Street Life

Work in Beeston on the new tram route is progressing, so much so that they have now closed the high road in Chilwell for a year. The problem is that the road is one of the major routes into Beeston, so some serious re-routing has had to take place. This means that many of the minor roads around Beeston, have suddenly become major ones. Even our quiet road has become a 'rat-run'.

And of course this closure is very worrying for the traders along there. They are concerned that there will be no business for them, as people stay away. Although the pavements are accessible at the moment.

So a friend of mine called Matt, recently thought up the idea of having a street party, so locals could see that the road is still open to them and what local businesses were there.

There was quite a bit of entertainment on offer, including the traditional seaside Punch & Judy show.

The Punch and Judy man wore a very colourful jacket, which aptly was covered in Easter bunnies. There was also some street entertainment in the form of a juggling unicyclist. He tried to teach me to juggle, but I wasn't very good.

A local radio station; Capital FM, gave away lots of little Easter Eggs. I managed to get two, one of which was for Gail.

And of course there was music. A couple of bands and this delightful folk singer called Emma Bladen-Jones.  Who writes her own songs. She entered into last year's Notts Factor, and although she didn't win, it was a great opportunity to promote both herself and her songs.

All in all, it was a good day. Longterm, I hope it has helped to make everyone aware of the diversity of shops that are there, which include  several cafes, a great bike shop, tasty fish and chips and a good hairdressers. In fact you can just about buy anything you might need along there; including a tattoo.

Lying Down On The Job

Today is of course Wednesday and so it is time for the Headbanger Challenge.

It was postponed from last week as Stewart was away; although he posted, and I wasn't able to spare the time to participate, due to previous engagements. So we are doing it this week. I chose the theme and I went for advertising.

Promotional material is all around us, informing us of special offers, buy this, buy that. Some of it is very clever and artistic, whilst other material is stupid, poorly conceived and looks completely out of touch with the 21st century.
We all have our favourite TV adverts from when we were younger. Mine was the Cadbury Smash aliens. Creatures from a far distant planet telling us that making your own mashed potato was very primitive and the way forward was granules.

So what to show. The latest travel posters, buses carrying advertising or something a bit different. I tried to find two posters next to each other whose straplines go well together; such as "Eat chocolate every day" "Makes you run for the hills". That sort of thing.

Instead I've gone for a bit of self promotion. Well not me personally, but the wit and wisdom of the late Brian Clough. He was the manager of Nottingham Forest Football Club in the 1970s and early 80s, and saw them win various trophies every year. Unlike now as they languish in the first division. He was a bit of a character and this T Shirt is advertising his most famous quote. They are available from the tourist office which is under the Council House, should you wish to buy one. Mmm, I'm doing a bit of advertising for them now!

Do have a look at the gangs' pages and what they have found to show you. And do enjoy this bit of music which was used on an old British Airways advert.

Gail and I went to a street party close to where we live on Monday. It was great to be invited, as it was on a street that we don't really use that much. We were made welcome and chatted to perfect strangers for a few hours. We both took our cameras to record the adventure. Here's a shot of Gail lying on the ground, so she could get a better shot of an impromptu band that were playing to us all. One of the members is our neighbour, who owns the old yellow Citroen van that I showed you all a year or so ago.

Happy And Glorious

Well today has been quite busy, as this morning I went to Wollaton Park to see a motor show including classic cars. I didn't stay long as there were a lot less vehicles on display as there has been in the past. Possibly due to the jubilee, or the terrible weather yesterday. Anyway, I promised Gail that when I came back, I would help her move some furniture in the house. I had just taken my coat and shoes off when she said that she could hear some music outside and remembered that there was a street party going on in the next road. She said that we ought to go round and say hello. So while Gail was getting ready, I found a couple of bottles of wine, a tube of crisps and some biscuits that we could take as our contribution.

So we had a walk round and saw a couple of our neighbours and then got chatting to some others. We were there quite a long time, and have hopefully made some new friends. One of the neighbours is interested in 1/43 scale model trains, and has a track in his garden, together with a very detailed layout in his shed. So we had a good chat to him and is wife.

When it was getting dusk we took a drive to Bramcote, where they were going to light a beacon for Her Majesty. One of many that were being lit as part of the jubilee celebrations. There were a lot of fireworks too. The beacon was actually a very big bonfire, rather than the classical idea of a metal container on the top of a high pole. Still it did look very effective, as my photo shows.