We could even see the Brush

Many thanks to last week's guest blogger! I do hope you enjoyed reading Ursula's post last week! I know I certainly appreciated being reminded of places I've been to often, but not been to recently because of staying at home. And it was perhaps these memories that prompted me to do something I've never done before ...

I was pretty sure I'd blogged here about visits to Beacon Hill, but last week, when I looked back, I couldn't find any mentions! So, I thought I'd put this right today, and share some photos I took from the top of Beacon Hill last night, 20th June, the Summer Solstice. We arrived just after 9pm and walked up to the top of the Beacon from Woodhouse Eaves. The ferns had grown enormously, and alpacas were hiding, but the sheep were out in force. On the horizon, as we walked up the path to the top, there was a lone, long-horned cow.  

Lush ferns

Sheep

Lone long-horned cow

I wasn't surprised to see quite a few people already up there, some making a shelter, others enjoying a picnic, and others clambering on the rocks, taking photos against the backdrop of the darkening sky. 

How lovely it was that last week's guest blogger was able to join us for this exciting event. Despite the breeze and the social distancing, we were still able to have a lovely chat!

Looking out over Loughborough and the surrounding area, there were a few landmarks that were easily spottable - like the M1, busy with cars, Towers, but more surprisingly we could see the lovely neon sign all the way down at the Brush!!! I am most definitely not the best photographer, so hopefully you can spot the Brush's pinkish sign!

The string of car lights on the M1

The Brush neon sign clearly visible

The Brush at night, taken from the railway station

Gradually, the sky began to redden, and the clouds began to make beautiful shapes in the sky.

Finally, the sun had set and it was time to go home. Other people clearly had the same idea.

Making our way back down the path, we passed some beautifully coloured sky sandwiched between the silhouetted trees. 

I've never been to Beacon Hill in the dark before, but it was definitely an experience that I'd repeat.

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

Dyer, Lynne (2020). We could even see the Brush! Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/06/we-could-even-see-brush.html  [Accessed: 21 June 2020]

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.

If you wish to leave a comment, please do so in the comments box that appears below this blogpost. Alternatively, you can contact me via lynneaboutloughborough[at]gmail[dot]com.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne     

Loughborough trinket box

You've probably noticed it's coming up to Christmas! Lights in the town centre, Christmas trees in the church, Christmas music in the shops, board games at Fearon Hall! And lots of opportunities to get out and about and see some different things.

This weekend I popped along to an antique fair, held in the Hodson Hall in the grounds of the Endowed Schools on Burton Walks. I've been to lots of antique shops over the years, but not to a fair for quite some time - and I was pleasantly surprised!! Lots of interesting artefacts - from jewellery, to glass, from china to wood working tools, and everything in between. Also, cigarette cards, old money, postcards and ephemera. So, what better present to buy for a lover of Loughborough than a trinket box? No ordinary box though. A little china affair, with a Loughborough "coat of arms" (i) on it: a little but worn, but still recognisable.

The lion at the top (the crest) is related to the Beaumont family, who were lords of the manor, from the time of the reign of Henry III (around 1265) and Henry VI (around 1422).

Now, my knowledge of heraldry is scant, so I may not be able to accurately describe the shield. What I do know, however, is that the motif on the top right is a maunche which represents the Hastings family, who were the lords of the manor following the Beaumonts. The bull on the bottom of the shield is also a motif associated with the Hastings family.

The diagonal strip across the middle of the shield shows a cockle shell top and bottom, and a fret or lace pattern in the middle, all of which are part of the coat of arms of the Despencer family, Hugh le Despenser being lord of the manor until his death at the battle of Evesham in 1265.

The motto is just about discernible and says: "In veritate victoria". A modern-day interpretation of this would be "Victory is in truth", and this was the motto associated with the former Barons of Loughborough, that is, the Hastings family.

The arms were officially granted in 1889, which was the year of the incorporation of the borough. In 1974 the Borough of Charnwood was granted use of the arms. 

i) This is not strictly a coat of arms, as there are no supporters included. Supporters usually appear on each side of the shield, and often appear to be holding up the shield. 

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

Dyer, Lynne (2018). Loughborough trinket box. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/12/loughborough-trinket-box.html  

[Accessed 9 December 2018]

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.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne

        

Review of 2017

2017 has been an interesting year both for me and for the blog! 

I finally finished my local history course in July, and the results eventually came through in November!! I've been more involved in the Old Rectory Museum of late, and started a blog and a Twitter feed for them, as well as sending in reports of activities and meetings to the Loughborough Echo. I've also been a little more involved with the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers Group, and wrote 100 words about Loughborough every day for 100 days. 

As for the blog, I promised an update to the format, and a few extra interesting pages, but in reality I've been a bit side-tracked by other things, so this hasn't materialised. Never mind, you still seem to enjoy reading some of my posts, so here's the usual end-of-year review - the most popular posts and pages, the least popular posts and pages, and the all-time most popular posts and pages!

Your most favoured posts are: 

* Coming in at 10th place, was Swithland Slate in Local Churchyards

* Placed at 9th was The Loughborough Legend

* In 8th place was Swithland Slate Gravestones

* The 7th most popular post was The Silence of Loughborough Fair

* Placed at 6th position was Why Have I Never Visited Before?

* In 5th position was From the Rooftops, Part 1

* And in 4th place was Snowy Loughborough
 
* And in medal position 3rd came Disasters in Loughborough

* 2nd place was taken by Plague and Dead Lane

* 1st place was awarded to Disasters and Plague Houses!


Your least favourite posts included:

# Your Favourite Posts

# Loughborough local history rooted in Charnwood

# Loughborough in 100 Words

# Bridges, buses, trains, balloons and runners

# Taylors Bells Sent off to Ypres

# Windmills

# Cheltenham, Harpury, Malvern and Loughborough

# Pamphlet Day and Newsletter Time

# Nanpantan reservoir

# Churchyards

When it comes to your all-time favourite posts, here's the list:

10th - From the Rooftops of Loughborough Pt 1

9th - Bradgate Park

8th - Cinema Memories

7th - Obelisks everywhere

6th - Snowy Loughborough

5th - Disasters in Loughborough

4th - Ghost Signs of Loughborough

3rd - Spotlight on Ashby Road

2nd - Plague and Dead Lane 

1st - Disasters and Plague Houses


There aren't as many pages associated with the blog as there are posts, so here's the top 5:

5th - Loughborough Zeppelin Trail

4th - Books About Loughborough

3rd - Loughborough, Luddites and Lace Walking Trail

2nd - Loughborough Sculpture, Art & Architecture Trail

1st - About Me

Anything you particularly want to read about in 2018?

Thank you for reading the blog!

Happy New Year to you all!

Lynne

Branding the town

I was lucky enough recently to attend an event at the re-furbished City Hall in Leicester, formerly home to the Willie Thorne snooker club! The hall has been beautifully restored and whilst some of the fittings, like the clock, are the original art deco artefacts, much has been faithfully reproduced, making the interior decor seem authentic.

Inside City Hall Leicester

The art deco clock in City Hall Leicester

Anyway, the event, attended by interested people and representatives from interested organisations from across the Midlands and beyond, was on town branding for heritage organisations.

As you might expect of a conference being held in Leicester, we heard from various presenters about Leicester's 2000 year history, about the stories of Leicester and about the vision for the future of Leicester. But, we also heard from the experience of the likes of Nottingham, with their world famous brand that actually makes promoting other aspects of the city - like the castle and the caves - difficult; from Lincoln, with its obvious cathedral-based heritage that eclipses everything else; from Stamford, the perfect example of a small market town; to Grantham, a town struggling with its heritage and image - Newton or Thatcher?

After lunch we were put into groups based on our own geographical area, and I found myself on a Charnwood table. Those of us who live in Charnwood can appreciate the difficulty of trying to brand an area that contains Leicestershire's biggest market town, a couple of small towns, and numerous small villages, all of differing character. Oh, and 90% of Bradgate Park!

Focusing on one branding necessarily excludes many others. So, for example, if we were to identify the area using Loughborough as an example, then we might use images of the Carillon, the Great Central Railway, the canal, Taylor's Bellfoundry, Ladybird Books, but the villages might struggle to identify with this. Similarly, if we were to brand the area by focusing on Bradgate, for example, then the people of Loughborough would probably be saying "when was the last time we saw a deer in the Market Place?".

Deer in Bradgate Park

In the end, I think we plumped for suggesting Taylor's Bellfoundry as the focal point of the area and to tell the story of Charnwood, through its connections with the town of Loughborough, the canals, the railways, and roads, it being the only bell foundry left in the country now that Whitechapel is likely to close, its long association with the area and the spread of its products world wide. But we could just as easily have chosen to brand using Swithland slate, a material used throughout Charnwood as roofing material, and other building material. Or Mountsorrel granite. Or ...

The closing of the Whitechapel Bellfoundry, as reported in The Times, 11 March 2017

The Carillon in Queen's Park, Loughborough

A roof of Swithland slate

The Great Central Railway station at Loughborough

On the Grand Union canal, Loughborough, the Boat Festival

The former Ladybird factory on Windmill Road, Loughborough

The cast of the Great Paul bell, made by Taylor's, in Queen's Park, Loughborough

Now, where's that picture of Mountsorrel granite disappeared to?

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

Dyer, Lynne (2017). Branding the town. Available from: http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2017/03/branding-town.html [Accessed 12 March 2017]

Stoneywell Cottage

A visit to Stoneywell!

After an exciting week in Leicester, I now find myself, not quite back in Loughborough, but in Charnwood!
You may have noticed that National Trust properties are in very short supply in Leicestershire, but I have no idea why! Of course, Loughborough being close to the county borders, does mean that there are a couple of NT things nearby, like Calke Abbey, Kedleston Hall, Duffield Castle, Sudbury Hall, and Southwell Workhouse. What I hadn’t realised though, was that although Calke Abbey is in Derbyshire, Staunton Harold Reservoir is in Leicestershire!

I also hadn’t realised that there is an NT nature reserve in Ulverscroft, although access to this is restricted to permit holders. So, how wonderful it is to now have the lovely Arts and Crafts home that is Stoneywell, in the hands of the NT, and now open for visitors.

In order to visit Stoneywell one has to book in advance. This is because it’s a very small property, and visitors are shown around in small groups, by well-trained, well-informed guides. Access to Stoneywell is via the minibus which can be picked up at the dedicated Stoneywell car park. The journey is only a couple of minutes, and the driver will tell you a little bit about the place en route.

 

 

 

When you get there, you arrive at the stables, and are greeted by someone who takes your payment and books you onto the tour. Another guide then tells you a bit more about the property, and, if you have to wait for your tour, you can wander around the stables, or walk around the gardens, as long as you’re ready and waiting outside the house at your allotted tour time.

 

 

 

 

 

The house, seemingly bursting out of the rock, was built in 1899: We know this from the lintel over the front door, which has the date carved into it. The house was a real surprise to me as I was expecting it to be tiny, but actually, it was very large, and all higgledy-piggledy, and full of exciting features!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The guide we were assigned took us through the house and made everything come alive! He really knew his stuff and was able to talk to us about almost everything we could see in the house, which was a large amount of furniture made by either Ernest Gimson or the Barnsley brothers in the early days of the twentieth century, and many other artefacts from the 1940s and 1950s, which were things that the last Gimson owner (Donald, until 2012) would have been familiar with.

Some of my favourite things were the books shelves just under the line of the ceiling in the lounge, and the bookcases made especially to fit spaces in the bedrooms. I also loved the Orkney Chair, the tiny little radiators that were fitted in about 1965, the beautiful chess set that Donald made in 1985, using a wine bottle box in which to store the pieces, Donald’s pipes sitting in their stand on a bookcase, his shaving brush in its shaving mug on the side of the sink, and the 1950s foot warmer on the bed!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, the dining table, made to be used, was pretty spectacular, as were the dining chairs and the beds!

 

Although we were quite a large group, there was ample space within the rooms to see everything, and our guide made sure everyone got a chance to look at all the interesting things, and not get left behind. Some of the stairs were quite steep and narrow, but if Donald Gimson could climb these when he was well into his 80s then so could we!!

 Once we’d been on the tour of the house, we had plenty of time to explore the gardens: The gardeners were out in force when we went, and some were working on the kitchen gardens, turning them back into such, planting potatoes, tying up raspberry canes and planting out herbs. The grass tennis courts were immaculate, the daffodils were out in force, and the ground was springy with bracken.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the little rocky outcrop called the fort, we pretended to be on the lookout for “baddies” and imagined ourselves playing as the little Gimson children, so lucky to have such a wonderful place to play and run around in. 

We also stopped to look into the stables, which hadn’t changed much from the picture one of the guides showed us from the early 1900s! Inside were many interesting artefacts, including a suitcase full of leather horse harnesses, a horseshoe on the wall and a lovely knife-grinder. Originally, the NT were going to have their offices upstairs in the loft, but bats were in residence, so plans had to be changed so as not to disturb them.

 

 

 

 

 

Stoneywell Tearooms

 

 

On the day we visited the little tearoom was so overcrowded that we didn’t stop for refreshments, but we would have liked to have done. Instead, we hopped into the mini bus, collected our car, and made our way to Ulverscroft Grange, where we sipped our drinks whilst looking out over the valley.

The view from Ulverscroft Grange Tearooms