Charity Shop and A Chippy?

HH's glamorous fence and Asda's trolley under the bridge

Rumours first:

1. There's going to be a Dr Barnardo's in one of the Asda units.
2. There's going to be a chippy in the end unit ... Hmm?

I'm all for charity, but has anyone else in other towns or villages noticed that when a 'just out of town' retail outlet opens, the only shops left on the high street are charity shops, fast food restaurants/takeaways and bookies.

Facts:

1. Application AVA/2011/0605 - Potters Co-op conversion to 5 retail shops, 8 offices, 12 one and two bedroom apartments has been passed. The applicant was a Borough Councillor so you'd have thought planning permission would have been sought before work was started. Ooooh, I say ... Langley Mill is one of the most deprived areas in Amber Valley. And they think that by creating this retail and office space, employment will be improved in the 18-25 age group blah, blah, blah.
2. The application AVA/2005/1268 - for depression boxes a Residential development adjacent to 130 Station Road is still pending.
3. Mr Heanor Haulage was the only objector to Pottery Lane becoming a 'claimed route' and tarted up accordingly. This presumably, is because he has acquired land adjacent to it and has received planning permission for open storage ... I do believe he was ignored. And I really must search again for this permission, but I suppose it could have carried over from the previous owners - Network Rail.

Um, when I said I wasn't going to look at any planning applications until after Christmas, you do know that was obviously a huge fib ... I don't imagine anyone believed me anyway.

My grumpy old man witnessed two intellectually challenged tw**s taking an Asda trolley - empty - up the street, they struggled to take it up the bridge steps, then hoiked it up and threw it over the top and back on to the footpath. It's only a matter of time before these morons progress to throwing one onto the railway lines or trundles one down to chuck it on the bypass. I still have to ask ... who breeds them?

Grace Landscapes, who promised to put more plants in across the road from us in autumn have been nowhere to be seen - not even to blow back the bark. It is possible that their contract is now up, I'm not sure if it was for one year or two. Either way, across the road from us looks a tip, I think someone chavvy emptied a bag of rubbish on their way up the street. There are two more bags of rubbish atop HH's fence - very un-festive they look too, I think I'll go and wrap some tinsel around them and hang up some of my unused baubles.

Anyway, if things aren't tidied up soon, I may be forced to pop over to Asda and threaten to plant all my weeds across from us ... and at this moment, I have many, many deadish specimens. Mind you, I'd need to take a bin bag with me to clean up all the dog-crap first ...

Update - 17th December:
Alas, it doesn't look like Asda want my weeds. This afternoon someone came up with a big bin and cleared the mess up across from us ... but lo - the rubbish is still adorning HH's fence at slurry corner, I will go and bedeck them with tinsel as befits my grumpiness ...

Langley Mill's Flowers 2011

Before I get carried away with my latest moan I'll just share the latest rumours that a fellow grumpy has passed on:

Apparently some of the businesses at the end of Cromford Road, including an Indian restaurant, a repair/workshop garage and the car park where our council recycling bins disappeared from, have been offered lots of money by a developer, I'm told that these offers were turned down and there have now been larger offers made.

Why doesn't a developer want to offer us even moderate amounts of money? It doesn't seem fair when we're so willing to negotiate.

.....

Anyway on to my latest whinge, 90% of which has been waiting to be published for about three weeks, but having been in a better mood lately [away at the tin hut] and thinking 'hey, give 'em a chance' I put it on hold. Of course, back at home and a few sleepless nights courtesy of Asda's squeaky gates and their annoying deliveries have brought me back to my grumpy senses.

Top of Bridge Street

So:

Asda, isn't it about time you got Grace Landscapes to replace the plants that succumbed to last winter's weather. I mean the plants at the top of Bridge Street. We're not bothered about the ones further down - just past our peasants entrance to Asda - as one thick woman encouraged her children to slide over the snow covered plants and killed them all, but we actually care about them up here.

Several weeks ago now [17th May to be precise], my neighbour told the bark-blower [skilled job, wouldn't mind it myself] that they needed replacing, he made a note to say we needed sixty-odd new plants and said he'd draw a diagram for them back at the office. We've also watered the trees - and the few remaining plants - across from us, because as we all know water goes downhill; so leaving our bit parched and they were at least a month's growth behind their bigger cousins half way down the street.

Update August 27th:
Hmm, Grace Landscapes have said they'll do more planting in the autumn because if they replaced the plants now it would mean they'd have to come and water them - so?

Update January 2012:
It looks a lot like Grace Landscapes were telling lies, they had no intention of replacing any plants whatsoever - another grab the cash and run merchant. Someone new has got the contract for Asda's gardens.

 .....

Spot the Difference - Langley Mill and Eastwood

And now on to my bigger moan - still alas, plant orientated - and yes, I'm still using big words while I can remember what they mean ... and I'm English so will pooh pooh any suggestion that I use 'oriented' rather than 'orientated'.

I know our councils are supposed to be saving money, blah blah, but how come some councils can take the time, effort and a moderate expense to make the places we live, work and shop in look a bit more cheerful, and others, well ... don't.

Heanor's Entire Floral Display

Some councils would rather spend an exorbitant sum on a chunk of metal suffering from some sort of heavy duty metal-worm with a hula hoop stuck through it [yeah, yeah, I know there were art grants, donations blah, blah, blah]. You can tell I don't really like modern art - I like to recognise what it is that I'm looking at, rather than needing it explaining to me.

And if that's the sort of 'art' you're into, I can show you - for an arbitrary fee - an unmade bed [daily], and for no extra charge you can have a peek in my drawer full of excess lotions and potions - I will call this 'artistic' drawer 'Hormonal Imbalance'. I've also got a workmate plus lots of spare mahogany doors and a big drill if you prefer your 'art' with ventilation. Do feel free to call me a grumpy old philistine, because I simply don't care.

Hang on, I'm losing me thread here ... Oh yeah, flowers ... councils ... money:

Expensive Wing Thing

The same council then tell the world at large that they've been working on and improving Heanor. Ahem, we went through Heanor the other day and apart from some unsightly buildings having been demolished, I couldn't see any real improvement.

Now, having only previously seen a photo of this metal 'wing' thing - and the £20,000 price tag - I fully expected it to be on the 'Angel of the North' proportions. Ahem, it wasn't - and any time now it'll probably find itself on the back of one of the many opportunistic and no doubt illegal scrap wagons that turns up at least three times a week.

Eastwood's Flowers

We frequently pass through - and stop to shop in - our neighbouring Eastwood [Broxtowe council] and practically every lamppost has flowers on it, not to mention the troughs and multi-tiered containers. It actually lifts your spirits to see them and puts you in a much better - spending - mood. Or would have, had I not just been through Langley Mill, because Langley Mill's [Amber Valley Borough Council] lampposts are completely bare and our troughs contain grass and weeds - yes, neighbour ... before you gasp for breath in a 'that's the pot calling the kettle black' kind of way, I will admit to giving root room to a few weeds myself.

Eastwood's Flowers

I suppose someone will eventually feel the urge to put me straight about it being our local councils that decide whether or not to pretty up the neighbourhood - Well that's OK, I can blame them too, I'm nothing if not generous.

You know, I'm starting to experience a bit of déjà vu - spooky - or maybe this is a lot like my 2009 Christmas lights moan ...

Langley Mill Railway Sidings ... part 2

Any odd letters in the wrong place, please blame the cat. She shot across the keyboard [managing to hit the up arrow with every foot] as I was finishing Friday's bit, I've removed all I could find but I'm fed up of reading it now ...

Another exciting instalment of 'a week in the life of ...'

Monday from 6.48am:
It was just another routine day of noise. The huge clatter of the first scoop of muck dropped into each of the lorries, then the constant background noise of the digger rearranging the ever so slightly shrinking heaps ... we're beginning to wonder if it'll ever end.

.....

Tuesday 6.44am:
Yawn ... they're all turning up. 6.48am the digger starts ... he's becoming a right pain in the bum!

YAY! ... The bigger trees have arrived and are being planted. I decided to go and have a look at them, and whilst I was out in the dank, misty air I thought I might as well go the long way around [via Asda] to see how the petrol station is progressing - the lid is on, it shouldn't be too long before it opens - my grumpy old man went with me and of course I shoved my camera in my pocket.

We carried on along the front of the Acorn Centre, stopping off at one of the area's 5,000 odd charity shops [I like a bargain]. We then went up - the much drier and less puddly than when I was with the borrowed dog - Pottery Lane.

Where does the disgusting element of Langley Mill come from? Who breeds them? There's tat - including Netto rubbish - and dog crap [Ugh!] everywhere.

We finally arrived at mission control aka the portaloo by the gates onto the devastated railway sidings. There were two men chatting to the digger driver, one was the man overseeing the lorries - already questioned by grumpy - the other was a rg group man in charge of proceedings - also questioned by grumpy - [they were possibly all rg group].

'Hello' shouts my GOM. They shouted greetings back but the next bit got me totally wrong footed and all the questions I was going to ask were completely forgotten as my brain short circuited, fizzled out and I went into autopilot.

'Have you been filming me again today?' 'Am I on the Internet yet?' ...

This from the digger driver. I mean, I was incognito ... we went the long way around to get there ... I did my hair different! How the hell did he know who I was?

Of course I answered truthfully [bugger, I still can't lie even with the brain switched off] that yes I'd been filming him but he wasn't on the Internet yet, only the pillock on HH's back yard had reached there. My grumpy old man - bless him - shouted back 'Have a look on t'interweb at grumpy old woman Langley Mill'. I hissed at him to 'shurrup!'

We had a bit of a chat about what time they had to leave home to get there [4.55 one picks the other up] to be able to wake us before 7.00 every morning. Then the digger driver announced that:

1. He was going to phone his missus to tell her to have a look for him on the Internet.
2. He doesn't go shopping, not even got any teabags in [discussion on Asda proximity].
3. His mum cooks his dinners.

So here we have a married man with no food in the house who possibly lives with his mum [I may have been on autopilot but I still have an excellent memory for all kinds of flannel].

They told us that having already witnessed some tw***ish lads kicking the newly planted hedge, that they fully expected smashed digger windows when they arrived Monday. So apparently - yeah right - they were going to nip down with a box of chocolates on Friday so I'd keep my eye on it over the weekend.

Now before anyone thinks 'Ooooh, doesn't she think she's great? Expected to watch their equipment.' forget it, I'm well aware they were taking the wee wee. I'm just amazed they'd seen me and knew who I was, especially as this was the only time I went out while they were there ... so, not much point hiding behind a badger photo on my profile now is it? Except the badger is prettier [I'll say it before anyone else does].

.....

Wednesday ... later than normal [but not a lot]:
Oooooh, a big transporter has come for the digger. I spent ten minutes taking photos and waving good riddance to the noisy sod .... three minutes later it's backing up onto HH land in front of us ?????????????????

What's that doing there? No ... they wouldn't ... if he lowers his flaps it means he's dropping him back off! Down came the ramps *%*<^**!!

So now we have noise UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL!

Ooooooer, everything is shaking, the roller is well - rollering - straight across the road from us, I'm trying to work and I feel decidedly seasick!

Ahh, peace - at last ... but for how long? It looks like they've just made the HH land in front of us a bit less lumpy ready for some smelly tarmac to arrive. I will eventually upload photos and a little bit of film just for the digger driver - but I must, simply must get some work done ...

.....

Thursday:

Oh no! What's that now? ... Asphalt, surely they're not tarmacking HH today, I can't stand the smell  ... and there's no escape as one of us was so nosy that they've got behind with their work ... didn't we?

Oh phew, it's not stopped, I forgot that everything big that's working on the petrol station turns up on Asda's back yard - possibly to wind me up, but more than likely just to turn around out of the way of traffic ... who knows?

My GOM went to the Post Office and had a look at the petrol station progress. Criky they have got a move on. As well as the canopy being finished - including the signs that say '24 hour petrol' - the pumps were being fitted and of course, ahem, the tarmac was being laid. We've been told it opens Friday 25th March, completely self service, pay at the pump with no kiosk.

.....

Friday Afternoon:

Hmm, what are Heanor Haulage [yes, them that sold up and left to make way for Asda] up to now? Over the last few days they've gradually brought - as far as I can see by balancing precariously on the bedroom windowsill [not nosy at all] - a minimum of fourteen flat-beds, some double-deckered on top of one another.

15.33 - I've finished work now and can be as nosy as I like:
Four more flat-beds have just noisily announced their arrival on the back. I won't be at all surprised if they eventually migrate over to the railway sidings. I could of course be completely wrong again, an unfortunate habit I've developed lately ... or they could be doing major work at their new place over the weekend [normal practice for HH] - but we'll see ...