Devonshire Square plaques

You probably know that there is a lot of work going on around Ward's End and Devonshire Square to pedestrianise the area and make it more attractive to visitors and shoppers? When I was walking the area a couple of weeks ago, I noticed plaques inset into the paving slabs, which celebrate things from Loughborough's history.

Two of these plaques commemorate the market and the fair, both of which are celebrating 800 years since the granting of the charters.

One of the other plaques marks the spot near which Clarke's Dyeworks and the bleach works were situated, conveniently close to the Wood Brook.

Devonshire Square was where the Devonshire Militia used to drill. Known as the 1st or East Devon Militia, and later the 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was a part-time unit based in Devon. In the early 1800s, when the 'Luddites' began to smash machinery, the Militia were sent to various parts of the country to restore order. They travelled first to Warwick, thence to Derby and Burton-on-Trent, before coming to Loughborough, and then onto Lichfield and Tamworth, before returning to Plymouth.      

In Loughborough, the Luddites destroyed the lace-making factory of John Heathcoat, which was situated approximately where Iceland is now, and which bears a Leicestershire Heritage Green Plaque.     

The idea of temperance really took hold in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This was a social movement with the purpose of persuading people to give up drinking alcohol. In Loughborough, a dedicated Temperance cafe was constructed on the corner of Devonshire Square and Granby Street, opened in  

View of the pedestrianised Devonshire Square, showing floor plaques and the 'mural' above

I wonder if there are any more plaques likely to spring up in our lovely town centre?

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 28 November 2021

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Dyer, Lynne (2021). Devonshire Square plaques. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/11/devonshire-square-plaques.html  [Accessed 28 November 2021]

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Old Bleach Yard

Today I was lucky enough to be able to attend the opening up of the Old Bleach Yard!

If you know Loughborough, you are probably familiar with Angel Yard in Market Place, as being the original home of Wills and Hepworth, the publishers of Ladybird books, or maybe The George Yard, at one time home to James' Vaults. Yards like this, as well as courts, were very common in the Loughborough of old, but have changed over the years as new developments have replaced them.

The Old Bleach Yard is the path leading down by the side of the vacuum cleaner shop and The Moon and Bell (or Atherstone House) in Ward's End. For many years I used to buy my birthday cards in the pine shop that used to be on the left towards the bottom, but of late I have had little reason to go down there. The yard ends with a wall, and some concrete garages, with the old Clarke's dyeworks to the right. 

Well, I say this, but now the area has been transformed, the garages and wall knocked down and the pathway opened up into the Granby Street car park, with the aim of making it easier for folk who've parked there to come directly to the wonderful Ward's End, Devonshire Square, Bedford Square shopping area.

There is so much history associated with this area, I don't know what to highlight!! Obviously, Clarkes Dyeworks has played a very important part here, and I blogged quite some time ago about the Clarke family, and about some of the places, like The Gables, Park Street and Park Road where members of the family lived. The Woodbrook which runs through Queen's Park and across Granby Street was also important to the dyeing and bleaching industry. As you can probably tell from the name of this yard, there was also a bleach works, that went hand-in-hand with the dyeworks.

The cattle market used to take place near the opening of the Old Bleach Yard onto Ward's End, before it moved into what is now the Granby Street car park, evidence of which is still there in the form of the ring of stones near the entrance. Also, somewhere in the vicinity was the Drill Hall where the TAs used to meet (don't quote me on that: it might not have been the TA!!)

Just up the road from the entrance to the yard is The Orange Tree pub, previously the Wheatsheaf, and behind this a yard where Henry Moore (the spa ornament maker, not the sculptor!!) lived and worked on fashioning alabaster ornaments (I blogged about this a while ago, too!)

Just down the road from the yard is Devonshire Square, an area that has recently been rejuvenated with a colourful mural depicting local scenes, and created by Silent Hobo (subject of an earlier blogpost).

Whilst I was in town, I looked around Ward's End and took note of the many new shops that have opened in the area, like the Deli at 58, a new coffee shop, and a relatively new florists. Standing cheek by jowl with old-established businesses like George Hill's and Kent Stevenson, I'm sure this new link between the car park and Ward's End will encourage more shoppers to visit the area.

To end, here's some photos of today's event.

  

   

So who was: William Clarke

... William Clarke?

It really was inevitable, wasn’t it, that I would set off down one research track and end up on another! I often wonder what it is that sets me off on such a quest as finding out about a particular family in the first place. In the case of the Clarke’s of Loughborough, a beautiful house, an interesting occupation, and an almost derelict property that I pass on my walk into town piqued that interest and I had to find out more! So far, however, this research is in its infancy and I know there are many of you out there to whom none of this is news, and some of you out there who still have memories of what I’m about to present, but do, please indulge me, and read on, if you will.

The subject of the Thomas Clarke Dye Works in Loughborough, a company also known as Thos. Clarke & Sons (CLARDYE) Ltd., has cropped up a number of times recently in places where I’ve been – facebook, The Loughborough Echo, a local walk led by myself and Ernie Miller - and so it seemed a logical step for me to do a bit of research on the family behind this.

William Clarke, born about 1853, in Loughborough, was the son of Thomas Clarke of Loughborough, and Ann of Hathern [I haven’t yet worked out her maiden name]. His grandparents were Thomas Clarke, born about 1790 in Oakham, and Catherine, also born around 1790.

Thomas Clarke and his wife Catherine had at least 6 children:

• John, born around 1812
• Elizabeth, born around 1817
• Thomas, also born around 1817
• Philip, born 9 January 1821 and baptised on 27 November 1822, in Leicester
• Sarah, born around 1822
• Jabez, born around 1830

I haven’t done a lot of work on the dye works itself, but I believe it was created around 1825, by Thomas Clarke (senior), and was located in Devonshire Square. This idea seems to be supported by the census return of 1841 which shows Thomas, aged about 50, living with Catherine, his wife, and three of his children – John, Elizabeth and Sarah – in Devonshire Square. Curiously, six houses down, his son, Jabez, aged 11, was living with the Smith family, whilst, Thomas’s eldest son, Thomas, was living in a house on his own, three doors down from his brother, Jabez! The explanation for Jabez being down the road is probably something as simple as he was playing with his 12-year old friend, Matthew Smith, and I’m sure Thomas (junior) was on his own as his wife was away (maybe at her parents’ home) giving birth to their first child, Frederick. And of course, the occupation of those menfolk, was dyer! In fact, many of the men listed on this census page were employed in the dye works, although there were still a few ag labs also listed.

Information from subsequent census returns reveals that Thomas junior and his wife Ann had seven children:

• Frederick, born in 1841
• Thomas, born in 1845
• Sarah Ann, born in 1847
• John, born in 1849
• Elizabeth, born in 1852
• William, born in 1853
• Frances, born in 1856

Trying to decipher the information included on the 1851 census has proved troublesome, as the text is so faint it is hardly legible. However, both Thomas Clarke (senior) and Thomas Clarke (junior) are to be found living a couple of doors apart in Devonshire Square, Thomas senior with Catherine and two of their children – Jabez (mistakenly transcribed as Jobes) and Jane  – and a small visitor, John aged four, who I suspect might be a grandson, and Thomas junior with his wife Ann, and their children, Frederick, Thomas, Sarah Ann (later known simply as Ann) and John (all mis-transcribed as Clack) and Elizabeth, their servant. The occupation of Thomas (senior) is quite indecipherable, as is that of Thomas (junior), apart from the words “dyer” and “Master”, so I’d guess Thomas (junior) was now the boss of the dye works.  

On 16^th April 1859, Thomas Clarke (senior) dies, leaving effects totally under £2,000. On the 1861 census, his wife, Catherine, is listed as a widow and a retired dyer, living with a “house servant” called Mary Carter. Living next door to Catherine, in Devonshire Square, is Thomas (junior), with his wife, their seven children – Frederick, Thomas, Sarah Ann, John, Elizabeth, William and Frances -  and their “house servant”, Hannah Hules(?). This time, the census is readable, and so we discover that Thomas was listed as a woollen dyer and trimmer, the Master, employing 18 men, 3 women, 2 girls and 4 boys, one of the men surely being Frederick who is also listed as a woollen dyer!

I believe that between the 1861 and 1871 census Catherine Clarke died, but as yet have not been able to find a record of this. Thomas and his family, with the exception of his son Frederick, now appear to be living in Forest Road Cottage. As far as I can tell, this would have been somewhere between Emmanuel Church, and Ward's End. At this time, Thomas is employing 17 men, 9 women and 2 boys, and his own sons – with the exception of Thomas – have joined him in the dye works. Interestingly, the two girls, Elizabeth (aged 19) and Frances (aged 15) are listed as scholars, and the family no longer appears to have a servant.

Sadly, between the 1871 and 1881 census returns, Ann, wife of Thomas (junior) dies, leaving him living with two of his daughters – Elizabeth and Frances – who by 1881 had joined the family business, and Thomas. The plight of Thomas, the 36-year old son, now becomes apparent. On the 1871 census he was recorded as having no occupation, and on this 1881 census, the enumerator has crossed out the word “Unemployed” in the occupation column, and entered the phrase “Imbecile from birth” in the final column of the census.

Also between the two census returns, William Clarke, son of Thomas Clarke, married Laura Wakefield from Islington. The marriage took place in Hampstead, on 9^th July 1878, and William’s father, Thomas, is recorded as being a “Gentleman”. By the night of the 1881 census, William and his wife, Laura, have a daughter, Helena Laura, and have two servants. Helena Laura was baptised in 1887, and the address given was Wood Brook, Loughborough. Both Thomas (junior) and William and their respective families are living on Forest Road, about 10 doors apart.

On 8^th May, 1891, Thomas Clarke (junior) died, aged 74, leaving a personal estate of £11,751 4s 2d. On the 1891 census return, William, his sixth child, now aged 38, is living at The Gables on the corner of Forest Road with his wife, Laura, his children, Helena Laura, Henrietta Frances, William Ashley Tyndale and Winifred Margaret. Harriet Leeson, one of the two servants who was living with the family in 1881, is now a trained domestic nurse, and I believe this is significant. There are also two other servants living with the family.

The Gables in 2013

I have read somewhere that William Clarke had The Gables specially built for himself and his family, particularly because one of his daughters suffered from asthma, - hence them employing a nurse - but of course, now that I’m looking for it, I can’t find that reference again! Given that the family were living on Forest Road in 1881, and The Gables in 1891, then it is fairly certain that the house was built between these two dates. This time period is supported by the description of the building as penned by the borough council in its listing building status description.

In 1901 William and his family are still living at The Gables, with three servants. William is still the employer at the dye works, but none of the children, now aged between 14 and 20, appears to have an occupation.

Park Road house (No.55)

Park Road house (No.57, joined to No.55)

On 26^th July 1905, William Clarke dies, leaving £8,524 13s 3d. to his wife. Why she decided to move house after this, I have no idea, but she is reported in the 1911 census as living at no. 55 Park Road, with all her children. The girls are listed as having no occupation, but the son, William Ashley Tynedale Clarke, aged 26, is now an employer in the hosiery industry, presumably, having inherited the dye works from his father. 

On 23^rd April 1953, William Ashley Tynedale Clarke, of 3 Park Street, dies, leaving the sum of £19,657 14s 6d to his widow, Margaret Ann Clarke.  Again, I don’t know what happened after William’s death, but the company was taken over by the liquidator in December 1958: At an Extraordinary General Meeting, held in Leicester on 22^nd December 1958, the following Special Resolution was passed: “That the company be wound up voluntarily and that Bruce Lovatt of 13 New Street in the city of Leicester be appointed Liquidator for the purpose of such winding-up.”, as reported in the London Gazettes of 30th December 1958 and 9th January 1959.

I have found a few other snippets of info that might be of interest to you, for example, a lovely 1926 advert for the company, although I could not say which of the Thomas Clarke’s is pictured.

On 16^th January 1893, a porter at the London and North-Western railway station in Loughborough was caught stealing four pairs of stockings valued at 4s that had been sent to the station by a foreman at Clarke’s dye works for delivery to a client in Scotland. This was not the only theft committed, and the man was sentenced to six weeks’ imprisonment.

In June 1897 reports appeared of the celebrations taking place in Loughborough in honour of Queen Victoria’s jubilee: The Leicester Chronicle and Leicestershire Mercury reported that Messers. Clarke’s dye works, in Ward’s End, “looked extremely well”! This statement was preceded by a comment on street bunting and the shopfront of Mr George Adcock.

It was reported in July 1897 changes were proposed to the Wood Brook, to help prevent recurrent flooding: This involved clearing the course of the brook from Mill Lane to True Lover’s Walk, and the owners of Clarke’s dye works were to be approached with a view to improving the waterways and weirs at the dye works.

The Carillon, the war memorial in Queen’s Park, carries an inscription from Clarke’s Dye Works in honour of those who gave their lives during the First World War. These included a member of the Clarke family, Hilary C. Clarke. 

And it is on that sad note that I must end my story. So, The Gables crops up once more in my research, I regularly walk past the house on Park Road that is now so dilapidated to be an eyesore, my surname is one of those occupational ones, although I have yet to find a family member active in that industry, and someone who trained as a Leicestershire Tour Guide at the same time as me just happens to live in one of the houses previously owned by a member of the Clarke family!

See you next week!

In defence of Loughborough

Welcome, one and all, to week 5 of my blog about the wonderful Leicestershire market town of Loughborough! I hope you’ve enjoyed reading the blog thus far, and hope you’ll continue to stay with me for as long as I can maintain this blog!

Today sees a return to the original topic that started me off on this blog, with a further defence of why I think Loughborough shouldn’t be included in a list of 50 or 100 of the worst towns in Britain. I can find a million and one things to wax lyrical about concerning Loughborough, but I will concentrate on just one or two areas, otherwise I would probably bore you to death! 

So, here goes: 

1. Local industry

Over the years, there have been some fantastic firms based in Loughborough. Some of these still exist, either in the town, or elsewhere in Britain, but some are long-since gone, but not, of course, forgotten! Here are the ones that spring to my mind, but I'm sure there'll be plenty of others that you can think of:

• Ladybird Books - book publishers - now part of the Penguin Publishing Group. Based in Angel Yard, Market Place, then Beeches Road.
• Taylors Bellfoundry - bell foundry - moved to Loughborough in 1839. Now on Freehold Street and still making world-class bells!
• Astra-Zeneca (formerly Fisons) - pharmaceuticals, agricultural etc. - absorbed Sanatogen, Zenobia etc.. Fisons was famous for Gro-Bags! Based on Derby Road and Bishop Meadow Road. How odd that whilst looking for information on a different company for this list I stumbled upon this site with some pictures of an old Fisons Fertilizer plant!
• Brush - involved in turbogenerators etc.. I think this absorbed the Falcon Engine and Car works. Had various owners over the years, but I believe it is now owned by Melrose. Based on Nottingham Road.
• Herbert Morris - cranes - appears to have been taken over by Kone Cranes. Based in 
• Messengers - conservatories and boilers - 
• 3M - healthcare and pharmaceuticals  - absorbed Riker's
• Clarkes Dyeworks - this was based in Devonshire and I believe mostly demolished in 1962. There are some pictures on the web.
• Heathcote’s Mill - lace-making in the early 1800s
• Cottons - in the knitwear industry, patented a powered knitting machine
• Towles - hoisiers, took over Cartwright and Warners. 
• Pochin - in the bathroom/kitchen trade - established in Leicester but with offices in Loughborough
• Anstey Wallpaper Company - based in the old Ladbybird offices. They produce wallpapers for Sanderson
• Cuttlefish - a local computing company providing a platform for Empedia
• Jacksons Coachworks - the clue's in the name!!
• Willowbrooks - coachbuilders. Although this link is to an article about Duple, it does mention some of the history of Willowbrook
• Moseleys - coachbuilders, but I can't find anything on the web about them. 

2. Loughborough University

Loughborough University in the community
Well, as much as we local residents might moan about the noise from students who live within the community, we should perhaps recognise that the university is a major employer in the area and contributes a considerable amount to the success of the local economy. I believe the university employs in excess of 3000 staff, and is today the town's biggest employer, compared to Brush many years ago, and Astra-Zeneca more recently. As well as employing many people from the locality, the students spend a lot of dosh in town, and contribute in many ways to good causes, for example, by organising things like litter picks, and supporting local charities. There's a lengthy report available on the web that outlines the Borough Council/University relationship.

However, I suppose it's only fair to mention that relying on students to prop up our local economy is a tricky balancing act, as while they're here, they're spending, but when they're not here they're not spending, and it can be difficult for businesses to balance out the good times with the more lean times. I would imagine this would be particularly difficult for restaurants, take-aways etc. particularly those near the vicinity of the university.  

Very brief history
As Loughborough University started life as a Technical Institute it is no wonder that the reputation of the engineering courses is so strong. Of course, Sport and Sports Science is probably what the university is now best known for, and the university boasts some of the country's best training facilities.

Those pesky league tables

The university's position in the much-talked about league tables is excellent, and places Loughborough in the top strata. So, for example, The Complete University Guide places it at number 14, and there's a good summary of its performance over the last couple of years on the Top Universities website.

Alumni

I'm sure we can all name some famous alumni - how's about Seb Coe, Paula Radcliffe, Steve Backley, Tanni Grey-Thompson - for starters? But it's not all about sport!! So, what about Bridget Riley, the artist, Johnnie Johnson, a WW2 RAF pilot and Peter Bonfield, the former Chairman and Managing Director of ICL.  

3. Transport links

• As I mentioned before, Loughborough is situated in the middle of the Leicester/Nottingham/Derby triangle. There are good links to all three cities - either by train, bus, coach or car.

• The rail links to London and the North are excellent - frequent and fast!

• Loughborough is only a few miles from East Midlands airport. From here you can fly to, well, lots of foreign places!!!

• Loughborough is on National Cycle Route 6, although we don't actually get a mention on the Sustrans website.

• Canal – if you want to take a more leisurely form of transport, the canal links the Rivers Soar and Trent. Guideline journey times: Loughborough to Oxford – 2 weeks, Loughborough to Leicester – 1-2 days. Just before you get to the Market Harborough Arm, you reach Foxton staircase locks - stunning!

As with my original post, I’ve written about what has come into my mind, and this is neither an exhaustive list of things, nor an endorsement of anything. I suppose the other thing I should say is that I'm not going back checking links still work, so while they do at the point I publish the blogpost, they might not later. Sorry, I just haven't got time!