It's All Rideable

The first day of the month and so it's Theme Day in the world of City Daily Photos.

Since the theme of "bicycles" was announced, I have been looking to see if I could find an old fashioned, classic bike, after all Nottingham is the home of Raleigh Bicycles.

Sorry to say that I haven't, so I went for a rummage in my archive and came across this scene from a blue plaque unveiling in memory of a local cycling legend called Sid Standard.

Sid owned a cycle shop in Beeston and was also a member of the local cycling club.  He sadly died 12 years ago, on a cycling trip in Derbyshire. So to honour his memory, a blue plaque has been put up on the side of his shop, which is still a cycle shop in September last year.

For the classic bike spotter, you can see a Raleigh Chopper in the left hand window, next to the former mayor of Broxtowe Stan Heptinstall.

The Guitar Gently Rides

How's this for a fancy guitar? I don't know what it sounds like when played, but it certainly is a showstopper.

It's probably the most colourful acoustic guitar that I have ever seen. I wonder why the designer decided on a cowboy theme. Maybe he's watched too many Clint Eastwood films.

Lighting Up

Some of the Christmas lights along Chilwell High Road.

Simple fairy lights emitting a gentle blue hue. Very Christmassy I think.

The Wonder Of Christmas

To boost trade for the shopkeepers and to remind people that the shops on Chilwell High Road still exist, the Beeston BID team put on a promotional evening tonight to attract people to the area.

Due to the ongoing tramworks, which has seen the road practically cut off from the rest of Beeston, the shops seem to have been neglected, and although the owners have received some compensation for loss of trade, it doesn't seem to have helped much.

I popped along to show some support and of course take some photos for the Beeston Bid team. There was some music in the shape of the ever ear pleasing Emma Bladen-Jones, a young blues singer and guitarist Joe Barber and another local musician called Jeanie Barton, who is a jazz singer. I knew her when she was a child, as I used to belong to the drama group that her parents ran.

There was also a hot chestnut seller and a hola hoop dancer who used hoops that lit up. They had also attached a snow machine to the stage which attracted these two boys to play with it. Oh I bet they wish it was real!