Loughborough Heritage Open Days 2026

I would like to say a HUGE thank you to all those folk who helped me celebrate my blog’s 13th birthday, by writing guest posts for me to host! I’m pleased to say these seem to have gone down very well with you, my readers! If you missed them, you can find a link to them all (and all other blogposts, too) on the links page.

So, before we get back into lynnebloggingaboutloughborough, I’d like to share with you some of the things that are happening in Loughborough for Heritage Open Days (HODs) 2026. Over the past few years, Loughborough people and venues have come together to provide a coherent heritage offering over the final weekend of the HODs. This year, the national festival is running from Friday 11th September until Sunday 20th September, so Loughborough main events are happening on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th.

Having said that, there are a few things going on in the run-up to that weekend.

Firstly, the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteer Group (LLLSVG), will be hosting a stall on Loughborough’s market on Saturday 12th, Saturday 19th, and Sunday 20th September. They will have information about the Loughborough Town Observatoryproject, and leaflets about Loughborough’s HODs events to share with you all!

Briefly, these are most of the venues that will be open: please check the HODs website for booking details:

* Anstey Wallpapers, based in the old Ladybird Factory, will be open for guided tours

* The Carillon War Memorial Museum

* Church of All Saints with Holy Trinity will be offering guided tours

* Fearon Hall will be hosting apple pressing

* Garendon Park will be offering guided walks, in conjunction with St Botolph’s church in Shepshed

* The Generator Building, the recently renovated college building, will be hosting the Alexandra Bedspread

* Loughborough Central Station at the Great Central Railway will be offering guided tours of the station’s public areas

* Loughborough Grammar School will open its building, allowing trips up the tower, and showcasing some of the school’s archive material  

* The Old Rectory Museum will be offering talks and tours

* The Old Rectory Wildlife Garden, this award-winning garden between the church and the Old Rectory will be open for you to walk through, or stop and re-charge

* Taylor’s Bellfoundry will open its foundry floor where the master bellfounder will explain and demonstrate some of the processes

* Unity House (the former Medical Aid Centre)

During the week leading up to the main events, I will be leading some guided walks. I’d love it if you joined me! The theme of this year’s Heritage Open Days is everyday lives, and so I am leading a guided perambulation around Queen’s Park, which was created for the people of Loughborough to walk around and relax in, as a relief from long shifts in the factory. We’ll have a look at some of the structures and layout of the park, and see how it has changed over the years. There will be three identical walks, which are circular, lasting 45-60 minutes, on different days and times.

For everyday working lives, rather than go down the industrial route, and make you walk around looking at the ironwork in the floor, this year I’m going to take you around the town centre to see some of the work of architects – not only local architects, but architects from the region, and also by those who designed buildings across the country. We might even be able to see some of the offices used by some local architects! There will be two identical circular walks, lasting about 90 minutes, on different days and at different times.

Do note, that booking is essential for these walks: booking instructions are on the HODs website or follow the link on the QR code.

I am also leading two Art Deco walks on behalf of the LLLSVG, over the weekend of 19th and 20th but these are now fully booked.

If you’re going to be away from Loughborough during the HODs festival, why not check the HODs website for events that might be happening in the area you might be staying at? Apparently, there are over 13,000 events to choose from!! Anyway, wherever you are, I hope you have and enjoyable weekend!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). Loughborough Heritage Open Days 2026. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/09/loughborough-heritage-open-days-2026.html  [Accessed 7 September 2026]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

The Generator First Hundred Days: big achievements and fairy steps

For the final guestblogpost during my blog’s birthday month, I’m re-visiting The Generator, a place I first became acquainted with back in about 2015. At that time, renovation plans were very much in their infancy! I’ve since taken the opportunity to visit during special opening days, and I was thrilled to attend the opening of the refurbished space in April this year.

An early workshop! Photo credit: Kev Ryan and The Generator

You can read about some of the history behind the building, and the progress of the work in a guest blogpost contributed for my blog’s 10th birthday, by one of the Board members, Dr Jill Vincent. Jill has very kindly provided the guest post below, which outlines what’s been happening during the exciting first 100 days of the opening of The Generator in April, and some of the plans for the future – including the forthcoming display of the Alexandra Bedspread.

But, no more from me! Let’s hear what Jill has to say!  

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The Generator First Hundred Days:  big achievements and fairy steps

Dr Jill Vincent

We must start with the brilliant opening event, held on Friday 24th April.  We were full to capacity, with 300 guests, tickets (free) had flown out, with many disappointed applicants (sorry). It was a joyful evening.

The Generator was adorned with pink ribbon (by Raisa Watkiss). The giant pink ribbon bow at the front door was pulled open by Jess Vollar Bell, our CEO, and Jeevun Sandher, Loughborough’s MP.

  

Opening night queues!

The evening included a textiles exhibition ‘Our Very Fabric‘, a live performance by Donna Sharmaine, welcoming drinks served by our volunteers wearing fetching Generator t-shirts, speeches (David Pagett-Wright, Cllr Jenni Tillotson, Jess Vollar Bell), a fully functioning bar and a very happy crowd. On a personal note, my family members served drinks and some managed to appear in far too many photos.

‘Our Very Fabric’ exhibition was curated by Pasha Kincaid, our Community Engagement Coordinator, showing works by Purnima Chavda, Maggie Cooper, Beth Lukockyj, Nita Rao, women from the Anand Mangal group, and Selene States, along with collaborative pieces created by local students and community groups with artists Jemma Bagley and Dr James Chantry.

Artwork on display

Artwork and industrial heritage working together

We were open Thursday, Friday, Saturday until the end of May so people could visit the exhibition, take part in workshops in willow weaving, creating flowers from sari fabric, sock knitting, pattern cutting and tote bag decorating, and tour the building. We hosted 40 or so people every day.

We closed again in June for ‘snagging’ – when Messengers, the builders, and their contractors came back to sort the bits that we’d discovered needed sorting.

We aren’t opening with a fully-fledged programme, but building our offer and our audiences over time. We will host a variety of events: weddings, away-days, conferences, alongside exhibitions, performances, parties, workshops, community celebrations. Some will raise necessary funds, others not so much. We will welcome all and everyone.

We have started with some regular dates. In July, we set up Self-care Sundays, hosting Soundbath with Love and Light Loughborough. Designed to help restore peace and calm, they use chimes, gongs and singing crystal bowls to soothe body and mind.

By contrast, also in July, some local musicians came to try out the space and our equipment to make sure we are ready to welcome performers and audiences. The evening was a great success, so starting in August, we have (free) Open Mic evenings in the main hall on Mondays.  We welcome musicians, poets, stand ups, performers. They just have to sign up and step up – or as Jess has it, show up and plug in.

[You can find out more about what's going on at The Generator on the Events page on their webpage, or follow them on Facebook and other social media sites]

Sympathetic renovations, preserving the building's heritage

During the thirteen years it has taken us to reach this stage, Board members have pitched in and done everything. Now we are running a venue and that must change. We need support for Jess in her role – she can’t do it all on her own (programming, front of house, tickets and bookings, the bar, cleaning – everything); and an appropriate governance structure. The longest-standing Board members (Andy, David, Roger, Jill) will resign, also Pasha’s contract has come to an end. Those who joined recently will stay (Simon, Sylvia) along with Jonathan Hale, Company Secretary, and we are recruiting new members. It’s a major change. 

We are delighted by the enthusiasm and numbers who have expressed an interest in joining us/Board membership. It is heart-warming – and they are all such strong applicants. We will enhance the Board and happily embrace others through our under-construction membership scheme, advisory boards and opportunities for volunteering.

Lastly, I’ll cheat and mention the weekend 19th & 20th September, when we will as usual be taking part in Loughborough’s Heritage Open Weekend. We will be displaying at the Generator the extraordinary Alexandra Bedspread, with Deborah Moxom, whose research has uncovered the beautiful story of the bedspread, its role in fundraising for our Carillon War Memorial, and the 510 contributors. On Saturday evening, Deborah will tell all, and she and I will hold a Q&A session.

[You can read more about the bedspread in a guest blogpost written for this blog in 2023 by Deborah.]    

And a PS, The Alexandra Bedspread and Deborah have been shortlisted for an award by Findmypast. It is judged on everyday histories, rooted in local communities and heritage. Please vote for her - here!

And PPS, sign up to The Generator Newsletters - find the sign-up details at the bottom of this page!

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About Jill

My career has combined my interest in the arts with work teaching and researching social policy, and active engagement in politics and the voluntary and community sector.

I studied fine art at St Martins, then had a break for children and family. I returned to study at Loughborough Uni (Sociology and Political Science) and gained my PhD from Nottingham Uni.

I worked for the Open University and as a researcher at the Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) at Loughborough Uni. My employment and commitment to social issues complemented each other nicely. I was a Borough Councillor for 16 years, spending the final year as Mayor; I've been a Trustee at John Storer Charnwood and Equality Action (where I am still actively involved) and a Governor at Loughborough College (where I am now a co-opted member).

My interest in the arts is a thread running through my life. I worked in Arts in Prisons research and provision, and with Kevin Ryan at Charnwood Arts. I was a member of ACE East Midlands Arts Board. I was awarded an Honorary Degree by Loughborough University in 2012, and made an Honorary Alderwoman by Charnwood Borough Council in 2024.

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). The Generator First Hundred Days:  big achievements and fairy steps. Available from:  https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-generator-first-hundred-days-big.html [Accessed 30 August 2026]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Alexandra Bedspread and Heritage Open Days - get voting!

As in some previous years, during August I am hosting some guest blogs, in celebration of my blog’s birthday – this year, its 13th! Today, however, I am not sharing a new guest blog, but referring you to one from 2023. You may be wondering why? Let me explain …

The national scheme called Heritage Open Days, will be upon us next month, and there are plenty of offerings from Loughborough venues which either aren’t normally open to the public, or are events that are hosted specially for the second weekend of the open days (see list at the end of this post). The reason I’m mentioning this is because the beautifully embroidered Alexandra Bedspread will be on display in the magnificently renovated Generator Building! And, as if that weren’t enough …

The lady who has worked on finding out about every person whose name is embroidered on the Alexandra Bedspread (with some help from the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteer Group and its Honorary Members) is one of twenty-four people who have been shortlisted for a national award! 

Let’s all us Loughborough - and beyond - folk get behind this!!!

You can vote on devices like your pc, your laptop, your tablet, your iPad, your phone etc.! 

Coincidentally, voting opened on 4th August, which was the exact day of the blog's birthday!!

As of today, there are only SEVEN days left to vote! Here's how ...

You can either click this link and go straight to the voting page, or you can read a bit more about Deborah Moxom and the bedspread below, first!

And here you can hear Deborah talking about the bedspread and the work she's done on it!

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So, Deborah has been researching the people behind the names on the bedspread since about 2018, and back in January of 2019, I was really pleased to be involved in helping to research a couple of those 510 names! George Cattan, a student at Loughborough College, and his motorcycle accident in 1923 will stay with me for a very long time! And this is how I first came to meet Deborah! Our paths have crossed many times since, either at Friends of Charnwood Museum talks, or in the Town Hall, or in the library! The bedspread was on display in the Town Hall back in 2018, and also in 2023, so its hanging in the Generator building for Heritage Open Days will be a rare chance to have a close look at it.

In August 2023, Deborah wrote a lovely article about the bedspread for my blog, some of which I quote below.

Measuring 8ft 7ins by 7ft 5ins, the Alexandra Bedspread 

“is a wonderful patchwork textile … made up of cream cotton squares … [and each square has] a signature of a donor embroidered on it.” 

As this was one of the fundraisers for the Carillon Tower, each donor 

“paid a shilling [5p] to sign their name which was then embroidered in navy cotton by local girls.”

At the centre of the bedspread is a likeness of the Carillon Tower, and this is surrounded by signatures like that of Queen Alexandra, who at the time was the Queen Mother, her husband, King Edward VII having died in 1910.

As well as raising money by people paying to have their signature included on the bedspread, once completed, the bedspread was shown at a fundraising bazaar, at which people paid a small sum to guess the weight of the bedspread. The person who guessed the closest weight won the bedspread!!

You can read the whole of Deborah’s article on this blog post. 

 

On display in the Town Hall

The central detail

If you have enjoyed reading about the Aleandra Bedspread, you might also enjoy an earlier blogpost about embroidered linen, and one about signed artefacts! 

Finally, please remember to vote for this wonderful work that's been done on revealing some of Loughborough's early-twentieth century history!!

Here's the link again, in case you missed it above!! 

Thank you!

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List of places in Loughborough which are taking part in the Heritage Open Days event

More details about how to book can be found on the Heritage Open Days website

In the run-up to the weekend

Architects of Loughborough guided walks led by Lynne Dyer

Queen’s Park Perambulations guided walks led by Lynne Dyer

On the weekend itself

Alexandra Bedspread on display in the Generator Building

All Saints with Holy Trinity church

Anstey Wallpapers (in the former Ladybird Factory on Beeches Road) factory tour

Apple pressing at Fearon Hall

Art Deco walks led by Lynne Dyer on behalf of the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteer Group

Carillon Tower ‘The Human Cost’ exhibition

Garendon Park guided walks (led and self-led) with visit to St Botolph’s Church, Shepshed

Generator Building (hosting the Alexandra Bedspread)

Great Central Railway station tours

John Taylor & Co bellfoundry tours of the casting hall with the Master Bellfounder

Loughborough Grammar School – tower tours and exhibition

Old Rectory Museum

Rectory Wildlife Garden

Unity House historical overview

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows: Alexandra Bedspread and Heritage Open Days - get voting! Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/08/alexandra-bedspread-and-heritage-open.html [Accessed 23 August 2026]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

The UK's Last Great Bellfoundry: Preserving Loughborough's Living Heritage

When I took early retirement from my job as a librarian, I knew I had to look for some regular volunteering opportunities to not only give structure to my day, but also to help me learn more about Loughborough, and to socialise with like-minded people.

I first visited the Bellfoundry way back in the late 1980s, and had visited again in 2017 as an Honorary member of the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteer Group. I also worked with the Bellfoundry for Heritage Open Days in 2019, when I led a guided walk from the Carillon to the Bellfoundry, via the parish church. 

However, it wasn’t until 2022 that I took the plunge and became a volunteer, initially working with MASS Collective, and a group of eleven other volunteers on a photography project to document the progress of the exciting changes that were happening. Very soon after, I became an assistant tour guide, and then a behind-the-scenes-at-the-museum volunteer! 

And so it is a great honour, and with great pleasure, that in celebration of my own blog’s 13th birthday, the staff of the Bellfoundry Trust (Taryn and Thomas) have written a short history of the bellfoundry. 

Prepare to be surprised – and invited to visit or become a volunteer!!

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The UK's Last Great Bellfoundry: 

Preserving Loughborough's Living Heritage

In a seemingly unsuspecting housing estate on the edge of Loughborough sits the UK’s last remaining major Bellfoundry, John Taylor and Co. Starting back in 1759 with Robert Taylor in St Neots completing his bellfounding apprenticeship, this family-run Bellfoundry is full of history that is still being made today.

The buildings that stand today were purpose-built in the 1850s by John William Taylor I. Unfortunately, he was never to see it completed, as he died in 1858, just one year before it was finished in 1859.

Loughborough Bellfoundry - Works 1870

The foundry was successful during the Victorian era, with the peak being the casting of ‘Great Paul’ for St Paul’s Cathedral. The 16.5-ton bell was transported from Loughborough to London by traction engine, through villages.

The family business was passed down generations from father to son, from brother to brother. During the First World War, with most of the men off fighting, women took over! Known as the ‘Shells Girls’, they fulfilled the orders, manufacturing shell castings for the war effort. The Taylor family lost three sons to WWI: John “Jack” William Taylor 1885-1916, Gerard “Jerry” Bardsley Taylor 1886-1918 and Arnold Bradley Taylor 1894-1916.

Taylor staff - Group photograph of munitions girls with shell cases, men and managers with John Oldham centre, 1917

In 1923 the Loughborough Carillon was built: Taylor’s cast 47 bells for this musical instrument that is still played today, every Thursday at 1pm and on special occasions. [1]

The 47 bells of the Loughborough Carillon in the foundry

With WWII came some deviation of production at Taylor’s, including aircraft components and tank turrets. Alongside casting another great bell, ‘Great George’ of Liverpool in 1940. [2]

Paul Taylor was the last member of the Taylor family to run the company. During his time at the helm, the foundry secured major international commissions, including the 53-bell carillons for Washington National Cathedral in the United States and Canberra in Australia. He also introduced new audiences to bellfounding through appearances on the American television programme What's My Line?, which aired on 15 September 1963, [3] and the BBC's Other People's Jobs, aired on 19 January 1956. [4]

When Paul retired in 1977, a board of directors was established, as there was no Taylor family heir who wished to take over the business. Alan Berry was appointed General Manager and guided the company through the 1980s. During this period, Taylor's supplied the one-ton bell used by AC/DC for their hit single Hells Bells, with the famous bell recording made at the foundry. In 1986, the Taylor's Bellfoundry Museum was established to preserve and share the history of the Taylor family, the foundry and the tradition of bellringing. Paul died in 1981 at the age of 67, and some of our volunteers still remember him and his children from the local area.

Paul Taylor, date unknown

In more recent years the Bellfoundry merged with bellhangers Eayre & Smith Ltd in 2005, and in 2009, Taylor’s went into administration facing potential closure. This galvanised a group of bellringers to pool their resources and create the UK Bell Foundries Ltd. to enable Taylor’s to continue business.

A small Taylor, Eayre, and Smith rug

In 2016 the board of directors created the Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust with the aim to conserve the rich history of the Bellfoundry. The Trust is responsible for the preservation of the site, including the archives, museum, factory and foundry.

In 2019, the Trust secured funding to enable the regeneration and restoration of the foundry site, museum and archives. The archives at Taylor’s date back to the very start, holding details of over 10,000 church towers. The archive is still regularly used today, with enquiries coming in from all over the world. It was formally reopened in 2024.

The striking new bellfoundry entrance

The Loughborough Bellfoundry Trust not only helps to preserve this historic site but also celebrates its heritage by offering public and private tours. These provide a unique opportunity to explore the inner workings of the United Kingdom's last remaining bellfoundry and discover the centuries-old craft of bellfounding.

The Trust is supported by a dedicated team of volunteers who contribute in a variety of ways. Some work front-of-house, welcoming and engaging with visitors, while others lead tours around the historic factory. Tour support volunteers help ensure visitors have a safe and enjoyable experience, acting as a helpful presence throughout the site. We also offer opportunities to work with our wonderful archivist, Chris, helping to care for and explore the Bellfoundry’s extensive archive collection.

The archive during relocation 2024

If you are interested in volunteering with us, we would be delighted to hear from you. Please get in touch to find out more about the opportunities available. https://belltrust.co.uk/volunteers/

Visitors to the refurbished Bellfoundry Museum

In 2026 the Trust worked in collaboration with Charnwood Arts on a Digital installation for the museum, whch is an interactive timeline of the Taylor’s family and their bellfounding.

If you would like to see where bells are made, please come and visit us!

Tours can be booked online at Belltrust.co.uk

And don’t forget to book a visit to the Bellfoundry during the Heritage Open Days event [5], when you will be able to meet the Master Bellfounder, and experience a behind-the-scenes tour of this historic factory!

We look forward to welcoming you!

(T&T)

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Notes

[1] You can find out more about the Carillon and the recitals on the Charnwood Borough Council website - https://www.charnwood.gov.uk/pages/loughborough_carillon_tower   

[2] Liverpool’s Great George is a little lighter than London’s Great Paul, coming in at only 14.5 tons

[3] This was as a result of Paul Taylor being in the United States of America for the dedication of the Washington National Cathedral carillon's 53 bells.

[4] You can read about the carillon in St Peter’s Episcopal church in New Jersey on a blogpost from 2014!

[5] For a list of all the Heritage Open Day events that are taking place in Loughborough during the week leading up to, and during the weekend of 19-20 September, pop over to the Heritage Open Days website.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2026). The UK's Last Great Bellfoundry: Preserving Loughborough's Living Heritage. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/08/the-uks-last-great-bellfoundry.html  [Accessed 16 August 2026]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Walking in Loughborough and Herefordshire

Still in celebration of the blog's 13th birthday, I'm very lucky to be able to share with you another guest blogpost, this time about the Loughborough countryside as experienced by walking groups, and how this compares with walking in the countryside elsewhere.

Walking group in Loughborough

A long-standing friend recently moved from a picturesque black and white cottage in a hamlet in Herefordshire, to the metropolis that is Loughborough!

Many years ago, Rod took up the challenge of training as a walk leader for what we would probably today call ‘wellbeing’ walks, and led many walks in and around the countryside close to his home. When the initiative came to an end, Rod and some of his walking chums decided they really wanted to continue walking, and so the Monday Milers was born, and the group of friends would set off every other Monday on a 2-hour walk. Each month, Rod wrote a short article about the walks for the local village magazine, which sat alongside many other articles which showcased the wide variety of activities taking place in the village.

As you probably know, I’m a bit of a walker myself, so when Rod moved to Loughborough, I was keen to make sure he joined a walking group, and inundated him with information (not just about walking groups!) – probably far too much information all in one go!! Anyway, he has become part of the Active Charnwood walking group that meets at Gorse Covert, and has even done the training to become a walk leader!

As you can imagine, walking in our area is a whole lot different from walking in the Herefordshire countryside, but, as we know, Loughborough is surrounded by countryside, nature, and interesting sights, and I think Rod has found some Loughborough walking routes that are actually very appealing.

But, I’ll let him tell you about his experiences himself …

My name is Rod and, as Lynne says in her introduction, I have recently moved to Loughborough. The move was prompted by the need to have a bungalow and to be nearer to family for more support as my wife and I grow older. It was a tough decision to make as it meant leaving behind lots of dear friends and loads of activities that were really enjoyed. It also meant leaving a small rural village in Herefordshire and moving to the relatively large town of Loughborough, a seemingly small step but a massive change to our way of life. So, how did I cope? Well, one thing I was very involved in was a walking group and so it was important to me to continue this activity for both physical and mental health reasons.

Rod's walking group on one of their walks

As a bit of background, I retired in 2008 and at that time my practice nurse suggested (I suspect that she thought I was a little overweight) that I might like to help with leading walks for guests at a local hotel. I hadn’t walked for walking’s sake for many years however I found it very enjoyable and relished the exercise, fresh air and the opportunity to chat with other walkers. Very soon afterwards this nurse was instrumental in implementing the national Walking for Health scheme in our village and asked me to train as a walk leader. This scheme proved very popular and continued for many years until sadly disrupted by Covid and the need to stay at home and isolate.

Once we were released from the restrictions, the group wished to pick up our routine again. On this occasion, we decided to walk as an informal group of friends rather than under the rather bureaucratic regime of Walking for Health. The group named themselves the Monday Milers and flourished. Rather obviously, we walked on Mondays every couple of weeks and, as fitness improved, we found ourselves walking further and on more challenging routes. Although we generally walked in the immediate area of our village and its surroundings, we did sometimes drive out to a more distant start point and walk from there e.g. the Malvern Hills or the wild daffodil trails around Newent and Ross on Wye. I took on the unenviable task of writing a report of our activities for the monthly village magazine, the Fownhope Flag. I always tried to make that factual but interesting, and tried to expand people’s perception of the environment on their doorstep.

A February walk around the River Wye

February trees in Herefordshire

Inevitably, we had some odd incidents on some of the walks, sometimes amusing, other times worrying. On one occasion, on the Malvern Hills, one person had a boot mishap when the sole became detached and was flapping around like a clown’s shoe. A hasty look through bags and pockets enabled a temporary repair with string and spare shoelaces. I took this to heart as I could see how serious this could be on rocky or mountainous terrain and so always carried a roll of gaffer tape after that. Amazingly, the tape was called upon a further twice for similar repairs on subsequent walks.

On another occasion, we decided to split into two groups part way round our walk, the walk leader taking some on a short cut home while the rest of us did the longer route. After half a mile or so, I realised that the leader's black labrador had come with us by mistake. I said “come on George” to him and he happily trotted alongside for several miles back to the car park. The leader was sitting on the boot of her car, and I called out to her “don’t worry, I have George here”. To my horror, she said, “Oh no you haven’t, he’s in the back of the car”. We had inadvertently “dognapped” this poor labrador and had to spend hours trying (thankfully successfully) to locate his owner. 

On a more sombre note, we did have a lady with chest pains while out on a walk, we took her to the GP and she ended up having a triple heart bypass, and another lady who tripped on a stone, fell on her knee, carried on as if nothing had happened and subsequently found she had broken two bones in her knee and was on crutches for six weeks. Walking can be very enjoyable but can also be hazardous: you have to be prepared for the unexpected!

Anyway, I now have fresh horizons to explore, and Lynne has been very diligent in researching suitable walks for me to try. The most convenient and favourite for me now is the Gorse Covert group. This is an amazing group; they lead four separate walks every Wednesday morning. There are also a series of summer walks, somewhat longer distances, I haven’t tried those yet but fully intend to soon. I know from my experience how much effort goes into organising and carrying out such a programme. I have been on the 10.40h walk about ten times to date, this is the longest of the Wednesday walks and generally lasts about an hour and a quarter. The route varies but always starts for the Dishley Community Centre by Morrisons. Attendance is impressive, there are generally 20 to 30 participants on that walk alone. I am still a little hazy as to where we go, being new to the area I don’t recognise many landmarks and so I rely on my companions telling me about things en route.

Having said that I do remember that the Gorse Covert group has walked around Dishley Pool, Garendon Park, Booth Wood, the Obelisk, Pear Tree Lane, Stonebow Bridge and, of course, the Black Brook.

Crossing Stonebow Bridge, July 2026

Enjoying the views and the company, July 2026

Trees in the Loughborough countryside, July 2026

I know Gorse Covert is quite high with some far-reaching views and necessitates a bit of an ascent to reach the top but really walking around here is a lot easier on the legs. It was quite difficult to organise a circular route in my old village without some fairly stiff climbs, so Loughborough probably suits me better as my body begins to show its age.

As always, one of the most enjoyable and important parts of group walks is the social interaction, chatting to people, getting to know their background, experiences and stories; priceless. Consequently, it is all too easy to get to the end of a walk and find that you hadn’t paid much attention to where you were going and the sights and scenes you passed, you were engrossed in conversation. It’s the same everywhere, Loughborough, Herefordshire, town or country, it’s a valuable aspect of walking in groups and shouldn’t be underestimated.

Another interesting topic is the terminology for passages between houses/gardens. In rural Herefordshire this didn’t really arise, there are lanes, green lanes and perhaps alleys in more urban areas. I was brought up in Birmingham and there we called such places Gullies. So, I was a little confused when people here started talking about going down this Snicket, what on earth were they talking about? I soon realised that it was the local dialect for a passage between fences. More confusing was when others talked about going down a Twitchell. A little research showed this to be another word for such places but perhaps of more Nottinghamshire origin. Interesting.

One thing I do miss is the magnificent scenery of the Wye Valley. It’s not possible to replicate that of course but my son and his wife have taken me on walks around the Outwoods and I have to say the terrain and woodland there is very reminiscent of my old home area and there are some splendid views. The only thing missing is the mud, I’m used to a lot of that, but I expect it will soon reappear once this prolonged dry summer passes and we get back to our usual rainfall pattern. Of course, I think the East Midlands is noticeably drier than the Welsh Marches so it will be interesting to see how the mud compares, perhaps I won’t need to clean and dubbin my boots quite as often.

Family walk towards the Outwoods, June 2026 (courtesy of FH, with thanks)

I am looking forward to doing more walks in the area, getting increasingly familiar with the sights and history and perhaps I will be able to share my thoughts and progress with you in future blogs.

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Thanks Rod! Looking forward to taking you up Beacon Hill soon - maybe before the approaches get too muddy, so you can save on the dubbin! - Lynne

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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