Another very exciting week learning about local history - in a small pub in Leicester, in Loughborough's Town Hall, and on a walk around the local countryside.
In the Two-Tailed Lion pub, a small, but fantastic building, in the heart of Leicester's Greyfriars area, I heard a very interesting talk by someone who works at Lamport Hall in Northamptonshire. The topic was the impact of the slave trade on the English country house, which seems to be a hot topic at the moment, with people campaigning to eradicate and remove all reminders of Britain's involvement. Anyway, it appears there are many country houses that were built, and architects influenced, by money earned through things like the sugar trade etc.. These now wealthy people - new money - wanted to introduce an air of respectability to their lives and to rub shoulders with the aristocratic land owners. This helps to explain to me why there are so many country houses in our area, of which more later.
The next evening we went along to the Town Hall to see Lucy Worsley sharing her knowledge of, and love for Queen Victoria, on what would have been her 200th birthday. Incidentally, it would also have been Prince Albert's 200th birthday, but he really wasn't the topic of the evening!!! It was fascinating to hear Lucy Worsley's views about the life and times of Queen Victoria, and I was pleased to hear mention of the poor, unfortunate Lady Flora Hastings, as she makes an appearance in my latest book. In the second half of the show, there were some brilliant questions from the floor: no matter what they were, the answers always centred around Queen Victoria!!!
This weekend we popped down to the Old Rectory in Loughborough, to see the wonderful art exhibition that was on, and to meet the artists, who showed us around. It was a beautifully sunny day, the Rectory looked stunning, and the artwork was amazing!
Later that same day I was promised a meal out at The Plough in Normanton, a pretty riverside pub. But, of course, there was a catch! We parked the car on Stanford Lane, not far from the lovely St John the Baptist church which is on Main Street, Stanford. I hadn't really given it any consideration before, but apparently this church is the most southerly in the northern province of York (but I'm guessing it's part of the Diocese of Southwell??).
So, having parked the car, we then walked along the further of the two footpaths on the left heading towards Cotes, for a bit of a walk! I was promised it was only going to be about an hour, but it took about two, probably mostly my fault for stopping to take photographs of things that are not normally quite so visible! So, we walked a rectangle, from Stanford Lane, along one side, keeping the A60 and Hoton to our right, then down towards the Church of All Saints at Rempstone, then running parallel to the A6006 Melton/Ashby Road, and then finally back to the lower footpath leading out onto Stanford Lane (something like that anyway - I'm not good at orientating myself once I've turned but one corner!). It really was quite a picturesque walk, and only one shortish patch was rather overgrown, the rest was quite easily traversed. Once back at the car we headed off to Normanton, and enjoyed a nice meal by the riverside in the last of the sunshine!
Along the way we were able to see Stanford Hall, now the Defence and National Rehabilitation Centre (DNRC), and Rempstone Hall, both of which can be glimpsed from the A60 when the crops are just planted. They are surprisingly located very close to each other, and not that far from Prestwold Hall, which is nestled in the heart of the Leicestershire Wolds. I've seen Rempstone Hall quoted as being in Leicestershire, in Nottinghamshire and on the Leicestershire/Nottinghamshire border so, take your pick!!! And, I've found a lovely film of coronation scenes at Rempstone Hall in 1937 (George VI and Elizabeth).
Anyway, I haven't investigated whether the halls were built with new or old money, but here are some pictures from my walk:
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| Stanford Church at the start of the walk |
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| Stanford Hall in the distance |
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| A bit closer to Stanford Hall |
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| Rempstone Hall in the distance |
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| Stanford Hall in the distance |
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| Closer to Stanford Hall |
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| Even closer! |
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| Closer to Rempstone Hall |
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| Poppies on our walk |
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| Quite close to Stanford Hall |
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| Some of the beautiful views on our walk |
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| Stanford Church at the end of our walk |
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| Hoton church, which is now a family home, in April 2019 |
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| Hoton church, which is now a family home, in April 2019 |
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Lynne
Hi Lynne, what a fantastic day out - I live not far from Prestwold Hall. I think the debate around the profits of the slave trade is well overdue, but the objective is more usually to draw attention to its place in country homes, not remove its reminders, but highlight them. Much like we've done with the history of women in country homes. I hope we see more debate like this, it really helps people see the threads of history around us
ReplyDeleteHi Fran! Thanks for reading the blog and taking the time and trouble to comment. Wed did indeed have a lovely day out. I think you're right, the presentation of the history of the country house is about the interpretation, so being open and honest, rather than deliberately or inadvertently sweeping the less pleasant aspects of our history under the carpet. After all, what's happened in the past is what has led us to where we are today. Thanks again, Lynne
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