Do you have any clothes from the 60s, 70s or 80s (or earlier) that no longer fit?

Clothes and accessories that were new then are very fashionable again, and are a valuable source of funds for our work. We can also sell related items such as packets of nylons, dress-making patterns, sewing sets, cookery books and leaflets that might not immediately occur to you as useful donations to a charity shop.

Ornaments, pictures, crockery etc. etc. will also sell well, and the reproduction pictures that were popular in the 60s are fashionable too.

If you would like to drop off donations by car at the 61 Burleigh st shop, please phone ahead (01223 312 802) for directions to the unloading area behind us on Paradise street and to make sure someone is available to open the back door.

61 Burleigh St., Cambridge is open Tuesday-Sunday (closed Mondays), 188 Mill road, Cambridge Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday) and 156 High Street, Newmarket Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday).

Dr Johnsons House, London. Compiler of first English Dictionary.

Do you remember an episode of Black Adder the Third called Ink and Incapability which features a Dr Johnson played by Robbie Coltrane?, well
yesterday I visited Dr Johnsons House in London, Samuel Johnson compiled the first comprehensive English Dictionary here.
This museum can be found at 17 Gough Square, London.

It was really interesting visiting this museum, if you get chance do it, just follow the grey signs near by and go through the archway into the courtyard area.

He was maried at St Werburgh's church, Derby to Elizabeth (Tetty) Porter in July 9th 1735.
Photographs of the wedding re-enactment in Derby.

If you would like to visit this museum then visit their website :
www.drjohnsonshouse.org

Holiday boarding and your pets' veterinary records

Had a nasty experience a couple of weeks ago (much worse for the owner of the dog concerned) which was really no-one's fault but could have been mitigated by preparation.

One of the clients who use our clinic was given the opportunity of a holiday away as a present from a relative. The relative also arranged, and paid for her dogs to be boarded at a commercial kennels. The kennels took notes of their normal vet (our clinic) and checked that their vaccinations were current, but didn't keep the vaccination cards or photocopy them.

Unfortunately, just before the end of their holiday, one of the dogs was taken violently ill and needed emergency treatment. Because of being outside normal hours he had to go via our emergency route, which normally requires the owner to show either their clinic registration card or their clinic vaccination card, neither of which the kennels had. The difficulty was compounded by the fact that the kennels knew the dogs by the surname of the relative who paid for their boarding, while of course all their medical records were under their owner's name.

The emergency service isn't owned by the RSPCA; we pay them a fee to cover out of hours treatment of animals who are registered at the Cambridge clinic, so they wouldn't normally see animals with (apparently) no computer entry and no registration cards. In the event, the kennels managed to contact the owner by phone and it was sorted out, but the worry must pretty much have ruined her holiday.

In these days, when out of hours cover is often provided by a different surgery from the one your pet normally visits, this sort of problem potentially might apply to anyone - the only added complication in this case was whether the dog was eligible to use care that we subsidise. If you're planning on leaving your pets in kennels, check with your vet and with the kennels what would happen if one of them was suddenly taken ill. Make sure the kennels know what name the animals are registered under at your vet, and check payment options (e.g. will the kennels pay and claim it back from you or will your vet invoice you?). If possible leave a mobile number on which you can be contacted (and if needed make a credit card payment for your pet's treatment.)

Video of Derby Streets by car City Centre, September 2009

My latest Derby streets by car video in now online.
This one shows a lot of the new developements in the City Centre.
Westfield Derby
Derby Riverlights
Cathedral Quarter Wheel
Derby Quad
Jurys Inn Hotel
New road layout near Seven Stars pub.

All captured in HD.

The wicked music is Psychedelica Panic Part 3 by Tilkanuts
Licensed under Creative Commons


Hope you enjoy.
Thanks
Andy

RSPCA Bookshop 188 Mill Road

Bookshop at 188 Mill Road re-opening with great offers for students

20% discount on production of student card. Lots of books and also great posters and prints to cheer up your room.

DVD - The Damned United, Story of Brian Clough and Derby County

On Friday I watched a DVD, "The Damned United" which is a 2009 British sports drama film directed by Tom Hooper based on Brian Clough's tenure as manager of Leeds United.
Lots of the film is about Brian Cloughs time at Derby County, The film moves back and forth in time between his time at the Rams and Leeds United.
Of course this film was made after the Baseball Ground was demolished so filming was done at Chesterfield F.C's ground which looks sort of like the BBG.

It stars Michael Sheen as Brian Clough, Timothy Spall as Peter Taylor, Jim Broadbent as Sam Longson.
It was an interesting film and would recomend it.

I did a screengrab from the film (see above) this is clearly some archive footage of a Rams fans being interviewed on the corner of Derby Lane/ Walbrook Road. In the back ground is Upper Dale Road and on the right background is the Cavendish Hotel.
Exact map location here.

Similar to my then and now photograph of this area, see the third one down on this page.

This film is available from Play.com, Amazon and ebay and all the usual places.
There is a short trailor for the film on play.com

Some good footage on YouTube of the Man himself:

Brian Clough v Muhammad Ali.

Brian Clough - the Derby County Years.

Brian Clough (in his own words).

Thank-You!

To the Friends of Histon Recreation Ground who collected £43.18 for us at their dog show. Much appreciated.

Derby climbing centre

This is a live iPhone blog from Alter Rock, Derby climbing centre.
www.alter-rock.co.uk

I am currently working on a project for the current World Wide Panorama event.

Watch this blog for infomation on that soon.

-- Posted From My iPhone

Bookshop at 188 Mill Road

This is a bit of an experiment. The bookshop is now taking "want" requests for books, so if you're looking for a favourite out of print author (or simply a cheaper 2nd hand copy of an expensive text), fill in the details to let us know and we'll keep an eye out for it as new donated stock comes in.

The permanent location for the form will be at www.rspcabookshop.co.uk/wantlist.html

Video, Driving from Belper to Heage Windmill.

I created this video so you can see how to get to Heage Windmill from the town of Belper, Derbyshire. Why not go and see this windmill in action this weekend!

Use my Heage Route Planning Map if you want to plan YOUR journey to this windmill, Just click on the blue car in the midle of the map then click "Get directions".

Heage Windmill in Derbyshire, U.K. is the only working 6 sailed stone tower mill in Britain, The windmill became operational in 1797.
Heage Windmill was originally called Nether Heage Old Tower Mill, the gritstone tower was built by Edmund Lee in 1745 and originally had 4 sails,
During a severe gale in 1894 , its cap was blown off and the sails destroyed. The four sails were replaced with six sails.
A preservation order was placed on the mill in 1966 and the mill was restored by Derbyshire County Council
In 1997 after years of neglect the Heage windmill society was formed, with an aim to bring the mill back to working order.
Heage windmill was opened to the public on the 1st June 2002.

For more information on this mill such as opening times please visit their website:
Heage Windmill website:
www.heagewindmill.org.uk

If you want to see more details then please click on the "HD" button so it turns red, then click the fullscreen icon. (you will need a fast pc and fast broadband connection to cope with it!).

The name Heage comes from the Old English and means "high edge or ridge".
Heage village is 2 miles west of Ripley, 2 1/2 miles North East of Belper set on rising ground above the river Derwent east of Ambergate.

I would like to thank Brian Naylor and Alan Gifford for arranging for the windmill to be open for my driving video.

Follow the driving route using my interactive map


*** This video is not real-time, it is time-lapse ***
The real driving time covered 9 minutes

Points of Interest on route:
0:00 View of Heage Windmill from Church Street.
0:31 Start of drive at Derby Road (A6) Belper.
0:33 Belper Orangery (Mc Donalds) ahead, Left is Morrisons and Focus.
0:39 Right at island and up New Road (A609)
1:00 Over traffic lights and up Cheapside.
1:08 Belper Market Place on the right, Top of King Street on the left.
1:11 Left into Chesterfield Road (B6013), carry on going on this road.
2:58 Left into Church Street.
2:59 The White Hart public house.
3:14 Left into the entrance road for Heage Windmill
3:38 Visitor parking is here on the right side.
3:57 Four shots of the Windmill in action, two from my VR tour.
--------------

Music Credits :
Dragon Fly by Lustful
Licensed under Creative Commons

If you visit Heage Windmill then you will be able to have a go on my Virtual Reality Tour at the visitor centre.

Please rate and comment if you enjoyed this driving video through beautiful Derbyshire. Subscribe to my YouTube channel to keep up to date with my latest local videos.

Cheers
Andy

Where our funds come from

Where the money goes

Branch photo mugs now available

£5 per mug. Available from our shop at 61 Burleigh Street now and shortly at 156 High Street, Newmarket and 188 Mill Road, Cambridge. These are a trial fundraiser and if they sell we'll have more printed with different photos of animals rescued by the branch

The Derby Market Place Big Wheel, Cathedral Quarter Wheel is ready for passengers

The Big wheel is back in 2011. <-- Click for details




This is a panoramic photograph I took on Sunday morning of the Cathedral Quarter Wheel which officially opened to the public on Saturday 12th September 2009.
It took 6 days to build, and is 60m (197 ft) tall in the Market Place, has 40 observation pods and weighs 365 tonnes!

The Big Wheel will be on Derby's Market Place until Saturday 31st October, so thats seven weeks so theres no excuse not to have a ride on it.

The ride lasts for 15 minutes so there is plenty of time to take in the great views it has to offer.
Commentary inside the pods has been created by Heart 106 FM, with facts about the Cathedral Quarter area, the history of Derby and key points of interest that you can see from the wheel.

If you listen to Sam and Amy on Heart 106 Breakfast show on Wednesdays then you may win a private gondolier for the family that evening !

The Cathedral Quarter Wheel is open from
10am to 10pm Monday to Thursday
10am to 11pm on Friday and Saturday
10am to 8pm on Sundays.

It costs
£5 for adults
£4 for seniors and disabled passengers
£3 for children under 1.4 metres, and free for children under three.
There is also a VIP Gondola which takes up to 4 people for £50.00
It has 1 disabled access gondola.

There is a 20% discount for Cathedral Quarter loyalty card holders. For more information, visit www.derbycathedralquarter.co.uk

If you have ever been on the Manchester wheel then you will aleady know what a great view you can get from these things, that wheel is exactly the same height as the Derby wheel. But unless you have been on a Derby Cathedral Tower Open day then you won't have been lucky enough to have seen the views over the city of Derby from such a high vantage point, so I think this is a great thing for the City of Derby.

Map location :

View The Derby Cathedral Quarter Wheel. in a larger map

Hope you enjoy this and get a chance to have a go on it.
Please leave your reviews of it in my blog. How far could you see?

Thanks
Andy

Heritage Open Days this weekend, Your chance to visit interesting properties.

Its that time of year again when historic buildings open their doors to the general public.

Heritage Open Days celebrates England’s fantastic architecture and culture by offering free access to properties that are usually closed to the public or normally charge for admission. Every year on four days in September, buildings of every age, style and function throw open their doors, ranging from castles to factories, town halls to tithe barns, parish churches to Buddhist temples. It is a once-a-year chance to discover hidden architectural treasures and enjoy a wide range of tours, events and activities which bring to life local history and culture.

To see a list of places that are open in the East Midlands see their website :
Heritage Open Days East Midlands.

or

Heritage Open Days in Derbyshire.

or

Heritage Open Days in Derby.

As you can see there are lots of venues open in Derbyshire to visit this weekend, some require you to book but are free.

Enjoy!

Belper Farmers Market, 2nd Saturday of every month.

Belper Farmers' Market takes place on the second Saturday of every month.
The market runs from 9am to 2pm on Belper Market Place.

In my photograph here you can see a commemorative fountain for George Henry Strutt who had the Market Place paved in 1880.

The next Belper Farmers Market will take place this Saturday, 12th September 2009.
Heage Windmill will have flour for sale at this market.

This market is run by Belper Town Council, contact them if you would like to have a stall at this market.

Here are the dates for the next few months :

12th September
10th October
14th November
12th December

My map location for this event :

View Belper Farmers Market. in a larger map

Did you know the first market was held in Belper in 1739.

Bookshop closed for a week

Our 2nd hand bookshop at 188 Mill Road will be closed for a week from Monday 14th September for stock reorganisation. Re-opening Monday 21st September.

Heage Windmill, My Virtual Tour wins a Judges Special Award at Renaissance Heritage Awards 2009

Since 2007 I have been working with the volunteers at Heage Windmill to help promote the great work they do by using my panoramic photography skills. Back then it consisted of just two 360 degree panoramic photographs taken inside the cap of the windmill where people can not go due to safety reasons. This mill exhibit was popular with visitors and in 2008 I offered to take some new 360 degree photographs for them. What started off as a simple idea soon became a major project consisting of 26 full 360 x 180 degree (spherical VR) photographs all linked together by hotspots.
This allows disabled people or anyone that is not able to climb the mill stairs the opportunity to take a really good look around the windmill. I designed the virtual tour for them so that when you hover the mouse over areas of interest then it tells you what the various parts of the workings are used for.
Because my VR tour encompasses the entire windmill site it is also useful if you visit on a rainy day.

In July, Heage Windmill won the Judges Special Award in the Renaissance East Midlands Derbyshire Heritage Awards 2009 (see photograph of the plaque) ...
"For an innovative solution to providing access to the mill, delivered by volunteers, to a very high standard."

As well as creating the high resolution full virtual reality tour at the windmill I also created a reduced mini vr tour for their website which you can take a look at here :
Heage Windmill mini Virtual Reality Tour.

Heage Windmill is open every weekend from April to October, why not go along and see this great windmill in action. There is nothing quite like seeing the only working 6 sailed STONE tower mill in Britain turning around in the wind.

For more information please visit their website :
Heage Windmill website.

You can even buy Heage Windmill Flour from Belper Farmers Market. The market runs from 9am to 2pm on the second saturday of every month and takes place on Belper Market Place.

To see a list of the other winners see the website:
Renaissance East Midlands Derbyshire Heritage Awards.

My interactive map for Heage Windmill:

View Heage Windmill in a larger map

I have also created a driving video of how to get to Heage Windmill from Belper :
Belper to Heage Windmill video.


Thanks
Andy

Volunteers wanted for Jumble Sales

Now that the Cambridge shops are fully up and running we are looking for volunteers to help us run a monthly jumble sale for items that are saleable but not good enough to go out in the shops. These will probably be held at Mill Road Baptist church, which is just a short way from our shop at 188 Mill road so there will be no need to use a vehicle to move the sales items.

We need:

• Someone willing to act as co-ordinator and deal with putting out posters, booking the hall, making sure enough people are available to staff the sales stalls and generally make sure that the burden of organisation doesn't fall on the busy shop staff.
• Strong people willing to carry stuff from 188 to the hall.
• Strong-minded people to staff the tables (jumble sales are vicious events!)

If you might be able to help, please email camshop@rspcabookshop.co.uk

Fantastic Saturday for E61

Andrew and his team of volunteers have worked like trojans this week and Saturday was their best result yet. We can now be confident that the branch investment in E61 is going to pay off in terms of providing a reliable regular income stream to fund our animal welfare work.

As we took on the lease towards the end of one of the three monthly rent periods, a full three month's rent falls due at the end of one month's trading, so money will be tight until October, because we don't want to draw on the Co-Op bond fixed-term investment and lose interest. After that, provided we can keep building on this wonderful start, we will have enough secure income to fund our animal clinic and boarding of rescued animals.

THANK YOU to everyone who worked so hard to make this possible, particularly to Andrew, Fiona, Wayne, Sharon and Ed. (and to all Claire's children who cheerfully gave up their Sunday morning to help move tons of "stuff" out of the basement at 188).

Rabbits!

Caroline who runs the Rabbit Residence has sent out an urgent appeal for homes as she needs to reduce her numbers to a more manageable level. Caroline works full time as a care assistant and runs the Residence in her spare time, so she really needs to get a speedy turnaround of bunnies who are fit and don't need special care, in order to be able to concentrate on the ones who need nursing. She also needs to keep rabbit numbers within the limits specified by Rabbit Residence's planning permission.

To view most of the rabbits now available for adoption from Rabbit Residence, go to the Rabbit Rehome website.

Darley Park Concert, Britains biggest FREE classical concert.

This Sunday, 6th September 2009 sees the annual Darley Park Concert, Britains biggest FREE classical concert.
The concert takes place in the natural amphitheatre of Darley Park which is located in Darley Abbey, Derby, Derbyshire, U.K.

My interactive map for this event.

Starting at 5.30pm, With an amazing firework finale, attracting crowds of around 30,000.
2009 is the international year of Astronomy, marking several momentous events – the 40th anniversary of the first manned landing on the Moon and the 400th anniversary of the use of the telescope by Galileo Galilei to observe the moon and planet Jupiter.
Sinfonia VIVA and regular Darley Park concert conductor, James Holmes will be performing a spectacular programme of music with links to all things astronomical.

Admission is FREE, car parking is £5.
Personally I’ve found its best to walk in or get someone to give a you a lift as this event attracts so many people that you may have trouble parking nearby.

Its also worth taking a torch with you as its not very well lit on the entrances into Darley Park and due to the large amount of people you may tread on someones toes !

Programme of music:
Strauss/Townend – 2001 : A space Odyssey
Mozart – Overture: Magic Flute, Der Holle Rach
Hayman – When you wish upon a star
Sousa – Sousa stars and stripes forever
Williams – ET Adventure on Earth
Wagner – Ride of the Valkyries
Strauss – Music of the spheres, Tritsch Tratsch Polka
Dvorak – Song to the Moon
Mancini/Mercer – Moon river
Mercury/Townend – Bohemian Rhapsody
Williams – Star Wars: Imperial March, Throne Room, Closing sequence

The photograph here is one I took during the amazing firework finale at the 2004 concert.
Some more of my photographs in 2002.

More info:
Sinfonia ViVA website

This is a Derby Live Event.

Looking at the weather it may rain about 6:30 onwards so take a good coat!

Silly Scissors, they have not really thought this one out. wtf!

Click on this photograph of some Scissors I bought from Wilkos (Victoria Chambers, London Road, Derby).
The Scissors are encased in plastic, now read the instructions on how to remove them from the packaging.

"To Open, Carefully cut packaging with Scissors".
Now hang on a God damn minute, the Scissors that I bought are still in the packaging so how on Earth can I use them to cut them out of the packaging that they are in!

Great if you own other pairs of Scissors but if your a first time Scissors owner or perhaps you broke your ownly pair of scissors then its game over man !

The packaging should carry a warning to say "These scissors should not be purchased unless you already possess a pair that work ok".

Are YOU a "first time scissors owner" or have you always had scissors around you?

Lets run with this scissors theme, but don't run with scissors obviously!

Andy

Derby Restaurants, Food Hygiene Star Rating scores announced.

Derby City Council’s Food Hygiene Star Rating Scheme, commonly known as Scores on Doors is a pilot project being run in conjunction with the Food Standards Agency that provides information about hygiene standards within food businesses in Derby.

The Council has just released the results to the public.
Its list includes every Premises in the city of Derby that sells food and I really do mean every one, such as The Potato Lady on St Peters Street, Rachel's Flyin' Sausage on Shaftesbury Street South, Costco Customer Café on Wyvernside there all in the list!

Derby City Council's Food Hygiene Star Rating Scheme
View the results here (PDF Acrobat reader required)
"Scores on Doors" August 2009 Premises' Star Rating List

Scores are..
5 Stars Excellent Performance Very high standards of compliance with food safety legislation
4 Stars Very Good Performance High standards of compliance with food safety legislation
3 Stars Good Performance Good level of compliance with food safety legislation
2 Stars Satisfactory Performance General compliance with food safety legislation
1 Star Poor Performance Some non-compliance with food safety legislation
0 Stars Very Poor Performance General failure to comply with food safety legislation.

Learn more about how the council score by reading their here.

So now you can check to see if your local restaurant is any good.