Finding Loughborough connections in London!

Last weekend I was very lucky indeed, as I spent a few days wondering around London, something I hadn't done for a very long time. I was thrilled to happen upon some direct Loughborough connections, like products made in Loughborough, and some less direct ones, of course!!

Super to see that Loughborough is trendy! There were numerous buildings in London that were being renovated and refurbished, and it seems a covering with a building facade photographed onto it is the new way to hide what's going on, and to look appealing rather than having the traditional hoarding. You can see this in Loughborough town centre, surrounding the HSBC in Market Place. Since the blog post about changes in the town centre was written, the base of the surrounding of our HSBC is now painted with leaves!

Like all cities, towns, villages, and probably hamlets, London has a selection of telephone kiosks dotted around the city. Many are still operating as telephones, some are a little unloved, one which had a perforated, rather than a solid gold crown on the top (below, bottom right), and, of course, those in the city of London are painted black rather than red! You can read about Loughborough's Grade II listed K6 kiosk in an earlier blogpost. 

Likewise, it comes as no surprise to find that London has letter boxes! We passed very many of these, and there were an amazing number of double ones. I've written loads of posts about Loughborough's letter boxes, which you can find at Part 1; Part 2; Part 3; Part 4; Part 5; Burton Street box; and Unusual and unreal boxes!

I must admit I was hugely surprised by the number of clocks I saw in London, mostly on the sides or fronts of buildings! One of these reminded me so much of our town hall clock!

On a related topic, in the London Transport Museum, I spotted rather lovely pocket watch - sorry, the photo really doesn't do it justice - which reminded me about one of Loughborough's watch and clock makers - Frederick Stubbs. 

As you'd expect, there were all types of vehicles in the transport museum - like sedan chairs, stagecoaches, trams, trolleybuses, buses, underground trains, steam trains, charabancs - but surprisingly, I couldn't find a single Brush body! 

In another museum, there was a poster from the time of the First World War, which helped the person on the street to identify specific aircraft. One of these was the Zeppelin, and I was reminded about the attack on Loughborough on the night of January 31st 1916, about which I've written numerous blogposts, and shared a virtual walk. 

I've only written briefly on this blog about the Freemasons Hall in Loughborough, which is on Orchard Street, in a building that used to be a congregational chapel. It is quite, quite different from the one in London (which although you can't see it in the photograph, does actually have a clock above the entrance).

As in Loughborough, drain covers bearing the name of their makers were also in evidence in London! This is just one example of the hundreds we saw, and examples of ones in Loughborough are on this blogpost.

Goodness me, it's already time to share this post with you, and all I've managed to do so far is share some of the more generic things with you! Pop back to the blog next week, for some direct Loughborough connections - books, bricks, perfumes, and pharmaceuticals!

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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Dyer, Lynne (2024). Finding Loughborough connections in London. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/03/finding-loughborough-connections-in.html [Accessed 24 March 2024]

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Tuckers Bricks Part 2

Last week we looked at some of the early buildings across the country, up to 1927, that were constructed with bricks made by Tuckers of Loughborough. This week, we'll have a look at a few more such buildings.

In 1928 the Skegness Convalescent Home for Derbyshire miners was built in a neo-Georgian style. The 'Sheffield Daily Telegraph' described the home as:

"faced with Loughborough bricks of pleasing colour and roofed with tiles to harmonise, from the same neighbourhood." 

and continued:

"The builder’s skill was not hampered by lack of good material, and ‘Tucker’s silver-grey and stock bricks’ were specified. These bricks are individual monuments to craftsmen – they are made entirely by hand by G. Tucker and Son, Ltd., Loughborough."

Convalescent home for Derbyshire miners in Skegness

Convalescent home for Derbyshire miners in Skegness, showing rooms to the right with sea views

Nearer to home, in Derby, three small villas were being constructed on Balfour Road, in 1929. Each house had 7 rooms, as well as a coal-house and outside toilet, and were constructed of Tucker’s multiruf facing bricks and with white spar on the front. Balfour Road is cut in half by Portland Street, but it has been impossible to identify the houses in question, partly because those from the right era which are situated on the street today are generally semi-detached properties. Since the 'Derby Telegraph' explicitly says the houses are: "exceptionally well-built: nothing jerry or shoddy" then one cannot but expect that these houses are still standing!

Continuing with the theme of houses, Tuckers multiruf facing bricks were also used exclusively for the housing development on Nottingham Road in Derby. Apparently, Messrs Browning Bros, builders, used only these facings on their schemes in Leicester, Rugby and Oxford, and by 1931 these developments amounted to over 400 houses.

Meanwhile, over in Staffordshire, Tuckers provided facing bricks for the new Burton-on-Trent Picturedrome, which was built in 1931, and replaced the earlier Picturedrome that was housed in a converted roller skating rink! Butterley provided the 'common' bricks, while reconstructed stone was provided by the Croft Granite, Brick and Concrete Co.. The building was described by the Burton Observer and Chronicle as having an imposing frontage, with "the facade to Curzon Street [being] built in deep red bricks, the tone of which is emphasised by white mortar joints."

The upper floors of the Burton Picturedrome

Still in 1931, but this time moving to the capital, the 'Nottingham Journal' reported that: "a million 'multiruf' facing bricks have been supplied by Messrs. G. Tucker and Sons, the Loughborough brick and tile manufacturers, for Messrs. Gamages new London store." This new store was at Marble Arch was designed by architects C.S. and Ernest Martin Joseph, alongside Edwin Lutyens, the latter's work being evident in much of the external design, including embellishments like the columns. This store was built only a year after the store's founder had died. Today the store is a Primark.

The same bricks, this time half a million of them, were supplied by Tuckers for the building of the John Player factory in Nottingham. Well, one of the John Player buildings: some sources seem to suggest this was the building known as No.2 on the Radford site - which seems the most plausible to me - but pictures that I have seen (since the building has been demolished) seem to confuse buildings No.2 and No.3. I believe the photo at the bottom of this webpage is the building we are interested in. There's a bit about the history of the company, and another picture of our building on an associated page.

Multirufs were also used in the building of numerous blocks flats, and in London for Warwick Mansions, the Queen's Club in Kensington, and the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, the latter built in 1925 to the design of Ernest Martin Joseph who had been a founder member of the Synagogue in 1911. 

Warwick Mansions, Cromwell Crescent, London

     

By 1933, Tuckers multiruf facing bricks were increasing in popularity, partly because they could be produced in large quantities quickly. As such they were used in the construction of the Civic Offices in Nuneaton, for churches, public buildings and offices. However, not only were the facing bricks proving popular ... 

The 'Chelsmford Chronicle' in 1932 reported upon the tudor style, half-timbered Army and Navy Hotel, the architect of which was Thorold Bennett of Gravesend, as follows:

"Loughborough tiles were selected for the roof coverings, and they were supplied by Messrs. G. Tucker and Son, Ltd., of Loughborough, who are also specialists in high-class facing bricks, which are produced in a large range of colours. This old-established firm supply tiles to almost every part of the British Isles as well as for export to the continent and elsewhere, and have a great reputation as manufacturers of hand-made, sand-faced tiles."  

A multiruf brick, photographed in situ - it really was upside down!

Well, where are we going to find ourselves next time, when we look at more use of Tuckers bricks?!

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 28 March 2021

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

Dyer, Lynne (2021). Tuckers Bricks Part 2. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/03/tuckers-bricks-part-2.html  [Accessed 28 March 2021]

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Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne                   

Whitechapel and Taylors bell foundries

So, are you bored of bells yet?? Sorry, but I don't think I could ever be!!

This past week I've been to Woodhouse Eaves church again, and admired the Taylor's bell in the porch! I was actually there to listen to a friend present some of the research done on the architect of the church, and was reminded of my recent visit to London, by mention of the Whitechapel Bellfoundry.

When I went to London for my son's graduation, we popped into the local medical museum, The Royal London Hospital Museum, as we were aware they had some significant material. On entering the crypt of the former church the first display we came across was a bell. According to the information board: 

"Operation bell of the London Hospital. Date: 1791.This bell, together with the bell of 1757 that hangs in the Hospital entrance, was made at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry. Before the introduction of anaesthetics in 1846, it is reputed to have summoned attendants to hold surgical patients still." 

Further into the museum we saw the replica skeleton of Joseph Herrick, otherwise known as the Elephant Man. This was here because the hospital had done much investigation of his condition during his lifetime.

Once we'd been around all the museum, we headed off down the length of Whitechapel Road to get into Central London. 

Along the way we spotted various things of interest, but none of greater interest than the Whitechapel Bell Foundry buildings! Founded in 1570, the Whitechapel Bell Foundry moved to its buildings on Whitechapel Road in 1739, has the honour of being the oldest British manufacturing business. Since 1904 the business has been owned by the Hughes family, but in 2016 they sold the Grade II listed buildings and the foundry finally closed for business in May 2017. 

Some of the most well-known bells that were cast at Whitechapel include the Liberty Bell, cast in 1752, and in 1856 Big Ben, although this had to be re-cast in 1858 because it developed a crack during the testing process. More recently, Whitechapel designed the bell which was used to start the 2012 Olympics, although because it was too big to be cast in their foundry, it was actually cast in The Netherlands. They did, however, cast the bell for the leading barge on the Thames for the Queen's Jubilee Pageant in 2012. From the markings on the photo below, Whitechapel did not just cast bells: this is the base of a lamppost in the vicinity.

When we walked past the foundry buildings - well, ok, we didn't just walk past, we lingered for quite some time - the buildings did not appear to be in use, but nonetheless seemed well-kept. I do wonder what will happen to them. Of course, this does mean that Taylors Bell Foundry, at one time financially vulnerable, and its buildings still in need of a degree of renovation, is now the sole remaining bell foundry in the UK. As we've already read, its bells can be found across the globe, and can its renovation work on bells that may have been cast in different foundries. 

Regarded as a relative newbie, the company has a direct link from the Leicester bell founder, Johannes de Stafford who seems to have been casting bells earlier than 1338, although the Taylor family didn't become involved until 1784, first coming to Loughborough in 1839, moving to the present site in 1859. One of Taylors most notable bells is the Great Paul bell which was cast for St Paul's Cathedral in London. Anyway, long may Taylors continue!

And here I feel I must stop! 

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). Whitechapel and Taylors bell foundries. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/08/whitechapel-and-taylors-bell-foundries.html  [Accessed 19 August 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

         

Taylors bells at St Uny church Lelant

Sticking with the holiday connections, on my final day in Cornwall I stopped off the church in Lelant on the hunt for the grave of one Bernard Walke,* an English Anglican Priest, who spent most of his life in Cornwall, in just three parishes. Now, the reason I went looking for this grave was because a few days earlier I had been at another church, this one in St Erth, where I'd come across information about, and the grave of one Annie Fearon Walke,** an artist living in Cornwall, who was born in Surrey, and who married Bernard. 

I'm sure you can see why I was interested in Annie in the first place: with a name like Fearon, was there any possibility that she was related to Henry Fearon, rector of Loughborough 1856-1885 who was born in Cuckfield, (which is bizarre because as I type this, Phil and Kirsty on Location, Location, Location are just taking a couple to Cuckfield!). A bit of research done later at home has not yet proved a connection with Henry, but there may well be, and I would find it were I to go back far enough.






Anyway, back to Bernard. The church in Lelant is a beautiful little church, overlooking the golf course and the River Hayle, and has many interesting internal features and artefacts. 

Part of what is known as the old churchyard has been designated as a 'living churchyard', which seems to mean the plants are left to take over, making memorial stone hunting quite difficult. 









Luckily, Bernard Walke was a prominent enough figure to be listed on an information board along with the position of his grave, so I managed to find it relatively easily amongst the plants. 

Having done this, I then went into the church hall which was open and serving refreshments. As well as being a meeting place the hall hosted a heritage display, showing all the research that had recently been done. One thing that I had noticed whilst looking around the local churches was the extensive information about some things like the stained glass, or the tiled floor, or the ceiling, or the Victorian restoration, but there was often a lack of information pertaining to the bells within the bell tower. 

















Anyway, idling around the displays, my eye was caught by one noticeboard that seemed to be bell-related. Closer inspection revealed that indeed there was information about the bells - lots of photographs, newspaper cuttings and an order of service. Hang on, an order of service, for what exactly? Ah, a re-dedication service for the bells. This was pinned open at its middle pages, but I was able to look more closely, and discovered that some of the bells had been re-cast in 1952, by Taylors of Loughborough! The original bells had also been cast by Taylors, but in 1836 in Oxford, a few years before the first member of the Taylor family came to Loughborough. A great find!! 

The little booklet about the church (St. Uny, Lelant: the story of the parish church of St. Uny Lelant) which I also found (and bought!) had this to say:

The Bells

The peal comprises six bells, in the key of G-sharp.

Treble. Wt. 3 cwts. 2 qrs. 20 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, Oxford 1836
restored 1952. Evelyn Barker and H.P Hurrell (Churchwardens)"

Second. Wt. 4 cwts. 0 qrs. 0 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, fecit, Oxford 1836"

Third. Wt. 4 cwts. 3 qrs. 5 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, Fecit, Oxford 1836
Obey our call the right the good old way
(Shun Schisms, wiles;) nor from it ever stray".

Fourth. Wt. 6 cwts. 0 qrs. 20 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, fecit, Oxford 1836. Restored 1952
Rev. E.J. Davies-Freme, Vicar.
P.A. Clifton, Ringer's Capt."

Fifth. Wt. 6 cwts. 1 qrs. 25 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, fecit, Oxford 1836."

Tenor. Wt. 8 cwts. 2 qrs. 12 lbs.
Inscription:- "Taylor, Oxford 1836. Mr William Bosustow, Churchwarden.
Glory be to God on high, The day of rest again comes round.
A day to all believers dear. The silver trumpets loudly sound,
That call the tribes of Israel near. Ye people all, obey the call,
And in Jehovah's courts appear".

Thre treble and the fourth re-cast, the peal tuned and re-hung with new fittings by John Taylor & Co., Loughborough, in 1952.
The bells were dedicated by The Lord Bishop of Truro, The Right Reverend E. R. Morgan, M.A. on Saturday, 31st May 1952.
The fifth bell was recast and returned in 1955. 

And then I spotted a bookcase in the church hall, full of books about the area, and books to interest children whilst their parents were indulging in a spot of refreshment. The book that caught my eye was, of course, a Ladybird book!

When I got home, I had a look around the Taylors bellfoundry website, and was astonished to read under their current projects that one of their works in progress is again with the church of St Uny in Lelant! 

And so, ended my Cornwall holiday, from whence I made my way to Bristol, and in the following week visited Peterborough and London - and made yet more Loughborough connections!

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). Taylors bells at St Uny church, Lelant. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/07/taylors-bells-at-st-uny-church-lelant.html  [Accessed 29 July 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

    

* St Hilary is also a church associated with Bernard Walke.

** Annie Fearon Walke also has a Facebook history (under Anne, rather than Annie).