Ilkeston - First Signs
w/e 23 February 2025
All of this week's pictures were taken with a Nikon D3300
A few days of milder weather,
a glimpse of the sun and the first signs of spring must have
made everyone feel a lot brighter and more optimistic but it
will soon be summer and we'll be complaining that it's too hot!.
Anyone passing Victoria Park this week must surely have witnessed
the emergence of the crocuses. The yellow ones are always the
first to appear each year.
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There's an even better display at the side of Cantelupe Road
opposite Park Cemetery and purple and white crocuses are also
starting to appear.
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It's not only spring flowers but there are buds on the trees
too.
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Most of what I know about trees I learned from the internet and
the treeguideuk.co.uk website tells me that "catkins are formed
in spring, grow upright through the summer and then hang down
through the winter until they shed pollen in February/March."
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It was the famous poet William Wordsworth who, in his poem "To
A Snowdrop", labelled the flowers venturous harbingers of
spring but I wonder how many people visiting the Saturday market
noticed these in the Memorial Garden at the side of St Mary's
Church.
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Even less would have seen this clump behind the Cantelupe Centre
but they all foretold of brighter days to come.
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Many years ago before the Cantelupe Centre was built, pupils
from the former Hallcroft Schools would walk up the now unused
path for services in St Mary's. I was among them but I don't
remember seeing snowdrops back then. Now however there are clumps
all over the churchyard but the headstones have all been moved
in this section to line the surrounding walls.
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Also in the churchyard are more spring flowers including crocuses
(those yellow ones again), primulas with green shooting daffodils
that will soon be ready to open with their yellow blooms.
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The corner of the churchyard overlooking the Lower Market Place
is again covered with snowdrops between the memorial plaques,
headstones and cut flowers.
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And in a sheltered position at the side of the church some of
the daffodils are already bursting their buds to add a little
more colour on the grassy bank.
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