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Post by cheerypeabrain on Dec 12, 2021 19:49:01 GMT
Last month I was in the shopping mall in town and saw this sweet little instlation. A model of Leicester city made out of cardboard. Made to celebrate Diwali.
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Post by kerouac2 on Dec 12, 2021 20:33:52 GMT
Cute!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 17, 2022 18:41:54 GMT
Out and about last week in town. I think that I've posted some of these before on my old thread...but photobucket could snatch them away anytime. The backstreets used to be full of small specialist shops,galleries, clubs and tea shops. So many have closed during the pandemic. Very sad but inevitable. Just a few on Belvoir (pronounced 'beaver') Street, quite an affluent area in the past.. At the end of Belvoir Street is Granby Street. I love the buildings on this street. The Grand Hotel use to be fabulous with beautiful art nouveau decor and carvings (well they were there last time I visited in the 90s) I walked around this end of the city taking snaps of a few interesting buildings. My broadband is sooooooo sloooooow atm I'll have to try downoading the rest later.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jan 17, 2022 19:05:17 GMT
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Post by kerouac2 on Jan 17, 2022 19:18:09 GMT
I like the baroque details on the buildings. I like modern architectus, too, but I wish they would find a way to include more artistic frills. And it is always good to see cities with a municipal bicycle programme!
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2022 16:06:14 GMT
Howdy...well I think that you'll be a bit disappointed. There isn't much to see. The village had stuff going on this afteroon...a cricket match and bowls etc then a celebratory party in the village hall, but this morning when I was there it was rather quiet. My sister and I agreed that the jubilee seems very distant to us northerners (midlanders actually) as everything is so Londoncentric...bigger celebrations taking place in London, the south, and the traditionally 'richer' areas of the country. A chum lives in another Leicestershire village and they had a lot of things going on. In our area we don't know all the neighbours...but in my mate Alan's village everybody knows everybody else and that's more likely to result in street parties etc. So here are the pics I took yesterday walking around the local streets.... My estate...only a few houses had been decorated... the social housing includes these flats...the residents in this block are well known as they leave their xmas decs up all the time, just adding to the decorations every year....they put up a string of bunting too... this is on the grass verge outside the flats....it's been there for some time as you can see where the grass has been trimmed around it! There is a problem with fly tipping in the UK. This was on the lampost AHA! a party being set up..one of the local pubs 'The Shoey, it gets called...by the locals. The Shoemakers (Leicester used to have a massive shoe factory called 'British Shoe' in the area...long gone I'm afraid) So nothing much going on...lots of people have used the holiday to have parties with family...the smell of back garden barbeques was quite overwhelming yesterday More to follow....
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 5, 2022 16:15:59 GMT
Always nice to see photos away from the tourist loop. I am wondering if royal displays have a political significance. In other words, do the most concervative citizens put on bigger displays than (for example) supporters of the Labour Party? I know that lots of Labour Party supporters are still attached to the Crown as an element of national patriotism, but how much?
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2022 16:43:16 GMT
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2022 17:19:33 GMT
Leicester city is predominantly Labour...I think that we had a conservative council for about 10 minutes in the 80s but the rest of the time its been Labour. The county is largely Tory. The Royals took a dip in popularity because of Andrew (who was never very popular) and the Sussexes.
I know people from Leicester have travelled down to London to watch and take part in the celebrations ..but where I live there isn't much of a connection. It feels more like a Capital event. The royal family don't have much relevance for people like us.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 5, 2022 17:26:46 GMT
Ohhh, Cheery ~ we knew you'd come through! Thank you for these pictures & of course I'm eager to see more. It matters not that they don't feature the well-funded mega displays of London, they show England and also the part where you live. Love the topical bunting grafted on to the perpetual Xmas display. Here is an eyeroll to go along with the ones that place must get on a daily basis: Oooo ~ little Hawthorn Cottage is doing what You People do best: taking a little bitty patch of ground and turning it into a lush and charming garden. And speaking of charm ~ the red phone box turned into a library is adorable & so civic-minded. What the heck is fly-tipping? I killed a fly yesterday in my kitchen. Am I in violation of the law? Are bowling greens actually still used for playing bowls?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 5, 2022 17:35:59 GMT
The flowers in front of the brick building make all the difference. If you took a picture of the same place in January, I would probably just say "ugh!"
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Post by bjd on Jun 5, 2022 19:00:03 GMT
Are people actively republican or do they just not care?
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 5, 2022 19:28:25 GMT
From what I myself have read, there are not really very many republicans in England (not sure about the other 3 countries). As one can easily imagine, when you have lived under a system for hundreds of years which has seemed to be more or less benevolent, there is not much of a reason to rebel against it.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 5, 2022 20:43:43 GMT
I think that we just distrust our political leaders. Whilst we have the Monarchy it's acknowledged that the palaces, lands and treasures belong to the country and the people. The monarch is apolitical..but she also represents the class system as the ultimate aristocrat. In a country where those born into the upper classes look after their own and exclude the rest of us (partygate for example)...it's difficult to disentangle the monarch from 'the establishment'.
We are proud of our beautiful buildings, our traditions...and I nobody can deny that QE2 has been a dutiful and hard working monarch...but the rest of them? When (if) Charlie comes to the throne I think that he will make some radical changes. I hope that Charles gets his day in the sun, as I think that Wills will be a traditionalist.
In an ideal world we'd have a much better system with no need for a monarchy. If we got rid of it as things stand now Boris would sell it all off to his mates...we don't trust our politicians so for now the monarchy stands,
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Post by patricklondon on Jun 6, 2022 4:10:57 GMT
"Monarchy or not" isn't a very salient issue. If you put people on the spot, there's less fervour for it than you might think, particularly among the young, but there's not much on the republican side either; there are much more pressing issues to be dealt with. As it is, I think it's generally understood, if not always consciously or explicitly, that events like these are using them as a peg or a symbolic focus for celebrating our capacity to celebrate - one great big fancy dress party. I'm tempted to say it's a real problem, because flies don't have any pockets to put tips in, but it refers to tipping [rubbish] "on the fly" where the perpetrator hopes no-one will catch them at it. Most local authorities charge for dealing with bulk or trade waste, so there's quite a business for fly-by-night operators to dump it just about anywhere they can get away with. My blog | My photos | My video clips | My Librivox recordings"too literate to be spam"
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Post by tod2 on Jun 6, 2022 8:23:44 GMT
Fly Tipping - Years ago there was an entire series made from tracing and trying to catch "fly tippers" so I knew what that disgusting practice was. In South Africa we just call it Dumping. It does not occur out of the city limits like in Britain (from what I gather and saw on TV) because the guilty millions just dump the trash etc. right outside their front yard onto the street. Usually renters with a Landlord who does not pay his rates and taxes, hence does not have a regular garbage truck calling past. Or even more terrible are the squatter camps who dump pile upon pile of rubbish right outside the entrance.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 6, 2022 19:35:08 GMT
Around here it's the odd old pram in the bushes and the occasional old plastic toy... the sort that are too large to go into a dustbin. A few neighbours leave stuff out hoping that the scavengers will take it. A chap with a big van will take stuff that he can sell for scrap. A man took a filing cabinet and an old washing machine that we put on our front. We'd organised a pick up by the council along with an old mattress...he left the mattress but the council workers collected that.
The worst fly tipping tends to happen in deserted rural areas..as Patrick says there are some disreputable individuals with tipper trucks..opportunistic 'businessmen' who knock on the door if you're having building work done and offer to get rid of the rubble/rubbish 'to the tip' for a knock down price, no questions asked. They then take the trash...drive out to a remote farm gateway or similar...and dump it. My BiL has had it happen on his land a few times...and then it's his responsibility to have it cleared. The last lot cost my BiL £250 to get the dumped rubbish taken by the council. There aren't enough police to catch the crooks doing this...they quite often have a good idea who is responsible but can't prove it.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 6, 2022 19:40:05 GMT
Exactly the same in France.
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Post by lugg on Jun 6, 2022 20:03:13 GMT
I missed the jubilee in my village as I was celebrating my sons wedding in Dorset so its especially good to see these images Cheery. As I traveled there and back I did see many more Union Jacks than usual and a plethora of bunting in some villages and towns. Westayed next door to a pub in the New Forest and that was very regally festooned plus it had a very nice jubilee cocktail on sale ..hic
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Post by fumobici on Jun 7, 2022 14:06:39 GMT
Exactly the same in France. In Tuscany I almost never see abusive dumping of household garbage, there are bins everywhere you can use for free so there's almost no incentive to. Charging for garbage disposal by weight guarantees it will happen, the practice of abusive dumping is the direct result of deliberate policy choices by government.
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Post by bjd on Jun 7, 2022 15:09:46 GMT
I haven't seen much abusive dumping off French roads, but I don't drive around a lot. Every town and village has a municipal dump. The only times I see mattresses or appliances left outside are in front of apartment buildings when people move and either don't have a car or don't want to bother.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 7, 2022 15:24:05 GMT
No, I disagree, Fumobici. In most cases the problem is merely the result of laziness. Dumping household garbage is never the problem, but the other stuff is more complicated -- trash from cellars, building/demolition materials, furniture... All of this is picked up free of charge in France and probably most countries, but there are too many people who for some reason find it complicated to make a pickup appointment (even though it just means leaving the stuff on the kerb during the prescribed time window of 2 or 3 hours). And then there are of course the hired workers, who don't give a fuck, especially if they are being paid under tha table. They will generally abandon things anywhere if they think they can get away with it.
And then again, guess what happens when you do things properly? Due to the leak in my cellar, my neighbour and I collected quite a few things of which disposal was required -- rotten boards, broken furniture -- I must point out that none of it was mine but was simply inherited when I bought my flat (and cellar). My neighbour made the appointment on the internet for pickup the following morning. We put it out at 22:00 the night before, because they come to pick up this stuff very early. Well, this shit stayed out on the street for two and and a half days before finally disappearing. Maybe the municipal disposal service had some problems, I don't know. In the meantime, a few people added some elements to the pile. I don't reproach them for that. What I do not like, even though I remain completely anonymous, is that plenty of people on my street think that somebody dumped trash on the street irresponsibly.
Actually, my neighbour might be partially at fault, because the pickup service gives you a registration number that is supposed to be displayed on the crap. I am not sure that my neighbour did that.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 7, 2022 16:27:44 GMT
I'm tempted to say it's a real problem, because flies don't have any pockets to put tips in Thanks for the answer, Patrick, although now I'm sorry I asked, since it has wound up rather derailing this nice thread. And this is probably derailing, too, but might we expect some jubilee reporting from other UKers or Commonwealth folk?
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Post by tod2 on Jun 7, 2022 17:00:01 GMT
We have a dedicated garbage pick -up on certain days but that is no guarantee they will actually arrive on the allotted day....Mondays trash was picked up late this afternoon Tuesday - which I am grateful for as they may not have come at all. Anything bigger than normal refuse is not taken. That is for the owner to drive to a disposal place inside the Garbage Yard. Of course this is not possible in 99% of cases. I always take a step backwards when I first encounter old mattresses, chairs , clothes, etc. in a heap on a sidewalk in Paris. I understand it will be picked up and the citizens should be so grateful for this eyesore to be removed for them.
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Post by kerouac2 on Jun 7, 2022 17:15:18 GMT
Discarded mattresses are a big favourite everywhere, but when you see all of the stains on them, you are at least relieved that they are no longer contaminating someone's residence and you can only hope that a nice new mattress has replaced the abandoned biohazard.
Leicester seems to be exceptionally tidy, not a bit of trash to be seen in any of these delightful photos.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Jun 7, 2022 17:28:14 GMT
If we have a lot of things like old wood, broken furniture and other domestic detritus we will either pile it into the car and take it to the recycling centre (but it's still hardly ever open even tho we seem to be 'back to normal') we have to ring and arrange a time slot. It's sometimes easier to hire a skip. In fact we hired 2 during lockdown when we cleared the loft and the garden shed. We will probably need another one soon as Jeff wants to sort out the garage. Anything serviceable is offered to family or taken to a charity shop.
Our domestic rubish is collected every Friday when the wheelie bin is emptied.
There is trash in the streets in Leicester altho we have litter pickers clearing up every week! I just choose not to photograph the unsightly litter...
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Post by tod2 on Jun 19, 2022 16:33:51 GMT
There is trash in the streets in Leicester altho we have litter pickers clearing up every week! I just choose not to photograph the unsightly litter... We have the same "litter Pickers" but here they are called "Scavengers". Not only do they destroy the holding plastic bag but any spillage is ignored and they leave a mess. I appreciate the fact they are salvaging something to sell and enabvles them to buy food so hopefully stay away from crime, but it has become evident that they need to pick through our rubbish before the next man so therefore do it in a hurry scattering some trash. To help these poor blighters I collect all my plastic and take it down to the garbage collection outside my shop where they wait for the rest of the cardboard etc. Here they can simply pick up a bag of what they're after without destroying the bag.
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 10, 2022 19:38:39 GMT
Todays outing...
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Post by cheerypeabrain on Aug 10, 2022 20:00:11 GMT
Reception Pre-donation testing The donating chair self evident what's happening here... and we're off... 10 minutes later I was done....had my hot drink and biscuits job done...
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Post by bixaorellana on Aug 10, 2022 21:13:07 GMT
You are noble and brave, Cheery!
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