Saving the Generator

On an impromptu visit to the town centre, I happened to walk along Packe Street and noticed that the Generator building was open. Sticking my head around the door, I was welcomed into the open event, and joined a group who were having a bit of a guided tour of the space. And, goodness me, what a space it is!

The history of the actual building goes back to the 1930s, when it was once part of the predecessor institution to the University and to the Art College, but let’s have a quick look at the background, and the educational story.

So, the Loughborough University we know today grew from the Loughborough Technical Institute, which had been created in 1909 by Herbert Schofield. The Institute was a centre for further education, with science, technical subjects, and arts being on the syllabus, the Institute having absorbed the College of Art and Design that had been established in 1891. The first Technical Institute building was on the corner of Ashby Road and Green Close Lane, which was demolished in the early 1980s and is now a Sainsbury supermarket.

In 1952, Loughborough College was created, and this comprised: Loughborough Training College; Loughborough College of Art; Loughborough College of Further Education, and Loughborough College of Technology. The latter became the College of Advanced Technology in 1957, and was granted its royal charter, becoming the Loughborough University of Technology in 1966. The Loughborough College of Further Education became part of the university in 1977, and the Loughborough College of Art and Design joined in 1998. Loughborough University of Technology became Loughborough University in 1996.

So, back to the Generator building which is along Packe Street and is joined to the building that spans the corner of Frederick Street and Packe Street, the latter now housing a café downstairs. The Generator was built in 1937, the official opening being in January 1937, when the institution was known as the Loughborough College. When the building was constructed, it was built around a wooden hut that actually housed an electricity generator, and it was intended that the new building would continue to provide electricity for the college buildings. The building it was joined to were, the Garage Workshops, and the 4-storey building comprised: Ground level, car repair bays; 1st floor, housed a hosiery laboratory; 2nd floor had a dyeing lab, conditioning house, and drawing office, and the top floor was a handicraft shop. The adjoining lower building which we now call the Generator, was the generating station itself. At some point, the generating station building was converted for use by the School of Art, as a gallery space (at the very least).

Work has been going on at the Generator building for many years, and certainly since 2016. The last time I properly set foot in the building was back in late 2016, when public consultations were underway in an attempt to save the building and secure its future. 

Things have moved on since then, and funds have become available to do at least some work on the building, but more is needed, hence the owners of the building have now started a Crowdfund appeal. This appeal is running until the end of March, and all monies donated will be doubled until 31st March. You can find more information about this here, and if you’re quick, you still have a few days in which to contribute to saving this amazing space.

Here are some photos of my recent visit, which might give you an idea of the size and condition of the building.

 

 

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Thank you so much for reading this blog. 

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Saving the Generator. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/03/saving-generator.html [Accessed 29 March 2023]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

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Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Garendon Park Estate

Last week on the blog, we looked at letters that had been sent to and from Loughborough, which included mention of those sent by Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle of Garendon Park. As I understand it, Garendon Park was an ancient deer park which, before the dissolution of the monasteries, was also the site of a Cistercian Abbey. The estate then passed through the hands of various families before coming to Sir Ambrose Phillipps in the late 1600s, and staying with this family (through various branches) until quite recently.

Garendon Hall itself was re-designed around the late 1700s, and the grounds adorned with a variety of follies. In the mid-1850s, several lodge houses, and the Bavarian Gates - or Red arch - were designed by William Railton, who also designed Nelson's Column.   

During the Second World War, Garendon Hall itself, like many other homes of its type, was used as a base by the army. In the mid-1960s, the house was demolished, and the estate was separated by the M1. Today, the private parkland is being converted for a new housing estate.

A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to be part of a group guided around the estate by the housebuilders. We saw some of the listed structures, like the Temple of Venus and the Triumphal Arch, along with the White Lodge, the Bavarian Arch, and the small buildings once used as the operations HQ in WW2. We also saw the dovecote, the smithy, the listed railings and gateway, the huts from WW2 and a variety of other interesting buildings. Here's a snapshot of the visit ... photos by me, published with permission from the landowner:

Dovecote

WW2 buildings

Smithy

Swithland slate roof

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog. The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Garendon Park Estate. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/03/garendon-park-estate.html [Accessed: 26 March 2023]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Letters to, from and related to Loughborough

I recently bumped into a postie friend of mine, and we got to discussing … ummm … post! Years ago, you’d have sent your friend or relative a postcard at, say 11 in the morning, and suggested meeting them in the park at 1 on the afternoon of the same day! Your postcard would have been quickly and safely delivered, and you’d have met your friend or relative in the park at 1pm as you’d suggested!

Writing letters and postcards was also important as a way of sharing news and updates, events, and feelings, and so on. If you were ‘important’ or your recipient thought highly of you, or considered your communications to be important to them, some of your letters and postcards might have been saved, and passed down through generations. This is particularly so with communications sent during troubled times, like during wartime. Eventually, your letters may have been donated to a record office, to be shared more widely, and someone might even collect your letters together and publish them.

These days the letterboxes [NOTE 1] are not filling as quickly as they used to. In fact, the letterboxes are barely filling at all. Lots of reasons for this, but possibly because many folk are using emails and social media apps to communicate, rather than putting pen to paper. If we did write more letters, what would we do with those we received in reply? Save them all? Save a selection? Throw them all out?

Hmmmm, so where am I going with this?? Ah, yes, connections with Loughborough!

Volumes 1 and 2 of Life and letters of Ambrose Phillippps de Lisle

As I mentioned above, sometimes people’s letters are saved, for a wide variety of reasons, which might include your being well-known, or popular, or a prolific and expert letter-writer. So, if you were the well-known poet, Philip Larkin, and you wrote regular letters to family, friends, and lovers, someone might have saved your letters, deposited them in some repository [Note 2], and someone else might have come along and gathered a selection together and published them [NOTE 3]. This, of course, did happen, and Larkin gives us a unique take on Loughborough, a place he came to, to visit his mother, his sister, her husband, and their child. 

In a letter dated 27 July 1949, which Larkin sent from the Lupton Hotel in Churston Ferrers, to his mother who was staying with his sister, Kitty, at 53 York Road, Larkin wrote:

“Mind you see a bit of life in Loughborough, always supposing there is any, which seems highly improbable to me, as Bruce [Montgomery, a friend of Larkin’s] wd say.”

If you were Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle (1809-1878), son of Charles March Phillips (who had attended Sherborne public school, as had James Bickham) and father of Ambrose Charles (the first of 16 children), you would have attended public school and Trinity College, Cambridge University, inherited the Grace Dieu estate, and later Garendon Hall and estate, from your father, converted from Anglican to Roman Catholic, commissioned a new hall to be built at Grace Dieu, and struck up a friendship with Augustus Welby Northmore Pugin [NOTE 4], and the Honourable George Spencer, son of the second Earl Spencer. All of which meant that you would have been a prolific letter-writer, with plenty to say, and someone would later collect a selection of your correspondence and publish it! [NOTE 5]

Names of de Lisle’s correspondents are both well-known and familiar – Lord Shrewsbury, the Duke of Rutland, Augustus Pugin, W.E. Gladstone, and more. Here are a couple of extracts, one a letter to the Duke of Rutland, the other to Mr Gladstone:

“GARENDON PARK, MAY 6, 1868.

MY DEAR DUKE [to the Duke of Rutland] – I thank you very much for your kind letter of the 1 st, from which I am delighted to find that you are so well and quite free from gout. This is specially agreeable to me to hear at such a critical moment in our National History …”

“GARENDON PARK, FEB. 28, 1877.

MY DEAR MR GLADSTONE – I little thought when I wrote to you, and when I was reading with so much interest and pleasure your kind answer to that letter, that I was on the eve of one of the greatest afflictions of my life. And yet sot it was , on the 6 th Feb. my poor dear son-in-law Arthur Strutt went to show a little niece of his the great wheel (Which his grandfather had invented) in the Family Mill at Milford, when by the mysterious permission of Divine Providence his foot slipped and he fell into the wheel, between the great outer one and the smaller cogg [sic.] wheel, and was instantly killed. Thus in one terrible and unlooked for moment a dear and affectionate son-in-law was carried off, and my favourite Daughter Alice was at a very early period of her Life plunged into all the grief and forlorn solitude of widowhood.”

Or, if you were Henry Alford, the Dean of Canterbury, with many friends amongst your contemporaries, and who had once been the vicar of Wymeswold, and were a personal friend of Loughborough’s Rector, Henry Fearon, a selection of your letters would have been saved, and later brought together to be published and read by succeeding generations [NOTE 6].

Below is an extract from one of the many letters Reverend Alford wrote upon the occasion of the death of his 10-year-old son, Ambrose, in 1850, this to Reverend Henry Fearon:

“TO THE REV. H. FEARON, RECTOR OF LOUGHBOROUGH.

I know, my dear Mr. Fearon, you are interested in us and ours, and therefore include you in the list of my friends to whom I have to announce the sad news of the death of our dearest and only boy. We only knew of his danger about an hour before, We had very few parting words, but those very sweet, it seemed like a dream. He died peacefully: so we have lost his happy voice and his bright promise from amongst us – a sad trial, but not, we hope, beyond the power of faith to see through in course of time.”

Or, if you were Richard Hurd, at one time Rector of All Saints Church in Thurmaston, before becoming Bishop of Coventry, then Lichfield, then Worcester, and had attended Emmanuel College, Cambridge University, at the same time as Loughborough’s Reverend James Bickham, and later had your portrait painted by Thomas Gainsborough, then your letters were sure to be saved and later published! [NOTE 7]

Interestingly, Hurd lived at Hartlebury Castle in Worcestershire, and, like Bickham, was a keen collector of books. He bequeathed his library to successive generations of clergy, and is still housed in the Castle, which I believe is open to the public.  

Here's an extract from Hurd’s letter to Thomas Balguy - who at the time of the correspondence was the Rector of North Stoke, near Grantham, and who later went on to become Archdeacon of Salisbury, then Archdeacon of Winchester – in which he mentions James Bickham:

Thurcaston, Jan. 29, 1762.

“I know nothing of the intrigues of the late Bishop of London [Dr. Hayter, died 1762]: and now they are of no concern to any body. Your prediction of him was, I fancy, accomplished somewhat sooner than you imagined. His successor you see is the Bishop of Carlisle [Dr. Osbaldeston, died 1764], to nobody’s joy, that I know of, expect Dr Browne’s; and he, I dare say, believes that I wish him no joy from it, in which however he is mistaken.

I had the greatest pleasure, as you would have, in the news of Mason’s preferments in the Church of York. I know nothing yet of the history of the Precentorship. The Residentiary’s place was owing to Lord Montague, for which I honour him.

…

Mr. Bickham is married, and is coming to reside at Loughborough in the spring, very early. Without doubt, as you say, he will be a good neighbour, but I am got into a way of living without any, which is much better.”

So, we’ve looked at a range of letters from across the years, including the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries! But, will there be any letters saved from the 21st century for future generations to enjoy?

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NOTES

[NOTE 1] There is an extensive study of letterboxes in Loughborough, on this blog:

Part 1 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/loughboroughs-letterboxes-pt-1.html

Part 2 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/loughboroughs-letterboxes-pt-2.html

Part 3 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/loughboroughs-letterboxes-pt-3.html

Part 4 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/loughboroughs-letterboxes-pt-4.html

Part 5 https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/loughboroughs-letterboxes-pt-5.html

The case of the Burton Street pillar box https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/11/the-case-of-burton-street-pillar-box.html

[NOTE 2] The Larkin archive is held at the University of Hull

[NOTE 3] Edited by James Booth, and published in 2018, ‘Philip Larkin: letters home, 1936-1977’ is a volume of a selection of Larkin’s letters

[NOTE 4] Together, Ambrose Phillipps and Augustus Pugin were known as the two APs!

[NOTE 5] In 1900, a collection of de Lisle’s letters were published by Macmillan, in two volumes, and entitled: ‘Life and letters of Ambrose Phillipps de Lisle’. The author was Edmund Sheridan Purcell, and the volumes were edited by Edwin De Lisle.

[NOTE 6] From: ‘Life, journals and letters of Henry Alford, D.D. late Dean of Canterbury’, edited by his wife, and published by Lippincott in 1873.

[NOTE 7] The Rev. Francis Kilvert, collected together some of the work of Richard Hurd, in a volume entitled: ‘Memoirs of the life and writings of the Right Rev. Richard Hurd. D.D., Lord Bishop of Worcester’, which contained a selection from his correspondence and other unpublished papers. This was published in 1860, by Richard Bentley of New Burlington Street, London.

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

____________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog. The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Letters to, from and related to Loughborough. Available from: [ URL e.g. https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/03/loughborough-and-isaac-newton.html] [Accessed: 20 March 2023]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne                               

Fire at Loughborough's HSBC branch

Thankfully, no-one was injured during yesterday's fire at the HSBC in Market Place. HUGE thanks particularly to the fire service for getting the fire under control, and ensuring safety for all.

The HSBC building has fascinated me for a long time, and over the years I have written several pieces about it. I included our HSBC in 'Loughborough in 50 Buildings' - here's what I wrote:

HSBC branch Market Place 2013

28 HSBC, 1894

"The banking company of Middleton and partners moved from the Wharf to Market Place in 1797. Under the care of Edward Chatterton Middleton, the premises became an important local landmark, the building itself having verandas adorned with flowers and plants tended by Edward who was a keen horticulturalist. 

At his death in 1878 there followed a crisis in the bank which led to its closure, the business and building being taken over by the Leicestershire Banking Company. In a matter of about twenty years, the building was deemed no longer suitable for its purpose, and architects were commissioned to design a new one, and it is this building which still stands in Market Place today.

The chosen architects, Goddard, Paget and Goddard, were a well-established firm from Leicester, who had designed houses, stables, and churches, and a number of local branch buildings for the Leicestershire Banking Company. Their design for the Loughborough branch was built by Loughborough builders, Moss, and is a very striking building, to an early sixteenth-century French Renaissance style design, beautifully complemented by being sited adjacent to the imposing Italianate Town Hall.

Standing on a plinth of polished red granite, the front of the Loughborough bank building is of Portland stone. The banking hall and banking offices were situated at ground floor level, whilst upstairs originally housed private offices, and a residence for the caretaker. Today, the banking hall has been opened up as one, vast space, filled with machines, whilst the upstairs has cashiers working behind a traditional bank counter. The pilasters framing the entrance to the bank bear dates, 1893 being the date of commencement of construction of the new building. That there has been a bank situated on this plot for over 200 years is quite an achievement, and the current building will be celebrating its 125th anniversary in 2019."

In 2015 I wrote about the connection with the 'Loughborough Bank', created by the local Middleton family:

The “world’s local bank” in Loughborough

"Situated prominently next to the Loughborough Town Hall, the HSBC Bank in Loughborough Market Place is a most architecturally stunning building, designed by the partnership Goddard, Paget and Goddard, of Leicester. Plans were created around 1893 and the building erected in about 1894 by the local building firm of Moss. Today it is registered as a Grade II listed building, having been added to the register in 1984 (1). The main entrance has part-fluted columns with engraved plaques with the dates 1829 and 1893 on them, and in common with many other buildings in the town, local materials, like Swithland slate, and Mountsorrel granite, have been used in the construction. As with many of the older buildings in town, the building has a story to tell.

From as early as the 1630s there had been attempts to make the River Soar more navigable, and around 1775 work began in earnest, and by 1780, the canal connected Loughborough to towns in the south and towns to the north. In around 1778, the area around Loughborough Wharf started to become a commercial centre, and it was in about 1790 that Loughborough’s first bank, Middleton’s, opened up at the wharf. (2) The exact location of the enterprise is not known, but a report by the University of Leicester Archaeological Services on the archaeological evaluation of land at Loughborough Canal Basin, (3) on behalf of a developer, identified a possible late eighteenth-early nineteenth century building. It is remotely possible – and appealing to think - that this might be the remnants of Middleton’s bank, but it could equally well be what was left of any of the commercial buildings that were in the area during that time.

As commercial traffic on the waterways continued to increase, so did Middleton’s bank flourish and grow, and in around 1828 the business moved to the Market Place, (4) to the site that is now occupied by the HSBC Bank. As a private country bank, with only a couple of partners, Middleton’s (5) were able to issue their own bank notes, and the bank was regularly referred to as “The Loughborough Bank”.  

In 1843 William Middleton, one of the founders of the bank, died, and his son, Edward Chatterton Middleton, became the senior partner. Under his watch, the bank continued to flourish and Edward took on many responsibilities in the town, being, amongst other things, a Justice of the Peace, a High Sheriff of Leicestershire, Paymaster General to the Leicestershire Yeomanry (6), Treasurer of the Subscription News Room (housed in the Town Hall) (7), and, along with members of his family, attended local fetes, and contributed to local good causes.

By 1849 there were five banks listed in the Post Office Directory (8): Middleton & Cradock (Market Place); Nottingham & Nottinghamshire Banking Company (High Street); Pagets & Kirby (High Street); Pares’ Leicestershire Banking Company (Market Place); and Loughborough Savings Bank (Fennel Street). The premise occupied by Middleton & Cradock was a three-storey building, with a verandah running across the middle level, and, apparently, as Mr Middleton was a keen horticulturist, there were often plants and flowers adorning this verandah. (9)

When in 1878 Mr Middleton died, the town mourned, and a series of unfortunate events – not the subject of this article – unfolded, and, when the doors of the bank closed this caused a “paroxysm of general panic and excitement” (10) in the town. Mr Middleton’s colleagues were anxious that on “the day of Mr Middleton’s funeral … that the bank should he kept as a Loughborough institution, and that the old house [The Grove, Ashby Road] and even the geraniums might remain in their glory as heretofore.” (11).  

In the event, the bank was taken over by the Leicestershire Banking Company, and indeed, some of the staff from Middleton’s Bank became employees of the new bank. Business continued to be brisk, and eventually, in 1892, it was decided that Mr Middleton’s building was no longer fit for purpose, so architects were brought in to design a new, more appropriate building. (12). Goddard, Paget and Goddard – as they were called at the time – designed many public buildings in Leicester, and other parts of the Midlands, so this firm would have been a good choice for designing a bank for Loughborough town centre. Testament to Victorian architecture is that this building has survived many residents – including the London City and Midland Bank Ltd, the Midland Bank, and now houses the HSBC bank - and is still fit for purpose, continuing the banking tradition on the same site in Market Place for over 180 years."

Also in 2015, I wrote this article on the HSBC building itself:

The HSBC Bank, Market Place, Loughborough

"The building currently occupied by the HSBC Bank in Market Place Loughborough is a purpose-built premise. There has been a bank on that particular site since about 1828, the previous building being the bank of Middleton, Cradock and Middleton, which in the last years of its existence was renowned for its flower-covered verandahs, lovingly attended by Mr Edward Chatterton Middleton. The building which stands there today was designed by the Leicester architects Goddard, Paget and Goddard, for the Leicestershire Banking Company, and was built by the Loughborough building firm of Moss, in about 1893. The Building News, of January 14, 1898 had this to say about the building:

“The new premises of the Leicestershire Banking Company, Limited, occupy a commanding position in the Market-place, all the bank offices being placed upon the ground floor. Above them are suites of private offices, and a caretaker’s residence. The plinth is of polished red granite, above which the front is of Portland stone.”

The commanding position to which they refer is presumably the bank’s prominent position, in what is effectively a market square, and next to what used to be the Corn Exchange, and which is now the Town Hall. In 1984, the building was added to the register of listed buildings, and is Grade II listed. The listing (13) gives quite a comprehensive description of the impressive architectural features, which includes the “distyle porch”, the “part-fluted columns”, the “decorative finials” and the “decorative lead finials”.

This handsome building was designed by the architectural firm of Goddard, Paget and Goddard, as they were known at the time. The firm was a highly successful Leicester-based practice, which was created around 1830, when Joseph Goddard – a man offering a wide range of building services, including carpentry, joinery, and surveying - and his son Henry created the firm of Goddard & Son. Successive generations of the family joined the firm, which was augmented in 1874 when Alfred Henry Paget became a partner.

Over a period of about 70 years, from about 1830-1900, the Goddard architectural practice, in all its incarnations, has been responsible for very many stunning buildings, not just in Leicestershire, but also further a-field, in Middlesex, Birmingham, Northamptonshire, Sheffield and Oxford, to name a few. This work ranges from small- to large-scale residential buildings, from church restoration work to the building of new schools, and includes public buildings like the Clock Tower in Leicester, various libraries and many banks.

Goddards became associated with the banking fraternity in the early years of the partnership, as the Goddard family counted many local bankers as friends, and in particular, a close friend of Henry Goddard was the manager of Paget’s Bank, Thomas North. This relationship with bankers and banking families led to many important commissions for Goddards: The headquarters of the Leicestershire Banking Company on the corner of Bishop Street and Granby Street in Leicester, was designed between 1872 and 1874 by the Goddard firm, and is a striking building, which, until relatively recently, was the home of the Leicester branch of HSBC.    

Such was the influence of Goddards and the buildings they designed that many of the buildings along Ashby Road in Loughborough were inspired by the firm. Also along Ashby Road, several of the detached houses were built by William Moss, the builders of the current HSBC Bank building in Loughborough. Moss was a local, Loughborough firm, created around 1820, and by 1871 they were employing nine men, and, with a local partner, were making their own bricks. By 1877 their workforce had increased dramatically to 52 men and two boys. Naturally, Moss were responsible for building many of the town’s buildings, including the public library on Granby Street, and Loughborough Carillon Tower.

The HSBC Bank in Market Place, Loughborough, is but one of the banks in the town, where many local people conduct their financial affairs and transactions. We may not have noticed, or may not be aware that many of these banks are housed in either Grade II Listed, Locally Listed buildings or buildings with much architecturally historical interest."    

Bank buildings are usually very significant buildings, both for the activities taking place within, but also for their architectural significance. Loughborough has several banks of particular note, which includes the HSBC building. At this point, it is unclear what the future holds for the Loughborough building. Hopefully, it can be saved and staff will return to offer their valuable service to the townspeople. Huge thanks to the emergency services for getting this fire under control. 

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NOTES 

(1) http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/listed_buildings/midland_bank_41_market_place_loughborough

(2) http://www.peoplemakingplaces.org.uk/places/charnwood_history/canals.htm

(3) http://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-416-1/dissemination/pdf/universi1-35039_1.pdf

(4) Bygone Loughborough in photographs. (1974). Researched and selected by Donald H.C. Wix, et al.  Leicester: Leicestershire Libraries and Information Service, image 35

(5) Over the period of nearly 80 years, partners in the bank have included: William Middleton, John Bass Oliver, Thomas Thorp[e], Thomas Barfoot Bass Oliver, Thomas Crad[dock], Edward Chatterton Middleton and Edward William Craddock Middleton

(6) Leicester Chronicle or Commercial and Agricultural Advertiser, Sat Sept 21, 1844, iss 1764

(7) White's Directory, 1877, p. 12-14

(8) Post Office Directory, 1849, p. 2580

(9) Green, Edwin (s.d.). Midland Bank, Loughborough: Two centuries of banking, 1790-1990. Bulletin of the Loughborough Archaeological Society, [s.d.], pp. 18-21

(10) Crick, W.F. & Wadsworth, J.E. (1936) One hundred years of joint stock banking. London: Hodder & Stoughton. p. 267

(11) The stoppage of the Loughborough Bank: Important meeting of creditors. Leicester Chronicle and the Leicestershire Mercury, Saturday August 24, 1878, p.11, iss 3591

(12) Images of Loughborough (1999). Derby: Breedon Books. p. 46

(13) http://www.charnwood.gov.uk/listed_buildings/midland_bank_41_market_place_loughborough

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Fire at Loughborough's HSBC branch. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/03/fire-at-loughboroughs-hsbc-branch.html [Accessed 16 March 2023]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

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If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.  

 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne              

Loughborough and Isaac Newton

At one time I would have been out and about in different parts of the country, and I'd be amazed at some of the connections I found along the way, with our wonderful town of Loughborough. In truth, I haven't been venturing far from Loughborough for a while, but did recently find myself heading towards Grantham, about 40 miles away, although to be exact, I was aiming to get to Woolsthorpe, to visit a National Trust property there, which was only about 27 miles away. Well, I found enough connections to keep me in blogposts for a while!!

On arrival at Woolsthorpe Manor, I was greeted by something that looked like it could have been a prop in 'The Prisoner'. True, this wasn't a white ball, but I think was woven from willow, and rather than being a rolling ball, it was static, being supported on a thin stick. Patrick McGoohan, who I would describe as the main character in 'The Prisoner', which was set in Portmeirion, was an actor who had at one time lived in Loughborough [NOTE 1].

I was lucky enough to be on one of the guided tours of the house. Woolsthorpe had become a manor in its own right in the 13th century, and the manor house - like many of the buildings in the area - built sometime around 1600, was constructed of local stone, which was limestone. Over the years, the house has been extended and altered. 

Woolsthorpe Manor

Of course, this reminded me of our own former manor house, turned rectory, which was built in the 13th century, and of local stone, although the local stone here is more likely to be a harder local stone, like granite. Like Woolsthorpe Manor, our building has been altered and extended down the years, and then almost completely demolished, leaving only the old core, which now houses a museum.

Loughborough's Old Rectory

Woolsthorpe Manor was once home to the Newton family, and it was here that Sir Isaac Newton was born, in 1742. From my school days, I knew how important Newton was, but only had a vague recollection of his work, discoveries, and theories, so it was great to be able to learn more about the man, his life, and his work! Now, there are a couple of familial connections with Loughborough, but I shan't go into those in this particular post. However, there is a wonderful connection with our university, which I will tell you about. 

You might remember that Newton was fascinated when an apple fell from a tree in his family orchard. This particular variety of apple is known as the 'Flower of Kent', a cooking apple that needs plenty of sugar, so we were told! 

Newton's tree at Woolsthorpe

Anyway, the National Trust gave the university a small descendant of Newton's tree, which is proudly growing on the campus, and is surrounded by a willow fence, almost exactly like the one surrounding Newton's tree at Woolsthorpe.

Also, in one of the barns at Woolsthorpe there were lots of experiments to play with, as well as a hologram of an apple, which reminded me that way back in the late 1970s I had attended a lecture on holograms and their development by Nick Phillips, at our university. He went on to become Professor of Applied Optics, and in his obituary in 'The Times' is described as a distinguished physicist and a pioneer in holography who launched imaging in Britain.

After lunch in one of the barns on the site, I wandered off to the small village of Colsterworth, a parish of which Woolsthorpe had once been a part. I was heading for the church, and along the way noticed the wonderful street names that had been assigned to roads on a new housing estate: Darwin Court, Watt Avenue, and Hawking Close. These reminded me of the Grange Park housing estate where the streets are named after people connected to Beaumanor Hall and Bletchley Park. Two more street names I passed, also reminded me of some of the student halls on our university campus - Faraday Walk and Telford Way. 

The church was the focal point of the village, and stood high up, just beyond the former village school. I'd gone to the church on the suggestion of the National Trust, as it was so closely related to the Newton family. But, before I could go in, I was struck by the memorial stones - not literally, of course!! Many of them looked unusual, as they were made of stone, but some looked very familiar, as they were clearly made from Swithland slate - a greenish tinge to them, and while smooth on the front, very rough and ready on the back! There were the obligatory Welsh slate memorials too, an iron one, and an obelisk (though somewhat smaller than the one on the Garendon estate!).

When I finally got inside the church, I did wonder about the bells, and whether they may have had any connection to Loughborough. There was no leaflet about the church in the church, but one was directed to the internet, where I have looked up the detail, and yes, there is a Taylor bells connection!

There were many other features to see in the church, but after I had finally finished looking around, I went off to look around the nearby town of Grantham, Here I found yet more connections with Loughborough, from clocks resembling the clock on our town hall, through a pub named The Angel, of which Loughborough had one, which was firstly on Market Place (hence Angel yard) before it moved to Baxter Gate, and lovely old street signs, like that for Market Street! It appears that rather than having a Green Man, Grantham has a Blue Man!!

Phew! After such a long day of visits, I finally made my way home!

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NOTES

NOTE 1 From 'Secret Loughborough': "Although born in New York, Patrick McGoohan moved with his family, first to Ireland, then to Sheffield and then to Loughborough around the time of the Second World War, when he attended Ratcliffe College. He later returned to Sheffield as stage manager of the Sheffield Repertory Theatre, where his acting career began when he played a part in the place of an ill actor. During the 1950s McGoohan was a member of the Midland Theatre Company, which for a time played every three weeks at the theatre associated with Stanford Hall. After appearing in several films and television roles, McGoohan played the West End before embarking on his most famous works – ‘Danger Man’ and ‘The Prisoner’. "

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posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

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

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Loughborough and Isaac Newton. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/03/loughborough-and-isaac-newton.html [Accessed 12 March 2023]

Take down policy:

I post no pictures that are not my own, unless I have express permission so to do. All text is my own, and not copied from any other information sources, printed or electronic, unless identified and credited as such. If you find I have posted something in contravention of these statements, or if there are photographs of you which you would prefer not to be here, please contact me at the address listed on the About Me page, and I will remove these.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.  

 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne