusion just in time for the start of the
Christmas season with The Switch On Event
when the town's Christmas lights were officially switched on.
And so to December where another dip into the archives resulted
in a retrospective look at Christmas Past with a photo from each year
from 2014 to 2023 inclusive. Having looked at the past, the following
week it was a selection from the 2024 for Christmas Present and then more new images
but with a focus on Christmas Traditions. That saw us through
December and here we are now looking to the future. We can make
plans for 2025 but what befalls us is still unknown as we stand
on the threshold of the new year. Let's hope that whatever happens
brings us all a peaceful, healthy and prosperous year and that
for all of us, it's a good one.
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