Zeppelins, Loughborough, Heanor and Led Zeppelin

So, last week Zeppelins featured in my world again. It's almost 101 years since that fateful night - 31st January 1916 - when Zeppelin airships dropped bombs on Loughborough. It is believed their pilots were heading for Liverpool, but because of the inadequate navigation systems available to them at the time, and also because of the lack of orientation possible, due to the blackouts, our town was targeted, as we had left lights on.

In actual fact, there were a number of airships flying into and over Britain on that fateful night, and the raids have become known as the Midlands raid, so as well as bombs dropping on Loughborough, bombs were also released onto Birmingham, Titpon, Wednesbury, Dudley, Walsall, Ilkeston, Bennerley, Stanton, Trowell, Burton, Overseal and Swadlincote - though not necessarily a comprehensive list. 

I popped along to the Heanor and District Local History Society meeting last week to hear Stephen Flinders, Chair of Ilkeston and District Local History Society, talk about the "Terror from the Skies", an account of January 31st 1916, the night the Zeppelins came. And what an exciting talk it was too! Stephen had some interesting information to share with the audience - which numbered in excess of 100 folk - and had done some great work on mapping out the journey of each of the individual Zeppelins involved in the raids on that fateful evening, so we could see the exact route each travelled. We heard stories of lucky escapes, and unfortunate decisions. We heard accounts of Zeppelin-sightings from eye-witnesses, we saw adverts for post-raid Zeppelin attack insurance, we looked at satirical illustrations from the likes of Punch magazine, we heard the story of the message in a bottle, and we wondered at the marketing of Coleman's mustard!

Having listened to Stephen's talk, I now have a bigger picture of the Zeppelin raids of 31st January 1916 which saw so many bombs being released onto the Midlands, the overall death toll being around 71, and the casualties amounting to about 113. According to Derbyshire Life (see below), "the raid on the Midlands on the night of 31st January / 1st February 1916 [was] noted as one of the heaviest of the First World War."

Last year, following a walk led by Bob Stephens, a fellow accredited Leicestershire Tour Guide, I created a virtual walk around Loughborough which you can follow if you wish to visit the sites affected by the Zeppelin bombs. More information on Zeppelins from this blog can be found on the following pages:

• Night of the Zeppelin
• An account of Bob's walk

And so to Led Zeppelin! The story of their formation seems a bit complicated (think Yardbirds, New Yardbirds, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Jeff Beck, John Bonham, Keith Moon etc.). According to Wikipedia (oh go on, please give me a break, I don't actually know much about rock music so I had to look somewhere!!) one of the stories associated with how the band got its name revolves around the idea that a supergroup with Jimmy page and Jeff Beck would, according to Keith Moon and John Entwistle, not go down very well, in fact would be like a lead balloon. Dropping the "a" from lead, and substituting Zeppelin for balloon made for what was considered to be the perfect name for the group which Jimmy page had envisioned. Sounds plausible to me!  
     
Anyway,if you want to read more about the Zeppelin raids on the Midlands, here are a few websites you could view:

• Ian Castle's Zeppelin raid site
• The Express and Star report from 31 January 2016 on the Black Country Zeppelin raids
• The report of the unveiling of Ilkeston memorial plaque on the Railway Electrical Services website
• A Derbyshire Life article on the Zeppelin Terror on Burton and Derby

Thanks for stopping by!

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). Zeppelins Loughborough Heanor and Led Zeppelin. [Online] Available from: http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2017/01/zeppelins-loughborough-heanor-and-led.html [Accessed 15 January 2017]

   

What have Hathern Band, LMVC, the BCM, the carillon, ceramics and John Nichols got in common?

This week I am spoilt for choice, and having a difficult time deciding what to share with you!

Since my last post I’ve been lucky enough to listen to the Hathern Band, not once, but twice!! Last week, Hathern Band played in the bandstand in Queen’s Park, directly after the Carillon recital, in commemoration of the 70^th anniversary of VE day. This was a lovely performance, with glorious sunshine and a large, appreciative audience.

Last evening, I was lucky enough to find a seat in the Trinity Methodist Church for a joint concert of Hathern Band with the Loughborough Male Voice Choir. Hathern were on top form – especially the trombones, but I am a bit biased!! I particularly loved the rendition of “76 trombones”! The choir did themselves proud too, and their numbers have swelled recently since they had a pseudo recruitment drive earlier this year. I think they’re still on the lookout for new members, so if you’re looking for something to do, check out their webpage.

Yesterday we took a trip to the Black Country Museum in Dudley. Hadn’t been before, but had heard good reports about it, and it didn’t disappoint. Lots of exciting things to see and do, including a ride on a 1948 bus, and a Midland Red double-decker, a tram (but this was closed for maintenance), reconstructed terraced houses, dressed accordingly, and with volunteers making soup over the open fires. And gardeners tending their little plots, and producing beautiful pink sticks of rhubarb which the children dip in sugar. Then there’s the authentically 1940s shops, including a chemist, a greengrocers, ironmongers, confectioners, bakers etc., some of them actually selling things, like the little fish and chip shop. The café was in the Worker’s Institute, and had a wonderful selection of food, and we enjoyed a steak and Stilton pastie with mushy peas and new potatoes coated in yummy salt and pepper.

Lots of remnants of the days when Dudley had iron founders (I think there was a saying about the area, black by day, red by night, which related to the smoke and grime in the daytime and the glow of the iron works in the night). This reminded me of John Jones the iron founder in Loughborough, who owned the Britannia Foundry. I think he lived in that very large house at the junction of Meadow lane and Clarence Street, which now appears to be a health spa (sounds like the beginnings of a future blog post … !). The mine at the Black Country Museum was open, but I’m afraid I couldn’t go down there: The last time I went, or rather tried to go, down a mine, it was a tin mine in Cornwall, but I had to turn back pretty sharpish, when even I had to watch my head! Trips on the canal boats were also available, although they seemed to be doing quite a lot of work on the canal, so we thought we’d leave that till our next visit!! When will I ever find time?!

I’ve also giving up a bit of my spare time in helping out at the Carillon Tower and Museum again this year. This is such good fun, as I get to meet so many interesting people from all over the world, and who all have such interesting tales to tell! I also finally got to learn what the copper boots in the Airborne room were all about, and I get to hear the carillon being played (guessed what day I’m there, yet?). If you fancy helping, the museum is always on the lookout for volunteers so they can keep all floors of the tower open to visitors.

Talking of the carillon, today, I also heard the carillon play as I walked into town to take a peek at the ceramics market. It’s an annual event and I blogged about it last year, so I shan’t say anything about today’s market other than to say there was a lovely variety of pottery, and it’s difficult to go and not spend any money: Well, that’s a few birthday and Christmas presents sorted!!

Now, what have I forgotten? Oh, yes, the banquet in celebration of the bi-centenary of John Nichols’ History and Antiquities of the County of Leicester, an 8-volume work, written by Nichols in 1815. What a glorious event that was, but, I’ve run out of time to tell you about it tonight, so I will save this one for next time!