So, this weekend (actually, from Thursday 8 September) is Heritage Open Day weekend! Although there seems to be lots of places to visit in Leicestershire, I haven't spotted much in Loughborough, nevertheless, I do hope you've all managed to get to see something.
Yesterday I was in Cheltenham, helping daughter to settle in to a new house as she starts work in the town on Monday. Apart from doing the obligatory grocery shop, we also managed to get into the town centre itself, a place which I've never really been to before, apart from a 5 minute stop on the way to a job interview at the place that must remain nameless!
Anyway, I'd forgotten it was Heritage Open Day weekend, and accidentally happened upon the Parish church, actually, Cheltenham Minster St Mary's. It was a short stop that didn't do the church justice, and I missed some of the interesting talks that were being held in there, but I did pick up a leaflet which listed all the 27 buildings of interest in and around the town, which were open for the weekend. Impressive, but I suppose since Cheltenham is famous for being a Regency spa town, I suppose I should have expected such a wide variety of places to visit.
Loughborough, of course, does have some stunning and unusual buildings, and places to visit, which are normally open (for example, the Carillon, the Charnwood Museum, the Old Rectory Museum, the GCR etc.), but I'm sure there are more that could open their doors for this special weekend.
So, in this respect, Cheltenham and Loughborough have little in common. However, whilst I was trying to locate my daughter's new house, something seemed a little spooky.
A while ago I wrote a blog post about the naming of the roads on the new estate that leads off Epinal Way, and along Allandale, and which is close to Beaumanor Hall, a Y station during WW2. Because of the location, many of the roads are named after people connected with Beaumanor, or Bletchley Park, so, for example, Alan Turing, Peter Laslett etc..
Back in Cheltenham I became aware that the roads in the vicinity of my daughter's house seem to be named after spies, potential spies, or actors who have played 007! So, surely Coburn Gardens is so named in honour of James Coburn's 007-like character in "Our man Flint"? Niven Courtyard after David Niven from "Casino Royale"? Brosnan Drive after Pierce Brosnan (007 in "Golden Eye" etc.)? Lazenby Court after George Lazenby (007 in "On her Majesty's Secret Service")? And Caine Square after Michael Caine who was considered for the part of 007 in around 1967, but decided against it?
I'm sure there were other roads, with a Bond connection, but I think you get the idea!!
See you soon!
Local history of Loughborough: its people, its industry, its architecture and environment, past and current events, places to visit! Basically, anything that's interesting to me and I think might be of interest to you! Articles are usually posted at 8pm on Sundays. Shortlisted for the Alan Ball Award, 2023.
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Sunday, 11 September 2016
2 comments:
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Undoubtably a GCHQ connection there, Lynne. What a great idea though, roads named after 007 stuff. The possibilities are almost endless......Is there a 'Bond Street' though?
ReplyDeleteI didn't spot a Bond Street, but that would have been the road to live on if it existed! Nearby roads seemed to be named after scientists, e.g. Galileo and Darwin.
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