Guest Page No. 2

Home From Home - Ilkestonians Abroad
1 - Sierra Madre, USA

Roy's Home

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.
Old Hotel

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.
Lizzie's Cafe

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.
Wilderness

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.
Thanks for this insight into your home Roy.

2 - Dwesa, South Africa

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.

Coastline

Collecting Samples


3 - Metsovo, Greece 

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.
Metsovo 1
Metsovo 2
Metsovo 3
Metsovo 4
Metsovo 5