Loughborough Mela and other local events

Last week I wrote about the misplaced milestone which lies outside the Organ Grinder pub on Wood Gate, and I had intended to follow-up with the story of another misplaced milestone (although that is not an accurate description), but lack of time meant this didn’t happen. I’ll follow this up in a future post, as I have a hankering to tell you about my exciting weekend, last weekend! 

As it happened, last weekend turned out to be a busy one, and I spent a lot of time actually being lynneaboutloughborough – that is, out and about in Loughborough or the surrounding area – and loving every moment of it! now, had I been a bit more organised I could have been out and about at even more places and events, but as I really am not – organised, that is - I ended up in the same place two days in a row, and so missed out on a visit to St Paul’s church in Woodhouse Eaves, which was having an open day!! I have a liking for that particular village and church because OH has run the Woodhouse May Day Challenge a couple of times, the people in the village are lovely, my neighbour exhibits at the annual art exhibition, the churchyard contains some lovely Swithland slate gravestones, and a few years ago I helped out with some research into William Railton, the architect behind Nelson's column in London, and the architect of St Paul's church in Woodhouse, amongst many others.

Anyway, back to the places and events I did manage to visit! Usually I walk to Quorn, but as there was so much happening this weekend, I drove the short distance, so I could go to the community centre in the park and view the new community heritage boards. This turned out to be a lovely space, the walls bedecked with about a dozen information boards, covering the local aspect of general topics like transport, education, religion, and pubs, alongside boards relating to Quorn families, Quorn industry and the like. Just the right amount of information and pictures were offered so I could read and absorb, but not get bored. And, of course, I could relate much of this information to Loughborough’s own situation – I feel another blog post coming on … Well done, Quorn Local History Group for an excellent display! 

Oh, and just in case you're not aware, there are campaigns out there to ensure that undesignated footpaths that are used regularly are reported as such, so that they can continue to be used, rather than closed off, and there are a couple between Quorn and Loughborough that are in danger of ceasing to be traversable.  

 

I admit I’m not one for big, crowded events, so standing at the edge of a marquee on the parish green, between the parish church and Fearon Hall, in Loughborough, I was probably the only person who was relieved that the 5,000 people who normally turn out for the Loughborough Mela, didn’t manage to make it this year. Having been cancelled last year, the event did go ahead this year, although on a somewhat smaller scale. This didn’t, however, make it any lesser an event than it usually is, and it was so exciting to be out and about, bumping into friends I hadn’t seen face2face in quite some time, and being entertained with music and dancing. Had I not been rushing back for Sunday lunch, I’d have tucked into some of the delicious food that was on offer, too! Anyway, I look forward to going again next year, probably as soon as the event opens, before it gets too busy!

 

And so, back to Quorn!!! Again by car, mostly down to lack of time, but also because I didn’t want to carry fold-up chairs a couple of miles!! The excitement this time came from listening to a concert performed by the Hathern Band in the park – an event that I always go to. Again, this didn’t happen last year, and in fact, this was only the second concert the band had done since March 2020, the first being only the previous weekend when they played at Oakham Park. So, as well as great music, it was also fab to be able to chat with friends both in the band and in the audience, and eat cake – and even the heavy downpour of rain couldn’t dampen the spirits!

 

I wonder what next weekend has in store for me?! Anyway, do pop back to the blog as it is regularly updated, and I just might be able to deliver that post about misplaced milestones soon …       

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 24 August 2021

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Dyer, Lynne (2021). Loughborough Mela 2021 and other local events. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/08/loughborough-mela-and-other-local-events.html  [Accessed 24 August 2021]

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