Holiday connections and anniversaries

Continuing with the holiday connection theme ...

In my last post I'd got as far as sharing with you some connections that made me think of Loughborough whilst I was in Launceston. Hmmm, this was actually the first day of my two-week holiday, and it was the 'let's stop off here for a break' place, in what was to be a 350-mile journey. My thinking now is that if I took a whole blog post to share the revelations from a 2-hour visit to Launceston, then it will take me about 14 blog posts to cover the rest of the holiday, so below are the edited highlights!!!

My most exciting find was on a walk in the countryside near St Ives. In previous years we've walked the coastal paths, so this year we decided to visit some of the inland footpaths and some of the small country lanes. For some reason or other, which now escapes me, I'd gone on this walk carrying with me as little as possible - so no camera, and no phone - so, of course, we had to go back another time for me to take some photos. Hence, late one evening, these are what I took:

Now, I haven't done any research into these initials, but I'm supposing they are Edward Hain, an MP for St Ives, and the owner of a shipping company. Like James Eadie, of the brewery company, remains of which affiliation can be seen on the former Station Hotel in Loughborough, Edward Hain had gone into the tea business, before switching careers. 

The significance to Loughborough of these initials is not in Edward Hain, but in Edward Hands who originally lived on Burton Walks, but moved to Castledine Street, where, if I remember rightly, he had the house extended and his initials inscribed in a plaque. Sorry for the poor quality of the photo:

Driveway into the former home of Edward hands

Edward Hands initials on Castledine Street

A couple of other connections from St Ives include this attractive house name a lovely Celtic design painted on slate, the other connection being that my children all went to Holywell School:

And just one more, so as not to bore you!! This beautiful blue enamel street sign is oh so similar to some in Loughborough, like Park Street and Charnwood Road, but what a difference - white walls and red brick walls!

The other thing which I wanted to mention today is that today is actually the 6th anniversary of this blog, which I first started on 4 August 2013! Hard to believe it's been going that long! The initial impetus for creating it still holds true: I want to promote Loughborough and show the world what's good about our lovely town, through stories of its history, its current events and everything in between. I'm so pleased you're still with me!

In the spirit of promoting knowledge and a love for our town, I've written a couple of books - 'Loughborough in 50 Buildings', and 'Secret Loughborough', and I'm having a signing event for the latter at the Old Rectory Museum on Saturday 10th August, between 11am and 3pm - everyone welcome - no purchase necessary - and if you've already bought a copy I'd be happy to sign 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). Holiday connections and anniversaries. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/08/holiday-connections-and-anniversaries.html [Accessed 4 August 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  





















           

Everywhere reminds me of Loughborough

So glad to be back in sunny Loughborough after a couple of weeks away in Cornwall! As ever, things I've spotted in the many places I've visited during the holiday have been constant reminders of our lovely market town. Indeed, there have been so many interesting connections, I could use up a whole year's worth of blog posts sharing my findings with you ... but I won't!!

So, a quick look at the similarities between Launceston - which was where we broke our long journey - and Loughborough. Both were small market towns, both played a part in the Civil War. 

Costume in Launceston Museum

Launceston Museum

Costumed mannequin at one time in the Old Rectory Museum

The War Memorial in Launceston rises up in the centre of the town, unlike ours which is in the beautiful setting of Queen's Park, and is now accompanied by a memorial to Loughborough's war horse, Songster. 

The town hall clock in Loughborough is pretty special: the clock I spotted in Launceston was attached to a bank building, and was rather ornate:

Both towns had a workhouse. Loughborough's first was on the site now occupied by the Royal Mail sorting office. The Union workhouse was situated on what is now Regent Street. I've posted before about Loughborough's Workhouse, so here's some information about Launceston's:

Now, of course, almost everywhere I go I am tuned in to spot bells! Sadly, they're not always the Taylors variety, but I love to have a quiet poke around, just in case! There were two in Launceston Museum, the first of these was used to summon estate workers to meals, and the second one from a local iron foundry:

The cast of the Great Paul Bell in Queen's Park Loughborough

Another formerly Loughborough-based company is always evident, wherever I go, because I spend a lot of time in bookshops, and whether they're selling new or second-hand books, you can guarantee they've got some Ladybird Books!!! At Launceston Museum, they had a ladybird, but no Ladybird Books:

Boundary stones, milestones and fingerposts? Don't get me started on that one - something I've blogged about before!!!! Here's a boundary stone from the Bude Canal:

And ours from the boundary between Loughborough and Woodthorpe, although experts suggest that this one is not in its original location:

Pubs everywhere are of interest!!! Like Loughborough, Launceston has a White Hart pub: I don't know what the Launceston one was like inside, but it differed on the outside from Loughborough's as it actually had a 3D white hart sitting on the front of the building.

Then I thought I'd spotted another local connection, when I saw an old boot hanging from the front of a building. Did Launceston, like Loughborough, used to have an Old Boot pub?

Excitement continued to grow, until I came to the doorway of the shop, and looked at the tiled floor ... 

Ah well, Leicester's quite close!!!

Another area of employment in Loughborough was lacemaking. Local inventor John Heathcoat had a lacemaking factory on Mill Lane (now Market Street) which was attacked in 1816. The building that replaced it has recently been honoured with a Leicestershire Green Plaque. Lacemaking on display in Launceston Museum was of the Bedfordshire pillow lace type.

Another interest of mine is fire insurance plaques. I don't think there are many in Loughborough: I've only found one, on a house in Park Street. Launceston Museum had a few on display:

And finally, when I was training to be a tour guide we were encouraged to look up, in order to learn more about a town's history from its buildings. I've been used to doing this for many years, but I would also encourage you to look down, as there is a huge amount of history hidden in our streets, which we simply walk over and take for granted! Here's an example from Launceston:

And a couple from Loughborough:

Many of the things I've written about also appear in 'Secret Loughborough'.

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). Everywhere reminds me of Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/07/everywhere-reminds-me-of-loughborough.html [Accessed 21 July 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