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 ...

R.I.P. Trees

About half a dozen men came with their tree munching equipment this morning. One went up a ladder and over the fence to the tree. The biggest obstacle was passing the branches back over the fence, they kept getting caught in that damn pointless [hmm, well] razor wire.



Fifteen minutes and it was all over - for our tree at any rate. They then moved on to other trees that are in Asda's way, I could hear them sawing and buzzing all morning.



Ahhh, poor trees - may they rest in pieces ...

Saying Goodbye To A Tree

A man has just visited to ask us if we didn't mind parking all the cars further down the street from 9.00am tomorrow as they're taking down the tree at the top of Bridge Street.

What a sad day for me - but it has to be done now before the blackbirds start nesting in it again as we had a pair there last year all through spring and summer, I don't know how many young they raised but we seem to have a lot of blackbirds now.

'Natural England supports the recommendation for clearance worked to be timed to avoid the bird-breeding season, and the season should be taken to be from March to September inclusive. It is agreed that a site survey should be required, undertaken by a suitably qualified ornithological surveyor, should clearance works be programmed for any time within the birdbreeding season. Clearance would not be able to commence until the end of the breeding season if nesting birds were found.'



I hope they leave the trees at the back of us, as well as hedge sparrows, robins, tits and blackbirds, we get bullfinches visiting - something I've never seen at either Center Parcs or Rufford Park.

I suppose we'll have to wait and see ...