Collision Course

Sadly two people were hurt this morning when they were hit by a bus outside the Victoria Centre.

Lower Parliament Street was closed from 11am until mid afternoon, as police had cordoned off the area while they investigated as to how the accident had happened.

It is a very busy junction, although it is mainly buses and taxis that can use the roads around there now, as cars have been banned from the area, and are diverted away from this part of town. Sometimes though, people who want to cross the road, don't always wait for the 'green man' to appear, and make a run for it.

News updates haven't reported how the to people are, but I don't think their injuries are life threatening. I'm sure everyone wishes them a speedy recovery.

The Blue Period

A few days ago I popped a photo on on the building site that where the fire station in Beeston once stood. It showed the Star Inn in the background. This photo, taken from outside the Star and shows the opposite view.

£3.50

This multi-storey car park close to the Broadmarsh shopping centre, used to be known as the Arndale car park, but it has recently been rebranded as the Maid Marian Car Park, with some new singe & a lick of paint at the entrance.

£3.50 is actually quite cheap for all day parking in the city centre, and actually 10p cheeper than getting the bus. Although of course you have to take into account petrol and running costs, and of course the amount of time wasted in traffic jams.

Pick Up Truck

Oh dear, one unlucky motorist is going to be in for an expensive shock when they come back and see that their car has disappeared, as they will have to pay a release fee of £105, plus any penalty charges incurred.

Quite a few people had stopped to watch the event, and a small group of youths were sharing a joke between themselves; probable at the misfortune of the driver.

The car had been removed from the disabled parking bay, but I couldn't see if there was a Blue Badge on the dashboard. If there was, then I think it was a bit mean of the traffic wardens, but if there wasn't, then it's a fair cop, as non disabled drivers shouldn't park in such places.

Red And White & Not Going Anywhere

A new development today in the long running saga of the tram works in Beeston.  The contractors turned a roundabout into a T junction. This has meant chaos, as two or three lanes on each of the three roads that meet the roundabout have been turned into one, and is now controlled by traffic lights.

Traffic has been slow for most of the day, and local people have been putting messages on Facebook and Twitter about how long it has been taking them to get from A to B, or even how long they have sat stationary in traffic. When we drove out of the university, the Royal Mail truck was about where the bus is. So it took the truck driver about five minutes to where he is there.

I don't know how long these restrictions are going to be in place, but from what I've seen this afternoon,   I wouldn't like to be a motorist during the rush hour on Monday, as it's bad enough already, so who knows what it's going to be like next week.

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.

Snow Joke

Well it happened again. Snow was predicted, and indeed fell during the afternoon.

I was on half a days leave, and was cycling home when the real flakes began to fall. The wind was blowing strongly too, so my face was being stung by the flakes.

The ground was becoming white quite quickly, and so by the time that I had reached Highfields, it was beginning to look a bit like Switzerland.

As it was all fresh snow, there weren't that many footprints about, so I stopped off and took a few photos of the different scenes.

I don't know whether it was just the snow, or some knock-on effects, but it took Gail and I the best part of two hours to drive into the city centre for a photoshoot, whereas, it normally only takes about 15-20 minutes.

All the roads were gridlocked. Nothing was moving. In fact it took us the best part of half an hour to drive along the road next to Highfields. Something we can usually do in about five minutes.

Letting Off A Little Steam

I was planning to spin one of my fantastical yarns about these two photographs. Of how a team of Nottingham University scientists have discovered a way into the centre of the Earth and that molten lava is slowly seeping to the surface. But I don't think you'd fall for it, right!

So the truth is that one of the main roads into the city centre is presently closed to traffic whilst repairs are being undertaken to mend the pipes that pump steam to buildings connected to the district heating scheme. Reality is a bit boring eh.

Sunny Skyline

Well surprise, surprise, we had some sun today. It was colder than yesterday, but a lot brighter.

As there didn't seem to be anything happening in the city centre, I decided to go to the top of one of the many multi-storey car parks to see what the city's skyline looked like on this bright winter's day.

I chose the one near the castle, as it is the one closest to where I work.

I went in the lift, to the top floor. It was empty except for one van that had a fair few bird poos on it.

The shot above shows towards the east of the city and out into the farmland around Ruddington. While below is the castle and grounds. Half in sun, half in shadow.

Midnight Madness

Whilst we were in Birmingham, we stayed at one of the many large hotels along Broad Street. It is probably one of the busiest roads in the city centre. I took this shot at around midnight on the Saturday night. It just looks like rush hour traffic.

A Bridge Too Far

At the moment, the bridge on Carrington Street outside the railway station is being reinforced with lots of steel and concrete. The work is causing a fair amount of congestion for the traffic going over it. I took this photo while they were pumping concrete over the steel gridwork.

Baby, I Can't Drive My Car

Whilst walking over the bridge from the Victoria Centre, I spied this scene of these policemen who'd stopped this young motorist. There was obviously something wrong with his vehicle. But what? The tyres, the bodywork? Whatever it was they were causing some congestion down Lower Parliament Street.