Agatha Christie Connections

When I read all the Agatha Christie novels back in 2024-25, because I started with the first of her novels, ‘The Mysterious Affair at Styles’, which was written in 1916, and published in the UK in 1921, I always associate her with the 1920s and 1930s. As you already know, whilst I was reading the complete novels, I was struck by loads of connections I could make with our lovely town, and some I’ve written about on here (see list below).

Naturally, I made of note of all these connections, and looking back at them now, I had to wonder to myself why I had made this particular link? Why on earth would Agatha Christie be mentioning this, which was surely something that would not yet have existed. Of course, when I looked at the publication date of ‘At Bertram’s Hotel’, I realised that 1965 would have been about right for this connection. In fact, this shows just how up-to-date Christie was, and how she kept up with what was going on in the country!

Back in 1949, the government had passed the Special Roads Act, which pretty much gave the go-ahead to create some new roads, an idea that had been floating around since before the Second World War, and some attempt had been made in 1923 by a company set up by Lord Montagu of Beaulieu. The first of these ‘special roads’ was the Preston bypass which was built in 1958, and which later became part of the M6.

On pages 3-4 of ‘At Bertram’s Hotel’, the reader is introduced to the hotel, and some of its guests:

“Inside, if this was the first time you had visited Bertram’s, you felt, almost with alarm, that you had re-entered a vanished world. Time had gone back. You were in Edwardian England once more.

… the big entrance lounge was the favourite place for the afternoon tea drinking. The elderly ladies enjoyed seeing who came in and out, recognising old friends, and commenting unfavourably on how these had aged. There were also American visitors fascinated by seeing the titled English really getting down to their traditional afternoon tea. For afternoon tea was quite a feature of Bertam’s ...

On this particular day, November the 17th, Lady Selina Hazy, sixty-five , up from Leicestershire, was eating delicious well-buttered muffins with all an elderly lady’s relish.”

Later, on pages 170-2, Christie, describing people in the hotel’s lounge, wrote:

“There were not many people in the lounge this evening. [The Chief-Inspector] saw Miss Marple sitting in a chair near the fire and Miss Marple saw him … It was quiet in the lounge tonight.

An ascetic looking middle-aged man was reading through a badly typed thesis, occasionally writing a comment in the margin in such small crabbed handwriting as to be almost illegible. Every time he did this, he smiled in vinegary satisfaction.

There were one or two married couples of long standing who had little need to talk to each other. Occasionally two or three people were gathered together in the name of the weather conditions, discussing anxiously how they or their families were going to get where they wanted to be.

‘ – I rang up and begged Susan not to come by car … it means the M1 and always so dangerous in fog …’

‘They say it’s clearer in the Midlands …’

Chief Inspector Davy noted them as he passed.”

So, if the book was published in 1965, then Christie must have been writing about the M1 in the Midlands some time earlier! How absolutely abreast of current affairs was Christie?!

Mr lynneaboutloughborough recently did a park run on Greenham Common: in his sharing of this activity, he’s been interested to note that some people look blankly at him, and wonder why he chose to run there, while others gasp in amazement and ask what it’s like there since the women who arrived there to protest about nuclear weapons in 1981 had moved out about 19 years later?

The first part of the M1 opened in 1958, but, of course, detailed plans were made much earlier and certainly shared in 1956. There was an outcry in our area, as the original plan for the route was to take it through the ancient Charnwood Forest. A petition to stop this gathered 32,000 signatures! A revised route was devised, and the M1 through Leicestershire from Leicester Forest East, going in a northerly direction, and therefore passing Loughborough, opened in 1965. Apparently, incorporated in the hardcore was building material from Garendon Hall, which had been demolished in June 1964.

Since that time, Charnwood Forest has become an ‘aspiring UNESCO global geopark’ and has received Heritage Lottery Funding to help tell the story of Charnwood Forest, and look after it for future generations. There have also been many changes to the layout of the M1, with new lanes added, and new junctions, installed, linking more places. And the site of Garendon Hall is now being developed for housing. What more can I say?

The Outwoods, part of Charnwood Forest

Part of Garendon Park

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Previous Agatha Christie connections posts

Snowcrete - https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/03/christie-connections-snowcrete.html

Christie and Cook - https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/08/christie-and-cook.html

Paul Pry - https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/03/christie-connections-paul-pry.html (part of the A-Z Art Deco Challenge 2025)

Pirates in the Market Place - https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/06/spotlight-on-pirates-in-market-place.html

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Dyer, Lynne (2026). Agatha Christie Connections. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2026/06/agatha-christie-connections.html [Accessed 25 June 2026]

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Outwoods sculptures in town

A few months ago I made it up to The Outwoods, to see the wonderful sculptures that were part of the sculpture trail. The event was so popular it remained in The Outwoods longer than originally planned, but if you missed it, you can still see some of the work - if you're quick!

From 8th until 22nd October 2022, a variety of spaces around town are showcasing some of the sculptures, other work related to them, and activities centred around them. There's also a good deal of information on show about the Charnwood Forest, and the associated landscape project. Here's the flyer:

I must admit I was a bit skeptical about how such large-scale artworks made of willow would fit into the urban environment, but admit I was pleasantly surprised, and was particularly impressed with the use of an empty retail unit in The Rushes, where the sculptures actually seemed to sit, naturally. Here's a few photos of what I experienced, firstly in the former Cargo shop:

Taking Root, by Nita Rao

Artwork by Lucy Stevens

Charnia by Nita Rao

Work by Men and Women in Sheds

Meanwhile, over at the Rectory Wildlife Garden, which links the Old Rectory with Fearon Hall and the parish church, more of Nita Rao's work:

Hurry on down to Loughborough town, before the sculpture displays come to an end!

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Note: I did ask for, and was granted permission, to photograph the artwork for this blog.

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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 (2022). Outwoods Sculptures in Town. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/10/outwoods-sculptures-in-town.html    [Accessed 19 October 2022]

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                      

Old railway and woods

It's that time of year again, when everyone seems to be out walking in the woods!! So, I thought I'd join them!! Took a bit of a circuitous route, as you do, and wandered along the old railway first, before ending up in Holywell Wood, and from there moving to Burleigh (aka bluebell) Woods, and then traversing a part of the university campus I was less familiar with. Here's a few photos of my journey through our beautiful area.

On the old train line:

On the way to Holywell Woods:

At Holywell Woods:

On the way to Burleigh Woods:

In Burleigh Woods:

On the way back through the university:

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

Dyer, Lynne (2019). National Memorial Arboretum and connections to Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/04/old-railway-and-woods.html [Accessed 28 April 2019]

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

National Memorial Arboretum connections to Loughborough

I recently visited the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas Staffordshire. I hadn't really thought much about what I expected to see, but I was staggered by the size of the place, the thousands of people remembered in the memorials and their inscriptions, by the plaques to civilians, by the extent of the actual tree-planting, and the general poignancy of the place.

Of course, everywhere I looked and turned there were things that reminded me of Loughborough. Here's a few of the connections that struck me as I wandered around.

There were several mentions of Charnwood Forest and the aim of linking up with it:

The site was close to the River Trent and the River Tame, which reminded me of the River Soar and there were some lovely bridges:

There was also a working quarry nearby:

One of the first things I came across was mention of Loughborough's twin town, Epinal:

This was followed by a stunning lion statue: the connection here is perhaps a bit obscure, but it reminded me of the lions at Nelson's column, which was designed by William Railton who was also responsible for designing quite a number of buildings in and around Loughborough, including the Bavarian or Red Arch on the Garendon estate. There was also an obelisk-type memorial which reminded me of the one on the Garendon estate:

Next up was the memorial to the Richard Emmanuel Rendell, which reminded me of our own Rendell Street and school:

The shot at dawn memorial was heart-wrenching, and the name Beaumont stood out for me, as the name of former lords of the manor of Loughborough:

There was a bench with mention of Operation Herrick, the codename for British operations in the war in Afghanistan:

I was then reminded of the lady who used to live next door to me who was in the Women's Land Army:

There were also quite a number of memorials made of slate, though not of the Swithland variety:

Masons were also remembered:

Bells featured quite extensively at the NMA too:

And the memorial to the people of the Showman's Guild of Great Britain reminded me of our November fair, the last in the traveling season: 

Sadly, the memorial to the horses that had been killed during wartime was missing, but nonetheless it reminded me of Songster:

There were also extensive information boards relating to the work done at Bletchley Park, and mention of the 'Y' listening stations, of which nearby Beaumanor was one:

I can't easily ignore ironwork, so found the gates into this small memorial garden, quite beautiful:

And finally, the quote from W.H. Davies' poem, 'Leisure' is one close to my heart:

If you haven't yet visited, I would highly recommend it.

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

Dyer, Lynne (2019). National Memorial Arboretum and connections to Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/04/national-memorial-arboretum-connections.html [Accessed 21 April 2019]

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