Langley Mill's Christmas Lights 2012

This lamppost evidently deserved a 'whole' tree

Just a short one this time ... and this would have been done much sooner had Sky asked BT to flick the damn switch back on at the exchange for our phone and broadband:

I thought I'd better pass comment on our Christmas lights this year seeing as I've done nowt but moan about them previous years.

langley mill's christmas lights 2009
getting excited 2010
asdas christmas lights event donation 2011
langley mill's christmas lights 2011

Well the one's we've got now - new, not second hand cast-offs, I believe - are all remarkably similar, the only difference being whether a lamppost gets one or two Christmas trees, making half a tree or a whole one.

They look nice and twinkly at night and quite treey by day. Better still they're solar powered ... hmmm, this solar bit in all honesty looks naff, it would have been nicer if it could have been star shaped, but that's probably just me being pedantic.

Asda donated £2,000 for last year's lights which was too late to use. I'm not sure who else has donated yet or if Asda has done so again this year. Someone is bound to tell me if they have, and I'll update accordingly.

Because the lampposts shouldn't need testing first - and there's no electric bill - there's only the expense of 'putting 'em up, taking 'em down' , so these Christmas trees should prove a winner (in certain quarters) ... or would do if there was a bit more variety and colour - red tub, green tree, white lights ... yawn.

Car Wash dump of Langley Mill

I took lots of photos of different lampposts as we flashed past in the car - my chauffeur was kind enough to slow down for me - but as there wasn't much difference I settled for the one near Asda when we went round the stupid 'WHICH LANE! WHICH LANE!??' roundabout.

Then I took the one above when I went to Home Bargains via Asda car park. There is a whole tree adorning a lamppost next to the DUMP still allowed to conduct business with NO PLANNING PERMISSION - it ran out June 2011. Incidentally this pile of garbage is right next to the new McDonalds currently being built. Obviously we can do what we like in Langley Mill regards planning so I may extend my house onto the road a bit (mini-rant over, I feel much better now).

I would like to know - of course - who decided which lampposts deserved half a tree or a whole tree ;-) ...

The Eyesore

I'm referring to the lamppost opposite - the top light on the post works OK but is no longer necessary as it was to light up the bridge steps, whereas the bottom one [in the photo] hasn't worked since E.on fiddled with it a year ago. Of course with Asda's ultra-bright security lights, everywhere is lit up. In fact we no longer need electricity in our bedroom but I really must invest in something to block out the light, I keep waking thinking it's time to get up!

Now that we're all smartened up with a wooden fence and plants - yes, maybe the houses do spoil Asda's view of Bridge Street, but tough, we're staying - this street light is an incongruous mess. It's mottled green, having been painted years ago by the Groundwork crew to match the mural on the side of the bridge steps.

The lamppost is actually on the road, not the pavement, so not the best place for it - no the road hasn't been widened before you ask, it was always on the road but now the bridge extension has gone, it's in the way. It's covered in electrical tie-wraps to keep essentials fastened on, rusted at the bottom, albeit not rusty enough to fall over when I witnessed someone leaning heavily against it [note to friend - push harder].

We contemplated bribing a nice man with his digger to knock it over by accident whilst he was removing the temporary ramp next to it, but tut, he was way beyond careful.

The planting is now complete right up to the fence, so there's no immediate need for me to go out armed with spade and my own trees - shame, I was looking forward to that.

I'm not even going to mention the mess that is 'security fenced' off at the top of the street - oh, what? I did mention it, well it was only a teeny weeny little gripe. We can see the security man's kennel little shed from here, ahh, bless, and lots of old PMB Pallet Express mess.

The detailed plans haven't gone in yet for the new housing on Heanor Haulage's land - I don't mean the outline plans that were passed at the same time as the Asda store - but as soon as they do I'll be having a nosy [and no doubt a little moan].

There's still quite a lot of HH's crap to be moved before anything much can be done. Every so often they come and rearrange the odd scrappy bit of metal with their crane and then re-park it behind our house, possibly to annoy me [so my neighbour thinks], but as I've not been at home most of the summer I'm pleased to say that this would have been a wasted exercise ...