Although like many people I often walk along the public footpath, Burton Walks, through the grammar school grounds, and in the past I've taken my children to the summer activity camps, and myself been to numerous events in the dining hall – railway fairs, collectibles fairs – as well as to numerous band events – concerts and contests – in the Hodson Hall, the opportunity to actually visit some of the school buildings with a view to learning about their history, doesn’t come along very often.
So, last weekend I was lucky enough to be able to visit the Loughborough Grammar School, and as well as learning about some of its history, I was able to take a view of Loughborough that I had not seen before.
When I arrived at the quadrangle, from the Burton Walks side, I had a good look through the open door towards Leicester Road, and looked around the ground floor entrance hallway, where hung portraits of notable LGS alumni – Sir Thomas Abney; George Davys; Richard Pulteney, and William Yates [i], as well as other interesting artefacts.
I had been in this part of the school before, but I had not, before, been up the tower, so that is where I excitedly went next! In my haste to get to the top, and look at the views, I forgot to count the steps as I went up – and forgot when I came down too! I wonder how it compares with the Carillon?
At the top of the tower were some Taylors bells, and some wonderful views! From up here there was a brilliant 360-degree view of Loughborough and its surroundings, and it was fun trying to work out exactly what I was looking at. Some views were obvious because of the buildings that could be seen – the Carillon, with its copper dome, really stands out, and the former Ladybird factory on Beeches Road, with the Leicestershire Wolds beyond, is also pretty distinctive. The Charnwood Hills form a clear outline, even if my photos don't do them justice!
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| The former Ladybird factory with the Leicestershire Wolds beyond |
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| The Charnwood Hills in the distance |
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| The Carillon looking tiny in the distance |
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| View towards Leicester Road |
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| View of the quad |
The bells on the tower were all made by Taylors, the Loughborough bellfounders. There was a group of 4, bells, installed in memory of the son of a former headteacher, who died during the First World War in 1916. Along with these four bells, is another bell, and, if I’ve understood this correctly, these bells play the Cambridge Chimes, sometimes known as the Westminster chimes.
On my way
back down the tower, I stopped off in the two classrooms that are off the spiral
staircase. Again, some interesting views out, but also some interesting contents,
including, in one classroom, the electrified mechanism for the clock.
Once back
down on the ground floor, I wandered around, looking at the wonderful old photographs
that had been put out for display, along with some of the books that had been
awarded as school prizes, and reading the huge amount of information laid out
about the actual preparation for the building of the school, around 1852.
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| Read more about the teacher on the right in the front row in an earlier blogpost |
Having taken
in as much as I could, I made my way out into the quadrangle, having realised
how striking the grass was, and noted that the trees which had been planted around
the perimeter were in memory of former pupils who had died during the First
World War.
[i] A little more information about these people appears in my book, ‘A-Z of Loughborough’.
Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 26 September 2021
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