Well, what a varied week this has been! After a weekend in Birmingham, I was out 'Loughborough-connecting' in a few other places, including Lichfield and Southampton. In both places I found plenty of things to remind me of home - as well as many differences, of course, like a distinct dearth of yachts in Loughborough!
Lichfield public library has undergone a staggering change, moving from an expansive Victorian building on the site of a former friary, to a small church in the centre of the Market Square. In order to fit, they had to withdraw quite a lot of bookstock, and some of the seating is now in a most odd place. However, they haven't gone smart, yet. Loughborough library goes smart at the beginning of April, I believe, so at certain times access will be by library card only, and there will be no staff within to help.
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| Study tables in the former altar area |
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| Stained glass in Loughborough library |
Upstairs in St Mary's church in Lichfield, now part of the library, used to house the heritage centre. Some of the information boards had been retained, and I was rather interested in this one, and whether or not there was any connection with the various branches of the family with that name in Loughborough.
The view out onto the market below in some ways reminded me of Loughborough!
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| Stained glass above, bustling market through the clear glass |
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| Looking down on Loughborough market |
I have a feeling that all Burtons stores are closing, or already have. There's been a lot of disgruntlement about the Abergavenny store which still had its original 1930s signs, as during the re-purposing of the building, there was a degree of lack of care over the valuable heritage. The Burtons store in Lichfield has been long gone: like Woolworths stores and Co-op stores, Burtons shops are quite distinctive, but the Lichfield one also has definitive evidence of its former life.
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| Lichfield Burtons |
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| Foundation stone in Lichfield |
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| Best I could do for the moment! |
And finally in Lichfield, I spotted trams - ok, toy trams!!! Wonder if they are models of those connected with The Brush?
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| Trams in the Toy Museum, Lichfield |
Meanwhile, down in Southampton, markers on the roadside that I think were to do with water, reminded me of the milestones in Loughborough.
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| Milestone on Leicester Road |
Down towards the Ocean Village we happened upon the former railway station and the former offices for the London and South Western Railway (LSWR). The station has been transformed into a casino, while what was the hotel, Southwestern House, to its right is now luxurious flats. It was in a small upstairs room that Churchill and Eisenhower planned the D-Day invasions of WW2. The building was once extensively used by the rich and those travelling on cruises. Apparently, the staircase was influential in the design of the stairs in the Titanic. The dining room was known as the Wedgewood, Ballroom and, as the name suggests, was painted in those iconic Wedgewood colours of powder blue and white. The building is still joined to its neighbour by the original steel structure. Inside the building there is an original document relating to George III. I haven't been able to ascertain what exactly this pertains to, but in my quest for information did discover that a statue of George III was presented to the borough of Southampton in 1809, and placed in a niche on the Bargate: some of my readers will be interested to note this statue was made of coade stone. Not entirely sure what the LSWR offices are now, but probably housing.
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| The former railway station with the Imperial flats to the right |
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| The inspiration for the stairs on the Titanic |
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| The former LSWR offices |
Along the same road there was a branch of the Wilts and Dorset bank, whose construction reminded me of the lodge to Aingarth, on Leicester Road, which was originally a lodge to The Elms. I might be wrong but the construction looks similar - Aingarth is ashlar (although I can't find my photo at the moment).
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| Wilts and Dorst Bank |
The final thing that reminded me of Loughborough was a pub called the London Hotel. Nothing to do with the name, more to do with the construction material again. The upper storeys look like Hathern tiles, but further investigation reveals that both the upper and lower floors are constructed of tiles made by Carter and Co. of Dorset.
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| The London Hotel, Southampton |
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| Detail of the London Hotel, Southampton |
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| Hathernware on Loughborough's Lloyds Bank |
And there I must stop, otherwise I'd go on all night!
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Lynne
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