~{nilheadimage~=142697~}
We're planning to be here a little while, so I thought it was time to set up a "Newark diary" series.

Our negative Day 8 covid test on Tuesday not only saved us lots of hassle (last year, the ~{purplepost~=1083~;text~=third time~;target~=third~} was emphatically not the charm, so it was really good to score a triple negative this year), but also set me off nicely on a "saving things" theme...

SAVING DAYLIGHT

Today we've had 8 hours and 28 minutes of daylight. The sun got up at 0734, and decided it had had enough by 1602. Just last week we had in excess of 9 hours, so winter is encroaching fast at the moment...

It's funny to us to see the sun struggling its way up from the horizon of a morning... Back where we live, the thing shoots up like a rocket, and before you've got time to say "wow, it's hot in this mask", you're looking for shade... Here, every wintry ray is welcome.

But it's all very, very beautiful:

~{nilimage~=142705~;dir~=H~;alt~=library~;caption~=Warm lights in the gloom~}
~{nilimage~=142671~;dir~=V~;alt~=bigpoppy~}
~{nilimage~=142630~;dir~=H~;alt~=birds~;caption~=Birds in the grey~}
~{nilimage~=142677~;dir~=V~;alt~=blue~;caption~=And when the light brightens, it's lovely...~}
~{nilimage~=142631~;dir~=H~;alt~=river~}
~{nilimage~=142679~;dir~=V~;alt~=causeway~}
SAVING CHILDREN

New to us was this statue of ~{link~= https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-57601563 ~;text~=Irene Sendler~;target~=sendler~}, sculpted by Andrew Lilley, and located at Fountain Gardens:

~{nilimage~=142595~;dir~=V~;alt~=sendlermemorial~}
Born in 1910 in Warsaw, Sendler was a Polish health worker who during the years of the Nazi occupation managed to save the lives of many hundreds of Jewish children. She is recognized in Poland as a great heroine.

Newark has ~{link~= https://newarkcemeteryuk.wordpress.com/category/general-sikorski/ ~;text~=many links with the Polish community~;target~=links~} (as we saw in our ~{purplepost~=975~;text~=last visit in early 2020~;target~=warcemetery~}).

SAVING TREES

We saw this story on TV one evening, so we had to swing by and see for ourselves. ~{link~= https://nottstv.com/protesters-elated-as-newark-council-announces-last-ditch-agreement-to-save-threatened-trees/ ~;text~=Short version~;target~=reprieve~}: Some grand trees in the centre of town were slated for felling, in order to build yet another carpark; locals say no; locals actually win; we're still waiting for an all-of-council vote to countermand the previous all-of-council vote in favour of the damn carpark, but hopefully reason will continue to prevail. Go trees!

~{nilimage~=142629~;dir~=V~;alt~=saved~;caption~=One of the saved trees~}
SAVING BUILDINGS

The former Robin Hood Hotel, left derelict for years, much to my late father-in-law's disdain, has been incorporated into a new ~{link~= https://kgmroofing.co.uk/news/former-robin-hood-hotel-officially-opens-as-travelodge-today/ ~;text~=Travelodge~;target~=travelodge~}, opened earlier this year.

~{nilimage~=142626~;dir~=H~;alt~=robinhood~;caption~=The old Robin Hood~}
The ~{link~= http://www.stleonardshospitaltrust.co.uk/history ~;text~=St Leonard's almshouses~;target~=stleonardshistory~} are still going strong:

~{nilimage~=142672~;dir~=H~;alt~=stleonards1~}
~{nilimage~=142673~;dir~=V~;alt~=stleonards2~}
And another set of almshouses seem to have been given a new lease of life:

~{nilimage~=142674~;dir~=V~;alt~=text~;caption~=Almhouses on Northgate. You can see them ~{link~= https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6014252 ~;text~=here~;target~=derelict~} pre-restoration~}
~{nilimage~=142676~;dir~=H~;alt~=gates~;caption~=The big gates next door~}
SAVING CROSSES

It has been moved from its original location, but ~{link~= https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1012880 ~;text~=Beaumond Cross~;target~=cross~} is still "a good example of a richly ornamented medieval standing cross with documented historical associations".

~{nilimage~=142627~;dir~=V~;alt~=beaumondcross~;caption~=The relocated Beaumond Cross~}
~{nilimage~=142628~;dir~=V~;alt~=detail~}
~{nilimage~=142678~;dir~=V~;alt~=origcross~;caption~=The original site~}
SAVING OLD ROUTES

I talked last week about the ~{purplepost~=1335~;text~=Newark-to-Cotham rail trail~;target~=newark-cotham~} (a great way of saving an old stretch of railway). Today, we walked in the other direction, into town. We've done this often before, and it's always a pleasant, bird-filled route, but now the bridges sport some new murals:

~{nilimage~=142700~;dir~=H~;alt~=streetart1~;caption~=The great new street art that has appeared on this stretch~}
~{nilimage~=142701~;dir~=H~;alt~=streetart2~}
~{nilimage~=142702~;dir~=H~;alt~=streetart3~}
~{nilimage~=142703~;dir~=H~;alt~=streetart4~}
~{nilimage~=142704~;dir~=H~;alt~=streetart5~}