Guest Page No. 2
Home From Home - Ilkestonians Abroad
1 - Sierra Madre, USA
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I was born in Ilkeston and have lived here all my life.
I have never felt the urge to uproot and move abroad but there
are many Ilkestonians who have done just that. Roy Gregory is
one such person and now lives with his Nicaraguan born wife Carlota,
in this house (above) in Sierra Madre in the USA.
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Roy took this series of four images including the old hotel (above)
where Wyatt Earp lived, with an Olympus digital camera. Roy says
that the town is an exclusive little crime free place of 11,000
inhabitants at the NE end of Pasadena situated at the base of
the San Gabriel mountain range.
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Wyatt Earp not only retired (and died with his boots off)
in Sierra Madre living in the old hotel but he used to hang around
Lizzie's cafe (above). Sierra Madre also marks the start of the
Benjamin Wilson Trail through the mountains and in the late 1800's
it was a vacation place for businessmen to exile their families
to during the summer months.
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At the rear of Roy's house, the garden contains many flowers
and there are over twenty sub tropical fruit trees. From there,
the wilderness is within touching distance although hidden in
the clump of trees is a 550 acre Monastery. Every night the peace
and quiet of the Monastery is shattered by coyotes making a blood
curdling racket in the field just beyond.
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Thanks for this insight into your home Roy.
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2 - Dwesa, South Africa
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Peter Roberts is studying for his masters degree
in the Dwesa Nature Reserve on the East Coast of South Africa.
He is working on a research project studying genets which are
cat-like members of the mongoose family with long spotty bodies
and equally long black and white banded tails. He will be there
until the end of the British summer 2004 and it's true to say
he's feeling a little homesick at present (Nov 03). That didn't
prevent him from sending me a couple of photos of his temporary
"home from home". The one below left is a view of the
coastline in Dwesa and was taken at the end of September which,
being in the southern hemisphere, was during the spring. The
other photo shows Peter collecting samples from a genet latrine
site as part of his research - thanks for sharing that Peter,
I suppose someone has to do it. Peter adds that the rock is three
metres from the beach and it was a windy as it looks. I suppose
the compensation is that it is now summer with daily temperatures
of 25-30 degrees.
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3 - Metsovo, Greece
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This third set of images from an Ilkestonian living
abroad has been submitted by Jayne Sidiropoulou. Jayne was born
and bred in Ilkeston but for the last fifteen years has been
living in Greece. If the name Sidiropoulou is unfamiliar to Jayne's
friends from her time in the town, they may be more familiar
with her maiden name of Mee. Her parents still live on Brook
Street, her mother having lived there for sixty years and photos
of Jayne's childhood haunts around Gallows Inn can be found elsewhere
on this site.
These pictures which Jayne took in November 2003 are from Metsovo,
Ipirus Greece. It's a mountain village, which Jayne tells me
is also a ski resort during the cold winter months! It is about
a three hour drive from Preveza where Jayne now lives. She also
advises that Greeks think nothing of travelling three hours just
for a coffee! Now that's what I call dedication.
Jayne and her children are now looking forward to
their next holiday and where do you think that will be? Why Ilkeston
of course. I've already requested that they bring some of that
Greek sunshine with them.
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