Review of lynneaboutloughborough 2015

Review of 2015

2015 has, in many ways, been a momentous year for me. I’ve spent virtually the whole year working full-time, and lynneaboutloughborough has suffered a little for this. On a more personal note, daughter gained a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics from Reading, and we were all ablet o go to her Graduation Ceremony. One son successfully completed his first year at university, and the other started his first year at Queen Mary in London, in Chemistry. Mid-way through the year, my daughter and I celebrated her 21^st birthday with a visit to Ascot Races, courtesy of her older brother. During a week-long summer holiday in St Ives, we became aware of health issues and undertook to loose some weight, eat more healthily and get fitter, a state of affairs that continues to this day. In September, my wonderful partner and I got married after 21 year together. 

In Loughborough, so many things have happened, it’s impossible to document them! I’m thinking along the lines of pedestrianisation of High Street, the conversion of several pubs into convenience stores, and work starting on the new cinema complex.

As for lynneaboutloughborough, blogposts have varied in quality, detail and subject matter, ranging from a pub quiz, posts about WW1, needlemaking, posts about people, events and parts of the town, and posts consisting solely of pictures.

Here’s a reminder of the most popular posts of 2015:

Most visited post: Spotlight on Ancient Loughborough 2

2^nd: Sunloch, a winning horse

3^rd: Pub Quiz

4^th: Market Place sale

5^th: Loughborough 2014 in pictures

Joint 6^th: Red about Loughborough 2

Joint 6^th: Museums

8^th: Stoneywell Cottage

9^th: Old Bleach Yard

10^th: Loughborough Remembers

The posts you viewed least in 2015 were:

Least visited post: Out and about (Hathern Band etc.)

2^nd: Needlemaking and other Loughboroughconnections

3^rd: Ascot, Stamford and Loughborough

4^th: So who was John Nichols?

5^th: Needlemaking in Loughborough

Joint 6^th: A walk in Booth Wood

Joint 6^th: WW1 memorial and church of All Saintswith Holy Trinity

8^th: Richard III and Leicester

9^th: Shakespeare in Loughborough and Macbeth

10^th: 250 years of Lloyds Bank

Of the posts that were not the most popular, nor the least popular, these are my favourites:

A society wedding: a description of the marriage of Edward William Cradock Middleton, banker, to Augusta Sophia Vavasour, daughter of the Rev, Marmaduke Vavasour, vicar of Ashby

Never far from Loughborough: description of things that reminded me of Loughborough whilst I was on holiday in Wales (like Taylors Bellfounders, the De Lisle family, and Richard III)

Walking China and Loughborough: a photographic record of my walk from Shelthorpe to the GCR, past the old Ladybird factory, along School Street, Pinfold Gate and Coronation Way, past the Cherry Tree flats, Cottons factory and home via the Baxter Gate development.

So, I do hope you all had a great break, and I wish you all a Happy New Year! Please enjoy these few photos from the Christmas tree service held at St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray, with Hathern Band.

I do like a good brass band!

I was lucky enough to be brought up in a household where music was important - playing it, listening to it at home, and experiencing it in the concert hall, theatre, or in the park, from classical to pop, Lieder to musicals. As a firm believer in the importance and power of music I ensured that each of my children learned how to play the piano and another instrument, as well as sing.

One Christmas-time, about 10 years ago, we were lucky enough to be in the Market Place when Hathern band were leading the carol-singing. My youngest was very taken with the trombones, and decided he wanted to learn to play one, so we started to have lessons through school (strangely, with the brother of the conductor of Hathern band!), and soon after this we started playing with the Hathern Training Band.

Hathern have four bands, and train players to a high standard such that they can be part of the Hathern Senior Band, currently, a Championship Section contesting band. There's more explanation over on their website, and a list of engagements.

Over the last month, the Hathern Band have been the focus of the Looking back section of our local paper, the Loughborough Echo. The history of the band is also on the website, but it is often the stories from past members and their families that help to fill in the gaps and bring the heritage of the band alive.

If you want to hear the band play in the next couple of weeks there are lots of Christmas events, like the Christmas Concert on Saturday evening, the 19 December, which features three of the family of bands. Then in January, the band plays its annual concert in aid of LOROS: always a great event!

Here are some photos of various sections of the band in action over the last 10 years (in no particular order), and some pics from the past as displayed in the Echo:

      

When only wine will do!

It's funny how things seem to point in a particular direction! There are so many things and people I want to blog about, I sometimes sit and think "where shall I start", but other times the subject of the post is obvious!

After last week's visit to the re-opening of the Old Bleach Yard path through to the Granby Street car park, I was thinking about the new businesses that have relatively recently opened in Ward's End, like Madeline's Gifts and Flowers (where I recently got my own wedding bouquet and buttonholes), the new cafe in what was until recently the shoe shop, and the Deli at 58, to name but a few. Here's hoping that their businesses boom now that there is easier access from the car park.

That also led me to thinking about the businesses that have only recently closed, like Denise's Florists, the shoe shop I've just mentioned above, the guitar shop, the Age Concern bookshops (ok, so it's still in town) and some time ago now, Wakerleys the bakers, again, to name but a few.

Of course, there are a number of shops which have been on Ward's End for a long time, including Kent Stevenson shoes, the vacuum cleaner shop, and George Hill, Wine Merchants. Again, here's hoping trade for them is also brisk!

Talking of George Hills, my eldest was home from university for a couple of days last week, and he popped into the shop looking for some Eiswein (ice wine), as a gift for a friend, who had spent some years working in Canada so was particularly fond of the Canadian variety. Anyway, none was to be had so he came home with some late Riesling instead. Whilst we were talking, I suddenly remembered I had a bottle of Eiswein squirrelled away somewhere at the back of a cupboard, so went to see if I could find it. Imagine our surprise when it turned out to be one of those elusive Canadian varieties!!

Also whilst we were chatting I remembered that I'd read somewhere that George Hill's were having s display in the local studies area of the public library, so I hotfooted it off to the library to have a look at said exhibition, and take a few photos. Do go and see it if you can because my photos are absolute rubbish quality, for which I apologise profusely.

Hmmm, and this gives me an idea for next week's post! Hope to see you then!