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www.ilkestonlife.com ILKESTON LIFE October 2021 2
Local From the Library shelves Council approves‘monstrosity’

Independent by A Borrower
Fresh - it will improve mobile signal
Entertaining The Country of Others A mobile phone mast has been But Cllr Howard Griffiths told
Leila Slimani labelled a monstrosity before it is members: “In the case of antennae,
If you don’t get a copy through planted in woodland near Long size does matter. Better cover-
your door, Ilkeston Life is available Eaton. age, more efficient devices, that
online and from various outlets Leila Slimani is a French writer once they move to Morocco the It will be 25 metres high and will depends on that.
including newsagents, shops, cafes, and journalist of Moroccan ances- nature of her relationship with
post offices, supermarkets and be nearly twice as tall as the one “What staggers me is that we are
libraries in our growing circulation try. She was born in Rabat, Mo- her husband changes radically. In it replaces in the green belt beside not annoyed by electricity pylons,
area. Besides Ilkeston, we are cur- rocco, grew up in a French-speak- France, he had been the stranger the M1. row after row going across the
rently supplying many surround- ing household and was educated and she was able to take the lead The Bostocks Lane application countryside. which I think is an
ing towns and villages: in French-speaking schools. At introducing him to the ways of her was approved by Erewash Plan- abomination.”
We also give free copies to Ilkeston the age of 17 she moved to Paris country. She had enjoyed a good ning Committee but was criticised Cllr Margaret Griffiths said the
Hospital, nursing and care homes, to study for a degree. She met her deal of freedom as an unmarried
doctors waiting rooms, schools, husband, a French barrister, in woman. In Morocco : Nothing by Cllr Paul Shelton. phone masts brought the internet
etc. and mail out copies to sub- He told members: “This is to homes, with many people using
scribers. Paris where the couple now live here was familiar… Amine takes obviously needed as part of the in- that to watch television and other
We are grateful to our many with their two children. her to his mother’s house where frastructure but it is a monstrosity forms of entertainment.
correspondents and out volun- Her second novel, published in she is expected to live the seques- stuck in the middle of woodland. Council officers said in a report
teers for their help in fund raising, English as Lullaby, won the pres- tered life of a Moroccan woman. Look at the height, it is absolutely that the larger mast would have a
distributing the paper and raising tigious Prix Goncourt in 2016 and She was a foreigner, a wife, at huge.” bigger impact on the green belt.
awareness of it. brought her international recogni- the mercy of others. Some of Cllr Kevin Miller offered some But they said: “The need to main-
tion. President Macron appointed her freedom is restored once support but added: “A lot of peo- tain mobile network coverage is a
her his personal representative on they move to their remote farm ple do not like these monopoles very special circumstance, capable
Editorial office: 1 Bath Street, the Organisation Internationale but there she has to cope with but a lot of people moan about not of overcoming the harm in this
Ilkeston, Derbyshire DE7 8AH de la Francophonie : a role as isolation and a very basic standard getting a signal.” location.”
Tel. 07539 808390 ambassador for French language of living. Amine himself is torn Cllr Tim Scott said he also heard The mast will carry 5G signals,
and culture.
between his desire to enjoy the
Editor-in-chief: Paul Opiah The Country of Others, which is company of his spirited French complaints about poor phone the latest development. It should
ensure “comprehensive coverage
coverage in the area but felt that
Editor: Robert Attewell Slimani’s third novel, is the first wife and his worry that her behav-
news@ilkestonlife.com the mast would be “a blot on the to the surrounding area,” the report
Staff reporter: Rod Malcolm in a planned trilogy in which she iour will shame him. However the landscape.” added.
Staff feature writer: Patricia Spencer draws on her own family’s history. long hours he spends working to
Staff photographer: John Shelton Slimani has admitted that it is a scrape a living from the poor soil
john@ilkestonlife.com much more ambitious undertaking means he is unable to supervise Planning consent Personal details were given to
Advertising: Christine Chell A village home can more than double Erewash Planning Committee which
sales@ilkestonlife.com than her earlier works. her as closely as he might wish. approved the work on Allendale,
Reporter: Rod Malcolm Slimani’s maternal grandmother Their daughter, Aicha, suffers in size although it is in the green belt Ilkeston.
rodmalcolm@ilkestonlife.com was from Alsace in France. She acutely from her mixed- race around West Hallam. The bunga- It will now be extended to one side
Distribution: Paul Opiah met her future husband in 1944. parentage. She attends a Christian low’s roof will be raised and it will and at the rear, with roof lights
paul@ilkestonlife.com He was a Moroccan colonel school: There were two camps in have a rear balcony looking out over installed.
Webmaster: Adam Newton fields off High Lane Central.
adam@ilkestonlife.com fighting to liberate France from the school – the whispering na- Planning permission was granted by Members were told that a couple
the German occupation. In The tives and the hopscotch playing Erewash councillors who were told plan to marry shortly and live there,
© Copyright 2021 Country of Others the author Europeans – and Aicha belonged with a teenage relative and an OAP.
The material in Ilkeston Life is pro- tells the story of her grandparents to neither of them. Her family’s the extension could be “considered a Draycott and Risley Cllr Tim Scott
tected by copyright. If you wish to disproportionate addition and inap- said it was “great for the care given
reproduce anything, please contact the through the characters of Mathilde poverty is yet another cause for propriate in the green belt.” to family members.”
editor. and her husband, Amine, while shame. Yet Aicha shines academ- But officers went on to say that the A neighbour contacted the council to
While every care is taken to be accu- reserving the right, as a novel- ically at school which suggests a rear boundary of the building does
rate, we are only human and mistakes ist, to fictionalise as it suits her hope for the next generation. not “project significantly further and say the side extension would make
do occur occasionally. If you are is not considered to encroach into the it difficult to carry out repairs and
unhappy with any of the content in the purpose. Mathilde and Amine’s As a young girl Aicha enjoys maintenance.
paper, please contact the editor in the marriage is played out against an some freedom to roam the coun- open green belt.” In response, council officers wrote:
first place. unstable political background in tryside, finding companionship Shipley View Cllr Paul Shelton said “There is no planning requirement
We accept news and information from the 1950’s: a time when Morocco with the children of their servant. there were many fine homes on High for a maintenance or access channel
correspondents in good faith and was struggling to free itself from In contrast her cousin Selma, Lane and told the planning commit- to be retained.
cannot be held responsible for inaccu- tee: “This will enhance it.”
racies. We try not to include stories colonial rule. having reached the age of 16 and * * * “Any infringement of private prop-
which may cause distress to anyone. If At one point in the novel Amine blossomed into an unusual beauty, A bungalow is to be extended to erty rights is a private matter for
you have a view on any of the articles, reflects that being married to has come under the violent control resolution.”
please write and let us know. Mathilde is like being governed of her brothers who feel it is their provide room for a teenage girl and a
Your letters are always welcome, but woman aged 91.
we reserve the right to withhold or by a pendulum, swinging from duty to beat her regularly as a way
edit. Anonymous letters will only be one hysterical crisis to anoth- of pre-empting any behaviour
printed in exceptional circumstances. er. This image might be used to which might bring disgrace to
If sending photographs, we prefer describe the reader’s experience the family. A tactic which fails to
them in jpeg format. of reading the novel itself. There protect her.
COPY DEADLINE: 22nd. is a lot of casual brutality which Throughout the novel we are
Our print date is usually the first sometimes erupts out of nowhere. aware of the rumblings of unrest:
Thursday of the month. Delivery from The narrative sometimes shifts neighbours’ properties are van-
our printers to Ilkeston is the following
day. So the paper comes out on the abruptly and disconcertingly so dalised and some of the French
first Friday of the month. that it is difficult for the reader families move away. Amine holds
The deadline for both adverts and to keep track of time and the de- himself aloof, intent on improving
editorial is always the 22nd for the fol- velopment of a relationship. The his own circumstances through
lowing month’s paper, unless by prior
arrangement. (So, for example, 22nd point of view also swings from hard work but his brother, Omar,
January for the February issue.) Send one person to another, sometimes joins the nationalists and the
to us by email if possible. We prefer briefly to a very minor character family are drawn into the troubles.
to receive images as jpegs. We do not who a few pages later disappears Slimani ends the first part of her
print discourteous letters or articles. from the story. In places her trilogy on a night of violence and
All articles and adverts should comply
with the style and standards of the expression seems very clumsy and the final thoughts are expressed by
paper. We reserve the right to refuse although we are reading a transla- the young girl, Aicha :
or edit. tion it has to be assumed that this A world was vanishing before
The best way to get your article in the is faithful to the original. All this their eyes. The colonists’ houses
paper is to make it easy for us. For
instance, when we are approaching a makes for a rather bumpy read. were burning . . .Let them burn
deadline, an emailed ready-to-use arti- Perhaps Slimani was trying to she thought. Let them go away.
cle will always take preference over an re-create for her readers the kind Let them die.
article on paper that we have to key in. of cultural shocks experienced by The Country of Others is availa- Kieran Lee picks up his copy of Ilkeston Life in the Forest of Dean.
Email us: news@ilkestonlife.com her characters. ble to borrow from Ilkeston Public Abraham Darby’s iron bridge over the Severn near Coalbrookdale.
Mathilde quickly discovers that Library. Pictures from the Iron to Iron cycle ride. See front page story.