Lynne About Loughborough: October 2019

Sunday 27 October 2019

24 hours on the GCR

As you know, I spend a lot of time in Loughborough (when I'm not at work in Leicester!) and even when I'm not in Loughborough I spend most of my time exclaiming when I find anything even vaguely Loughborough-related!

So, in the last couple of weeks I've been lucky enough to be out and about in Loughborough, in Charnwood, and even in North West Leicestershire! Let's start closest to home ...

As a special birthday treat (no, not for me!) we took a ride on the Great Central Railway, but not just any ride!! The Murder Mystery train journey included a five-course dinner, and a chance to try out the little grey cells a la Poirot and Murder on the Orient Express! It was a cold, wet, dark evening as we walked up to the station on Great Central Road and we were shocked to find when we got there that Mr Wellington Boot had been murdered. We were even more shocked to find that the inspector of police, needed help from us to solve the case! It was all very exciting as he presented the information to us on the platform before we boarded the train.

During the course of our meal - I had soup, Boeuf Bourgignon, creme brulee cheesecake (yes, you read that right!) cheese and biscuits, and finally tea - we discussed the case, interviewed the suspects, asked questions of the inspector, discussed the case again, alighted the train at Rothley for a spot of fresh air, re-embarked with fresh ideas, discussed the case again, interviewed the suspects again, and finally presented our verdict. Well, we were half right! What a fabulous evening!

As if that weren't enough, as part of the evening meal we were given tickets to ride the Great Central the following day too, so, guess what? we did!! We caught the train at Loughborough, having spent a little while perusing the platform in the daylight, and maybe buying a book or two! Fabulous to see things along the journey that it had been too dark to see the night before, like Woodhouse Eaves up on the hill, like Swithland Reservoir, and the different stations along the route. We went all the way to Leicester North, and stayed on the train while the engine moved from one end of the train to the other, and then we alighted at Quorn, from where we walked home to Loughborough. And that's all I have time for this week! Charnwood and North West Leicestershire will have to wait until next week!!

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2019). 24 hours on the GCR. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/10/24-hours-on-gcr.html [Accessed 27 October 2019]

Take down policy:

post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday 20 October 2019

Loughborough is the best town in the world!

A couple of weeks ago I was very kindly sent a couple of newspapers which featured Loughborough.

The first of these was the Sunday Times Good University Guide which was published on

Towers never changes!

22nd September 2019. How wonderful it is to note that our very own university has again achieved 5th position in these tables. Not only that, it has been voted University of the Year again for a second time. And, as if that weren't enough, students rate their experience highly, making it third of all the universities.

Engineering is one of the strengths of the university, but it's perhaps best known for sport, so it comes as no surprise that Loughborough University won the British Universities & Colleges Sport championship this year. In another measure of university success, Loughborough gained a Gold for the quality of its teaching in the Teaching Excellence Framework.

The alphabetical listing of universities is peppered throughout with interesting statistics and short articles, including a spotlight on some particularly good 'student cities'. So, we can either be glad or a bit regretful that Leicester is recommended as a great student city - for students at Leicester and Loughborough. The article mentions the large number of festivals that are held in Leicester (like Diwali and the Caribbean Festival), explains that the remains of Richard III are now in Leicester Cathedral, and that live music is to be found everywhere. This particular article is accompanied by a picture by Eleanor Walker entitled 'Echoes', which focuses on Loughborough's Sockman, the Carillon, and Towers.

So, the other article was also from the Sunday Times and discussed towns where folk might want to live if they want to remain connected, but at the same time calm! Apparently, 57% of people stress that access to broadband is a key factor in their search for a home, and other things like being able to walk to work, being able to retain a modicum of privacy, having shops and amenities close by, as well as great public transport are also important.

London Marylebone anyone?

Some of the ideal places people may want to live identified by the author of the article include Banbury, Linlithgow, Malton, Penrith, Sevenoaks and Totnes. Oh, and Loughborough! Of all the towns listed, the average house price in Loughborough is the lowest. It's a 90-minute train ride to London; Leicester, Derby and Nottingham are 20-minutes away, and the countryside only a 5-minute ride away. Apparently, the town is a good place for small start-up companies too, which can only be a good thing.

I have to confess to being somewhat disappointed that we don't seem to have made it to that new daytime television house-hunting programme, Escape to the Perfect Town, which so far includes Abergavenny, Arundel, Berkhampstead, Bideford, Guildford, Knaresborough, Sevenoaks, Thirsk Tunbridge Wells and Woodbridge. Still, it's early days in the series, so there's time for us to make an appearance!

You are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follow:

Dyer, Lynne (2019). Loughborough is the best town in the world. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/10/loughborough-is-best-town-in-world.html [Accessed 20 October 2019]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Many of the things highlighted in this blog post are dealt with in more detail in 'Loughborough in 50 Buildings', e.g. the Carillon and Towers, and in 'Secret Loughborough' like the university.