Lynne About Loughborough: February 2018

Sunday, 25 February 2018

House for sale

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to go to a postcard fair with my youngest who was home from university for the weekend. I've been to these affairs before, but I think he was a bit surprised at the sheer number of postcards - and cigarette cards, tea cards, first day covers, books, maps, ephemera, coins, medals - on offer!

So, we spend a happy morning leafing through postcard after postcard after postcard, and I will admit to buying a couple! What I also got were a couple of old Loughborough Echos. Yes, I know they're available in the public library, but he chance to own a couple of issues of my own was far to much to miss, so I came home with some from 1945 and 1954.

I've only just had a chance to look through the 1954 issue and was reminded that in those days the front cover wasn't the place for the big splashy headline, but more the place for the small ads, those selling anything and everything, including houses and land. There were a couple of things that caught my eye: Shakespear McTurk and Graham was one of them. When I bought my first house (Oxford Street), SMcTG were the firm who surveyed it, and were based in the left-hand side of the Echo Offices building on Swan Street. Other familiar included: W. Pennington - they were the agents who I bought my first house from (anyone else remember Mr Lee from Yorkshire?). Gartons were also on the front page of this issue of the Echo (should I admit we used to call them snotrags?!) as were Armstrongs. Familiar also were Adkinson and Freckleton, based as now at the start of Leicester Road.

The unfamiliar names included Cumberlands (auctioneers and estate agents on Church Gate), and Walker, Walton & Hanson, but on closer inspection they were based in Nottingham, so it's unlikely I'd have recognised the name.

I was particularly taken by Adkinson and Freckleton who were selling a modern semi-detached residence on Middleton Place, which had 2 reception rooms, 3 bedrooms and modern half-tiled bathroom, as well as a garden and coal store. Thinking about this, I'm supposing this was either number 71 or 73, being a pair of semis constructed between 1941 and 1945.

Newspaper advert from 1954 for houses for sale

Adkinson & Freckleton, property for sale in Middleton Place

The other thing that jumped out at me was the W. & F. Armstrong advert for a well built villa residence on Middleton Place containing and entrance hall, drawing room with bay window, dining room, breakfast room, kitchen fitted with a deep sink with hot and cold water, a pantry, 4 double bedrooms, bathroom with hot and cold water and toilet. There was also an outside toilet, coalhouse, shed, and a well laid out garden. Now, I can't quite work out which property this was! Might have been any of numbers, 3-13, 53-59, 61-67, 77-83, 85 or 87, all of which were built between 1885 and 1901.

W. & F. Armstrong, property for sale in Middleton Place

Of course, there were 101 other things of interest in this Loughborough Echo of Friday, January 15th, 1954, but they will have to wait for another day!

For other information on Middleton Place, and connections please see earlier posts: Spotlight On, Victorian House Plaques, A Society Wedding, Red White or Green Maybe?.

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

Dyer, Lynne (2018). House for sale. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/02/house-for-sale.html [Accessed 25 February 2018]

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday, 18 February 2018

Lighting up the Carillon and West Quay

This weekend I have been fortunate to spend some time in Southampton with some lovely people! Ok, I can hear you asking what on earth this has to do with Loughborough ...

Connections with Loughborough include my eldest who lives there: he used to play bowls for the Brush up at Nanpantan, but now plays for the Old Bowling Green in Southampton. The connection this weekend was the light show that was taking place in West Quay, which reminded me so much of the light show that we had on the Carillon about three years ago.

Putting aside the argument about whether or not directing a light show onto the Carillon - a war memorial paid for by public subscription and built in 1923 - was appropriate or not, the event in Loughborough, which was the precursor to the Loogabarooga Festival, a now annual event celebrating children's literature and book illustration, projected images from children's books onto the building. The event in Southampton was similar, with characters from literature and legend, like St George and the dragon, the pied piper of Hamlyn, projected onto the town walls, but on a much grander scale!

There were a number of other light shows around West Quay like lit cubes and balls, a light maze, a musical instrument - an illumaphonium - and colour-changing water geysers. The latter looked great fun - children dressed head-to-toe in waterproofs and wellingtons were getting soaked as they played with the jets of water, whilst parents and grandparents watched with amazement!

Here's some photos, firstly two Loughborough bowls clubs, followed by some photos from the Loughborough event, and then some from the Southampton light show, and a surprise finale!

Bowling at Queen's Park

The Brush bowls green

Light show on the Carillon

Light show on Southampton walls

The illumaphonium

The Guildhall Southampton

Did I say we saw a folded up spitfire outside the Guildhall?

Close-up of the spitfire

The new John Hansard Gallery Southampton

Modern art in the new John Hansard Gallery Southampton

A Ford transformer!

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

Dyer, Lynne (2018). Lighting up the Carillon and the West Quay. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/02/lighting-up-carillon-and-west-quay.html [Accessed 18 February 2018]

Take down policy:

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Sunday, 11 February 2018

More on suffrage and the carillon

Following on from last week's mention of the unveiling of the statue of Alice Hawkins, suffragette from Leicester, this week I found myself at another unveiling, this time of the suffragette exhibition in the public library.

This display was researched and arranged by the newly-formed Leicestershire Labour History Society, and the unveiling timed specifically to coincide with the passing of the Representation of the People Act, 1918. This Act decreed that all men over the age of 21 would be granted the vote, as would women over 30, provided they held property to the value of at least £5, or were married to a man who did.

There were, of course, many things that lead up to the passing of this Act, including the First World War, during which whilst men were fighting in the trenches, women were working in munitions factories, as well as on the trains, trams and buses, and in other industries which were previously regarding as men's roles. Also, as part of the women's suffrage movement, women were campaigning to be allowed to vote.

The exhibition in the public library starts with the early days suffrage, possibly around 1875, and follows the progress of the movement, form early meetings in the Town Hall, to later involvement of some Loughborough women.

The opening of the exhibition began in the Charnwood Museum, in front of the model suffragette, and moved on to the public library. Many members of the Leicestershire Labour History Society were present, along with other interested people, and the exhibition was declared open by Lord Willy Bach, Police and Crime Commissioner for Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland.

I've put a few photos from the event below, but do pop along to the exhibition if you can - it's well worth a read.

Last week I attended a fascinating talk given by Caroline Sharpe (King) about the Loughborough Carillon. After the initial discussions over the pronunciation of the word "carillon" Caroline told the meeting all about her tour of the carillons in the UK, which she undertook when she became our carilloneur in 2008. Apparently, there are 15 carillons in the UK, and Caroline, along with some of her relatives, visited and played quite number of these.

She also explained how the instrument works, and how to interpret the music that is written for it. Unlike playing a piano or an organ, playing the carillon requires a good deal of strength and is a great workout!

There are regular carillon recitals during the year, given by Caroline, and special performances during the week surrounding 22 July, the anniversary of the opening of the Carillon, and on Remembrance Day. The sound of the bells rings out around the town, and can be heard from quite some way away.