Heanor Tesco Extending?

I’ve had a look at Tesco’s plans at AVBC, I don’t know why because it’s nothing to do with me – yes I do, people keep asking me about them – “You didn’t tell me about Tesco, I had to wait for so and so to tell me, moan, whinge, moan.”

They seem to think that I’m the ‘fount of all knowledge’ when really I’ve just become nosy in the past year. It’s probably age related because up until recently I was the least nosy person I knew.

Anyway, after waking several times in the night in a sweat, thinking ‘I must blog about Heanor Tesco’ and then puzzling as to why - it was actually because quite early on in the night I dreamt that Tesco was trying to shut me up??? and I had to go into hiding [I was sat under a hedge in a very muddy field], because they didn’t want Asda to know they were extending - hmm, yes, well? I do have some stupid dreams [in colour] in which I always, ahem, take the leading role where I'm often deluded and full of self-importance. But I can’t help what I dream about can I?

When I woke up properly this morning, yawn - instead of the half-awake stupor caused by PMB Pallet Express waking me frequently from my dreams - I knew that if I knew on 26th November about Heanor Tesco putting in plans to extend, then Asda probably knew well before me, and anyway - I don't have a hotline to Asda.

Right, to the job in hand - you know, this is getting to be a lot like work and the pay is awful -

Heanor Tesco’s plans.

It looks like if they get permission that it’ll be approximately half as big again as it is now [35,858 sq ft - 53,355 sq ft], extending on the front up to their main road in the car park, there probably is a lot of wasted space at the store entrance as it is now. Then they’ll have to redo that immediate area of car park too, but they will lose some car parking spaces.

The petrol station will be going, presumably so that they'll be able to say that as there will be no people going in for petrol, this will counterbalance their expected extra retail customers and so appease the highways agency - cunning.

I can’t imagine how they’ll do it without a lot of disruption as it involves the store entrance - unless they make a temporary one first. Either that or shut up shop and do a marathon build - either way, this must be done before Asda opens in Langley Mill as customers are very fickle.

It was ok when Eastwood Morrisons extended - done at a leisurely pace when the earliest ‘Asda in Langley Mill’ rumours started [probably a coincidence] - because the extension there caused no more inconvenience than going in and out of the car park a different way.

Apart from anything else I don’t really care what Tesco do, it’s not like I’m going to go against all my principles and start shopping there is it? I will be having similar problems with my principles when it comes to shopping in Asda, but that’s all in an as yet unpublished post …

Christmas Shopping - My Way

I used to love Christmas shopping, all done in the week before Christmas - the hustle and bustle, the lights and Victorian markets, everyone willing to stop and chat to one another. The smell of the crisp cold air, the early dusk and thoughts of getting back to a warm, cheerful, tinselly and twinkly home on a crowded but happy bus with 18 carrier bags - of CRAP.

What a chuffing nightmare it was to become. For the last ten years or so, the shops have been ready for Christmas by mid-August and we're made to feel guilty if we haven't spent £1,389 on ‘designer’ presents by the end of September with another £2,652 by December to go on our credit cards to be paid in January!

As it is I’ve always had difficult people to buy for. A recent phone call to a parent:
‘Whaddya want for Christmas?’
‘Well, just draw us a couple thousand pounds out the bank and wrap it up, that’ll do.’
‘Yeah OK, and for a stocking filler?’
‘Well what do we want at our age? If we haven’t got it now, it’s too late to bother … whinge, whinge, whinge.’

I could ask my brother in law what he wanted, the reply would always be - ‘a new lens for my camera’. Seeing as I’d need to mortgage the house or take out mega life insurance on the grumpy old man and then hire a hitman just to be able to afford this little luxury, it’s never going to happen.

Since I’m now all grown up and I’ve turned more Scroogified, I hit on an interesting if slightly mean idea - lets buy our own presents, wrap them up and feign delighted - ‘Ooh, how did you know? It's just what I wanted’ - surprise, when we open them Christmas morning. And we can spend as much or as little as we want.

My sister instantly took to the idea - I’m assuming that this is because she’s always thought my gift buying was naff.

My niece saw the advantages straight away as she knew what she wanted and had the right people in the right places for the staff discounts that suited her.

My nephew, bless him didn’t quite get it - at first ...
‘Does this mean that if I get the trainers that I want for £?? that my favourite aunt will give me the money?’ My sister explained to him that no exchange of money was involved but he would henceforth be relieved of trying to buy ‘favourite aunty and uncle presents’ - he got it.

This works very much to my advantage as the GOM never wants anything - and who am I to go against his wishes? On the other hand I want lots of things - being ever so slightly greedy and liking all things that sparkle.

Therefore, half our pile of presents have his name on the tags - only fair - but they’re nearly all for me. Last year I decided to go back to an old hobby of wine making as I still had most of the equipment, the GOM was pleased to receive a wine making kit and 6 empty wine bottles ‘from’ my nephew. Now do you get it?

My sister is always more than generous, buying me exactly what I want by this method. The GOM moans each year that ‘Surely she wouldn’t spend that much on you’. My reply is always ‘Oh yes she would, I’m her favourite sister and she works in a bank!’
Ditto for my niece [just a different bank].

This method of Christmas shopping doesn’t entirely apply to my presents from the GOM. Apart from my main present - which of course I choose for myself - I require at least 6 surprises. Hmm, unfortunately they always turn out to be the same:

1. Southern Comfort
2. Terry’s Chocolate Orange
3. Bar of Wholenut Chocolate
4. Box of Celebrations
5. Whatever is left over for emergency presents
6. same as number 5 but in a different colour
   

He wraps them all mysteriously to disguise the shape and size of them. More than once I’ve unwrapped a large and intriguingly heavy parcel [left until last - ooh, the excitement!] that I’ve been poking and shaking for days - only to find that it’s something from the above list in a big box with a brick in the bottom.

The most disturbing thing is though - I fall for it each and every year.

But this is infinitely better than one of our first Christmas’s together, I'd been ‘admiring’ his collection of Beswick horses one day - not really, we were at that stage in our relationship where you ooh and ahh over everything, so I was just being polite - I commented that they were all brown horses and I prefer grey.

This was a stupid thing for me to do! Out of all the things I said I'd like as a Christmas surprise, he remembered this obscure - and nothing at all to do with Christmas - conversation!

Oh yes! He bought me a grey Beswick horse, I advised him - nicely - not to do any of this kind of thinking for himself again ...

Sexism by M&S at Christmas?

I don’t as a rule notice adverts on TV - and if you were paying attention last year, you’d know this already - mainly because as soon as the adverts come on, I turn the sound off and don't bother looking up for the next five minutes - this is fairly easy for me as I'm usually multi-tasking.

But when I read that people had complained about Philip Glenister [yum] being sexist and demeaning to women in the latest Marks & Spencer advert I thought I’d better have a look. I mean to say, Philip Glenister - aka Gene Hunt - sexist? never.

Hmm, I wonder - this bit of extra FREE advertising must be working well for Marks & Sparks if they’ve gotten through to people like me who mostly ignore advertising!

... Ooooh yes, he is being sexist - but as far as I can tell they’re just playing loosely on his ‘Life On Mars’ character - very naughty but so tongue in cheek that I’d hardly call it demeaning, it’s just fun and there are a lot worse adverts to complain about.

I decided to question the grumpy old man as I know he’s not opposed to the odd bit of bare flesh on the telly.

‘Oi! watch this advert and tell me what you think at the end’ ...

‘Very nice.’

‘Not demeaning to women then?’

‘Erm?’

Hmm, long words are not his strong point - ‘I mean, do you think that last bit was likely to offend women, as the remark he made “Oh, come on, it's Christmas - that girl prancing around in her underwear.” might be sexist?’

‘Oh no.’

Hang on a minute, he’s looking flustered, he must have thought he was under interrogation here.

‘So ... you like watching young women prancing around in their underwear then?’

‘What?’

Now this is a ploy he’s honed to perfection - asking me to repeat the question to give him longer to think of the correct answer; being slightly deaf, he mostly gets away with it.

I repeated the question.

‘Well yes.’ He said. And with only the slightest of pauses -

‘But only because I'm imagining that it’s you in the underwear.’

He's good isn't he?

It earned him a few brownie points just for his sheer inventiveness and quick thinking.

And I do love to watch him squirm …

Heanor Haulage Puts in Offer for Land.

Heanor Haulage has put in an offer of £7,500 for the 291 square metres of land that they want on Queen Street Recreation Ground to extend their open storage space and renew their boundary line - baffling to say the least as they've just had an application passed to build houses on their own adjacent land.

They've been extremely busy this morning working behind us - I still think they are far too close to our properties for comfort.

Excursion to Ripley

Some sad - and shall we keep them nameless - individuals seem to be more interested in ‘before the event’ - namely the Planning board meeting to discuss the Asda proposals - it really wasn’t that funny, but I bow to the demands of my mini-fan club [all one of them] …

We set off down Bridge Street at 4.40 in a fairly leisurely fashion, I always leave early as I hate to keep people waiting - we boarded the coach which was waiting to take us to Ripley. I spoke to a few people I knew and sat down.

“Oh no! I’ve forgotten my phone.”

“I’ve not got mine either.” was the grumpy old man’s reply.

“Well that’s just irresponsible of you, letting me come without it. How am I supposed to cruise t’interweb, twitter and text? … I’ll have to go back for it”.

The time was 4.46.

“Back in five minutes” I shouted to the bus driver who was stood on the pavement.

“OK, no problem.” - the driver was very nice, it turned out that he lived on North Street, just over t'bridge.

I started an unrealistic jog up Bridge Street before realising that I’d never make it there and back without oxygen, so slowed down to a speed walker’s pace with the customary wiggle of the bum and pistoning arms - not elegant but effective.

The MWg zinc ii was in the living room on the sofa. Hmm, I must have left it there while I put my coat on. I grabbed it and put it in my pocket. “Ahh that’s better” I thought, I’m used to the weight and bulk of it in my left jeans pocket which is why as soon as I sat down I knew it was missing.

I dashed back out, treading on next door’s cat at the back door - he’d been in for a snack. I carried on puffing and panting until I was half way down the street - this was me still recovering from my marathon going up.

Ok, deep breaths - in … and out … in … and out. Great, at last, now I’ve got my breathing under control - there was no way I was letting that lot know how unfit I was.

I put on my most serene, nonchalant ‘look at me, I’m not a bit out of breath’ expression as I arrived back at the coach for the second time, only to spoil it all by collapsing in a heap on the front seat and saying to anyone who could hear my strangled gasp “Who’s stupid bloody idea was it to live at the top of the street?” and “It’s a good job we’re not sat at the back, I’d never have made it that far.”

The time was 4.52 - wow, I’m good! Knackered and rather warm - but good.

Most of the Asda crew boarded, checked we were all there – we weren’t but we were going to leave at 5.00pm no matter what to make sure we got the seats in the public gallery and if there were too many of us the Asda people would stand. Very decent of them but where was my cuppa? you'd have thought that they'd have dished out tea and biscuits to their supporters [or oxygen in my case]. Oh, that's just when you give blood is it? - I see.

This is when we got our new ‘YES to ASDA Langley Mill leaflets, I confessed that I’d lost mine - where? - in the scanner, is it? Ooh yes … so it is.

“No worry’s, we’ve had loads printed. Thanks for coming along and for all your support”. This was from Mr Tom Asda McGarry, the first time I think I’ve seen him [I may be completely wrong as I'm hopeless with faces]. I was expecting someone older, he was about fifteen or so, in fact, as I looked at them, I noticed that they’re all teenagers - OH BUGGER! It’s not them that’s young is it? It’s me that’s old!

Off we went.

The junction of Cromford Road and Station Road - tut tut, who should want to come around the corner? A Tesco delivery van!

“Hiss, boo!” I waved my ‘YES to ASDA Langley Mill’ leaflet at the van.

Codnor - I repeated the exercise at the Tesco Express there.

Ripley - yes you've guessed it - Sainsburys got it.

My excuse is that I don’t get out much, especially after dark, and I was confused by all the tinsel and the happy atmosphere on the coach. So - and this is quite obvious when you think about it - I must have reasoned that I was on my way to a pantomime …

Asda Gets Go Ahead for Langley Mill

Just a little note before we start - this is from my point of view, as I remember it. I wasn't taking the minutes or recording events so half of this post is probably complete hogwash - as I'm now at that stage in my life where I'm getting forgetful [was I even there?] and also, being of peasant stock - I don't always know what I'm talking about ...
We went along to the council planning meeting, I needn’t have worried about losing my ‘Yes to Asda in Langley Mill’ leaflet as plenty more were dished out on the coach.
The public gallery was full of Asda supporters, several people spoke [not me, I may be verbose with the keyboard but I'm very shy, honest] - all in favour of Asda. No-one was against it.

It was passed unanimously. We - from Langley Mill as a community - were even praised for going and saying what we wanted and looking on the positive side and ignoring the negatives - I don't think the councillors realised that we'd go anywhere on a free coach trip as we don't get out much. The atmosphere was great and there was cheering and applause from the public gallery when planning permission for Asda was granted.

The residential development took longer to discuss, it was pointed out that there were already plans in the pipeline for new houses and that the strain on the community shouldn’t be forgotten when looked at as a whole rather than just one application [or words to that effect].
The Primary Care Trust came under fire as they wanted £512.56 for each house built to go towards an extension of The Park Surgery in Heanor which will cost in the region of £350,000. It was made quite clear by one councillor that Langley Mill has enough residents for us to have our own health care without us having to travel to nearby towns. The PCT had denied this by conveniently using a 2001 census which showed that there were only some 4000 odd residents and that there was a doctors surgery on the border of Heanor and Langley Mill.
The upshot is that Asda will ensure the promised money to the PCT will remain on the table for ten years rather than five [where if it isn’t used it can be claimed back - er, I think]. One councillor [not on the planning board] needed this explaining to him – of course we understood straight away the implications [hmm] - that hopefully we would get our own health care facilities built in Langley Mill within this time-span. It will be interesting to see the outcome of this.

Access to the residential development was discussed briefly and was pointed out that it will be a terrible loss to the neighbourly spirit that we have on our street with us being a dead end with no through traffic. The children can now play on the street without fear and are watched over by us all, but this will change if we become the access to the new houses. Also there still remains the difficulties of an extra 70 plus cars using our road with the current car parking situation. This will be gone into more thoroughly at a later date with our local council, as this is now the only major niggle we on Bridge Street have.
I heard something odd this morning - that Heanor Haulage's crap was moving to Bowmer & Kirkland - where the first Asda in Langley Mill rumours originated from over 18 months ago. I suppose it could just be a temporary arrangement for HH.

Or maybe ... it's just the start of more rumours. Great! I love rumours - they keep me happily blogging for hours you know ...

Yes to Asda in Langley Mill :)

The council passed the proposals from Asda and Heanor Haulage tonight - for both the store and the residential development.

Lovely, here's to our future of living on a building site - at least temporarily - as opposed to living in a scrap yard.

I'll probably - depending on how much time I have - write in more detail [yawn] tomorrow ...

Footpath 53 - And A tiny Bit of Gloating

I’ve read the AVBC documents on Asda’s proposals - yawn, it took two sessions to plough my way through them both. I'd have written this sooner but I've been hampered by too many distractions [work, Christmas shopping, cat trying to help me type].

There are lots of conditions to be met for permission to be granted - hmmm. Anyway, here’s my potted - and no doubt biased - version for those of you who can’t be bothered with the official stuff:-

Pros

1. Heanor Haulage is a dump and will be revamped.
2. There will be much needed jobs on offer within the area.
3. The junction at Station Road and Cromford Road will be improved.
4. Derelict and unsightly buildings will be removed.
5. Contamination will [hopefully] be cleaned up
6. Heanor Haulage will be able to continue with their operations. [not in my list of pro’s but I'm trying to be nice]
7. Section 106 money to be spent locally, including £65,000 on Pottery Lane. ‘A total of £167,000 for the physical, social and economic regeneration of Langley Mill.’
   
8. Wildlife will be encouraged to flourish in certain areas.
9. Positive economic, social and regeneration benefits for Langley Mill.
10. New houses to meet the demands of housing requirements in Amber Valley, ‘Although Langley Mill is not identified in the Regional plan as one of the main locations for new housing growth’ - interesting, so why do they keep trying on Cromford Road?

Cons

1. Traffic problems.
2. A threat to Heanor’s existing trade.
3. The proposed Asda is too big for a village setting.
4. Heanor Haulage will be staying - oops sorry.
5. Flood risks.
6. Disruption to residents.
7. Not safe for pedestrians going from Asda to the Acorn Centre with HGV's using the link road.
8. Langley Mill and Aldercar has already had a significant increase in housing without any health provision.
9. Extra noise for residents near the proposed roundabout.
   
10. Because of coal mining in the past, the fronts of our houses may indeed drop off - as I suspected and mentioned earlier - big pyjamas will be worn. Not only that, we may be blown up or gassed.

Apart from all that - and there’s bound to be lots more that I haven’t listed - there’s the problem of ‘public right of way footpath 53’, the section that runs from Bridge Street through HH’s roof to the railway bridge, why anyone cares about this bit is a mystery to me - but ‘rules is rules’. So before anything can be done at all, permission has to be sought - from the correct department - as the footpath can’t be diverted or obstructed ‘from its legal alignment during or after completion of the development.’ Therefore ‘a legal order may required to facilitate the proposals.’ [Asda - I can blow it up if you require - well I can jump up and down on it a few times to the same effect, it's very wobbly - just give me the nod - they’ll never know who dunnit].

Hmm, so why did Heanor Haulage try to close it several years ago? We even ended up on the telly with a petition - well a survey to prove it was used - to stop them from closing it. What a load of rubbish! … They were just trying it on weren’t they?

Apparently, the ‘unrestricted Heanor Haulage operations have resulted in a long history of complaints since their arrival in May 1996. The use of the site does create unacceptable environmental problems.’ If they knew this to be true, why haven't they stopped them? It looks like there’s been a lot more than us phoning up, it's a pity we didn’t know and all get together to compare notes.

Contaminants on the Heanor Haulage site include - ‘Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon (PAH), aromatic Total Petroleum Hydrocarbon (TPH) compounds, mercury and Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylenes (BTEX) compounds’ - lovely. It has been recommended that gas monitoring be continued due to the presence of carbon monoxide being discovered on the site.

Oh dear, oh dear, Mr HH must be spitting feathers - they’ve got to be relatively quiet and a lot more environmentally friendly, they can only work between 0800 - 1800 Mondays to Saturdays, that includes deliveries and despatches etc. Ha ha ha ha ha, not only that ‘all vehicle maintenance and repair work shall be conducted within the workshop and not in the open air. All external doors and windows opening directly into the workshop shall be closed other than for the duration of vehicle access/egress’. ‘ No solvent based spray-paints shall be used outdoors on the site’. Is that clear enough for you Mr HH?!

There may be archaeological work done because of the industrial archaeological interest in the ‘Vulcan Works’ - above and below ground, also the back-to-back workers houses before building commences, that should be interesting to the historical society. The local schoolchildren visit the top of Bridge Street every summer to look at the old building there and the workers houses.

Work has to be completed in three phases

1. Heanor Haulage office and Depot.
2. Asda Foodstore, retail units and petrol filling station.
3. Residential Development.

This is all assuming that both proposals are passed, each phase has to be completed before the next one begins. I hope that there'll be a temporary Post Office sorted out as a lot of people rely on the one at Langley Mill, I can't see anywhere that this is covered, but I could have missed it.

The bugbear for Bridge Street remains with the access to the new houses once they are built, we agree Dean Street is too narrow, but even though there is only housing on one side of Bridge Street, there are still parked cars on both sides for most of its length. If there weren’t, a small boy wouldn’t have run out into the road a quarter way up the street and hit our car with his his head [it was that way around, we have the dint to prove it.] He was shaken but relatively unharmed, this is because the residents of Bridge Street are used to children playing in the road so drive slowly. There is no way in this world that the statement ‘2-way vehicle movement’ can apply to Bridge Street, it won’t happen as things stand, even with a car park at the top of the street.

There were representations made, most expressing support for Asda, I could see my suggestions amongst them so I wasn’t totally ignored - well not yet anyway.

The grumpy old man has been in touch with the Asda chap - seeing as they didn’t write to me - so we’re going on the coach [from the Bridge Centre at 5.00pm] to wave our ‘YES to Asda in Langley Mill’ leaflet [if I can find it] at the councillors next Monday - unless I’ve been arrested for threatening to blow up footpath 53 …

Heanor Haulage's Bonfire

We knew HH would be having a bonfire last night because it's the one night of the year that we can all get away with burning rubbish. But this morning they're still adding to it, which means I'm suffocating because we can't have any windows open and I hate them shut.


They are sneaky little buggers though, not only did they burn wood, but plastic and cable - the remains of which they dragged out earlier this morning before stoking it up a bit more. I text my friend and neighbour to make sure that she knew that HH was blowing smoke all over her washing.



It'll be interesting to see if the tyres in the background of the last photo will still be there later - I think they will be actually - I'm just being mean. Tut, tut, do you think perhaps that I don't entirely trust Heanor Haulage not to pollute my atmosphere ...


Little update - the tyres aren't there now but they were taken away with the stuff that didn't burn - after the fire was stoked up a bit more at 11.40am.

I'm off out with the GOM now for a few more birthday celebrations ;) ...

Hints of Beige and Beyond

You'll be pleased to know - as was I, that even though I have [had, HAD!] this bizarre urge to buy beige, I rarely wear it - this was pointed out to me by my crumbliest yet trendiest friend and yes, I do indeed have a cupboard full of the stuff but at least half still has the price tag on even though they’d been gathering dust for several years. Time to fill a charity bag I think; to de-beige my wardrobe.

The comfy cords I only wear to work in, as I don’t mind them turning pink in places [dye that gets everywhere but washes out]. And the other odd bits of beige that does get worn is always to complement a bright colour, usually orange, as this is my new favourite colour [my recently painted bathroom is proof of this].

I thought the beige thing was a bit odd as I’m well known for my bright colours, much to my younger sister’s disgust - she wears a lot of autumn colours and paints everything in varying shades of cream [beige]. Whereas a visit here for her means that she needs to wear dark glasses and it makes her teeth itch.

My new theory on the beige factor is that when we reach a certain age, the ‘mean-gene’ kicks in, telling us to stop being frivolous and to buy clothes that will match anything - ergo - beige.

This is almost - but not quite - a relief, because it still means I’ve reached a ‘certain age’. At least now it means that I can sing out loud to muzak when I’m shopping and not worry about what people think. I remember cringing with embarrassment while out shopping with ladies of a ‘certain age’ - I was in my thirties then - they not only sang but danced too, Oh dear I’m blushing now at the very thought.

Tomorrow is my big day. I think, according to one set of rules that I’m supposed to start acting sensible - well as far as I’m concerned; I covered that with my ‘beige blip’ so now I should be free to carry on in my own doolally way …

Update from Asda - Langley Mill

The grumpy old man received what can only be described - well by me, in my current mood - as a begging letter from Asda this morning.

Apparently Amber Valley Borough Council are expected to make a decision on the ‘Asda planning application’ on Monday 16th November - aha, that's why someone googled yesterday with the phrase ‘asda get go ahead langley mill’. They were checking to see if I knew when it would be.
There, my very best Miss Marple impression again - it's quite worrying when someone else visits with a ‘.gov.uk’ in the host name though - paranoia, don't you just love it!?

‘Public support, like your own, could be a crucial factor in the Asda scheme being granted planning consent.’

They also harbour bizarre notions that we might be ‘interested in speaking on the night in support of the Asda application.’ - as - ‘ supportive speeches can be extremely effective’.

They’re looking into arranging free coaches to take us to the council offices in Ripley so we can waft our ‘attached’ [I think they meant enclosed] ‘YES to Asda Langley Mill’ leaflet.

If you’re at all wondering about my mood - oh, you weren’t - it’s because Asda never write to ME!

OK, moaning aside now - why does Asda think they need any support? The only objections I can envisage will come from Tesco and Morrisons for purely non-altruistic reasons.
Other than that, the only serious consideration has to be traffic. Asda has pointed out in this most recent letter - not addressed to me - that NONE of their HGV’s will travel through the centre of Heanor - not that it'll matter much by then, because with the opening of Asda, Heanor will probably become a ‘ghost town’ - unless of course, you want to eat your takeaway at the bookies.

Nor is it ‘anticipated that Cromford Road will be used by Asda related traffic’ - I think they’re wrong on that one myself as there may be a lot of traffic from Codnor and even Loscoe using that route to shop at Asda.

But who am I to say? I’m not worth writing to even though they have always had my support - especially since they promised to shove the Heanor Haulage workshop a bit further away.

There were people at the top of Bridge Street earlier today taking photos of the eyesore that is the bridge steps and Heanor Haulage's deadly nightshade patch with razor wire - I wasn't being nosy either, I just happened to be nipping next door when I saw them. I can only imagine that was something to do with Asda or the council.

Hmm, Heanor Haulage, no-one seems to know anything more about them and the bit of recreation ground they want to spread on to - I’ll have to have a nosy day - I have had a little look on AVBC website and noticed that a decision on the Asda/HH residential development proposal is expected on the same day - but I've found nothing about that bit of land.

Note to self - the ‘we love Asda’ leaflet which clashes horribly with my blog background is still in the scanner, don't forget it ...

It’s A Beige Thing!

I was just doing the ironing - I’m one of the few people I know who doesn’t mind ironing, but then I never have a lot to do as there’s only two of us, plus I drift off into my own little world.

I noticed that three tops I ironed one after the other were all from Peacocks, ‘hmm’, I thought, ‘I’ve not bought anything from there in ages - and when did I last go to Next or New Look ... was it even this century?!’

Next up were a pair of cords from Bon Marche - YIKES!!! They’re beige, with comfy side elastication! When did this happen to me?

I stood there while my colour drained away [I went a bit of a beigy shade], mentally going through my wardrobe for items in beige:-

1. comfy cords
2. not so comfy, wedgie-bum jeans [I had been thinking of throwing these away]
3. 3 pairs cropped trousers
4. 2 pairs shorts
5. fleece
6. gilet
7. sleeveless top
   
8. short sleeved cardigan
   
9. a very long cardigan
10. sandals
11. trainers
12. shoes
    
13. 3 bags

They were the ones I could instantly bring to mind. When did this happen? Do our brains turn to mush at a certain age, telling us that we look good in beige?

And when did the transition from Peacocks to Bon Marche happen? Oh I say! I’ve even got a Bon Marche loyalty card. I'm just one small step away from shopping in the Marks and Spencers section of elasticated waist trousers in some crimpleny, polyester non-crease stuff in varying leg lengths.

It must be shopping with my crumbly friend that has aged me - yet she doesn’t wear beige and people comment on how elegant yet trendy she looks - that’s my influence on her I’ll have you know!

OH NO!! I dyed my hair yesterday - it’s beige.

Even worse - the grumpy old man has finally proposed to me and we’re getting engaged on my birthday [just an excuse for a ring]. I was cruising t’interweb for diamond rings after looking in all the jewellers at Skegness and rather a lot more in Nottingham, when ‘Champagne Diamonds’ caught my eye.

Yes, he’s bought me one - and hidden it away until the big day. It’s really, really lovely - but ‘Champagne’ is just another word for bloody BEIGE! …

Getting Beyond A Joke e.on

OK, I’ve had my tuppennyworth of amusement out of these holes, but what the wind hasn’t done; the local t**ts have finished off.

The barrier is completely down, a family trying to go up the bridge on their way to school has just had to struggle past as the barrier was still connected in places but lying all over the pavement, until one of them gave in and shoved it all back towards the hole.

It’s awful living here with all those bits of ammunition lying around, it’s bad enough at the best of times with some of the yobs that use the bridge, but last night I was sat listening to the morons. I didn't tell the slightly deaf GOM or he'd have gone out to tell them off. You daren’t show your face to tell anyone to behave because your property ends up being the first target - as we've already found out.

Later, I was laid awake listening for people throwing stuff. It’s no joke waiting to hear things hitting your windows, doors and cars. If the holes aren’t filled in today and the ammunition moved, there will be phone calls made - in fact I’ll ring them today anyway.

And for your information Central Networks - e.on, if any of your stuff [including the hole debris] hits any of our properties - by any means - then you expect the bill for the damage.

By the way, it's Langley Mill - not Long Eaton - why do they always confuse the two? I suppose it could be because they're both in Derbyshire with a similar Nottingham postcode [NG16 - NG10].

I wouldn't be surprised if the hole fillers have been stood on Bridge Street in Long Eaton, scratching their heads and wondering where the holes are …

And Then There Was Light - And Two BIG Holes

We now have light at the top of Bridge Street - again. We can only assume that it must have been a temporary repair they did last week - why else would a lot of workmen fix it until it was broke; leaving the top houses without power for nine hours?

We’re reduced to playing ‘musical cars’, parking them in order of whoever leaves first in the mornings - being of a relatively idle disposition; this means our car will end up at the very top of the road most days.

There has been no sign of workmen since Thursday when they dug the correct hole and repaired the light. Is it normal to leave holes in the road and pavement so long when the job has been done?

The long barrier has now blown over and into the hole leaving part of it unprotected, one of the signs has taken off down the street; ending up precariously close to a brand new car. Now a couple of bits of the barrier are twizzling around in the breeze - no make that one, as one bit has given in and dropped off.

At least now we’ll be able to see the holes before we fall in them - Did I mention how clumsy I was ...