Taylors of Loughborough and more!

This week has been another of those rollercoaster type weeks that serves to remind me of what's important in life. 

On Thursday I went out for a farewell meal with a bunch of work colleagues, some of whom were retiring. Some had firm plans for how they were going to spend their retirement, others were a bit more undecided, or rather, were going to go with the flow. Of course, the usual "we'll keep in touch" and "we'll pop back and see you" comments were made, but we all know how difficult it is to keep in contact with people when you no longer see them everyday, and they live the other side of Leicester! Still, I hope they remember all the good things that happened at work, and enjoy their retirement. 

On Friday I said a farewell of a different kind, a lady who was described as being Loughborough through and through, having been born only 400 yards away from where she died. It was both a sad and a joyful occasion, sad that I had only known this lady for 6 years, but joyful because we were celebrating her life - and wearing bright colours to keep us all as cheerful as possible. It made me realise how little I know about anything, and how important it is to ask before it's too late.

On Saturday members of my family and I travelled to the Cotswolds to meet up with relatives from the States who I hadn't seen since the very early 1970s, and who some of my family had never before met. It was an afternoon/evening meet up, and since we arrived a little early, we had a look around the local motor museum. That was super - loads of old cars, old metal signs, old toys, and much, much more! 

I couldn't however, at the time, find any Loughborough connections, that is, until I came to write this post!!! So, I spotted the name Onions, a popular name in Loughborough, and one part of the Birmingham engineering and iron founding company, established in the 1650s, which was named Alldays and Onions. I suppose the fact that the museum was in an old mill reminded me of Cotes Mill (a pub when I first came to Loughborough, but now a kitchen makers). And that the museum used ladybird stickers to share facts with the youngsters reminded me of Ladybird Books. Oh, and there was a Ladybird Book on display. And the fact that the woollen trade was an important one in the Cotswolds, just as it was in Loughborough. And one of the scooters on display reminded me of the bike event in the Market Place a couple of weekends ago! 

One other thing I spotted were three out-of-place milestones: I have a thing about milestones, and these certainly reminded me of one of Loughborough's. So, quite a few connections now I've thought about it! I've put some of the relevant photos at the end of this post.

So, onto the family gathering! I was so pleased to meet my uncle again, because it is he who plays the carillon in St Peter's Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey, twice every Sunday and at various other times. He told me all about the Taylors bells they have, which were made in 1924, just after our very own Carillon was constructed. The St Peter's carillon now has 49 bells - that's two more than ours, but it started with only 36 in 1924, increasing to 47 by 1955, and to 49 by 1993. I believe the later bells were made in France, by Paccard/Bigelow and Petit & Fritsen.

There are 100 steps up the tower to the carillon in St Peter's church, and in order to make the ascent and descent safer, a handrail has now been added. Sadly, so far there has been no luck in finding a successor to make a committment to play regulalry in order that my uncle may "retire". Not that he wants to, but the climb is becoming increasingly difficult for him. Here's a video of him explaining about the carillon, a report of an event at which two guest carillonneurs played (with some lovely photos), and another short article featuring my uncle.   

Anyway, back at the gathering, I got talking to loads of people I'd not met before, and was pleased that people had heard of Loughborough, through its university's sporting heroes. But, imagine my surprise when I discovered that a gentleman at the gathering had actually worked at Herbert Morris - back in the day, as they say!!! He would arrive in Loughborough on a Monday, work until the end of Friday and then travel home again. Sadly, I didn't think to ask him where he stayed during the week, but it was great to talk to him! And that's just reminded me - there was something at the motor museum with a Loughborough connection and a Morris connection too: a model airship, just like the Zeppelins of 1916!!           

Hello Bro!!

The three chemists!

A former Morris employee!!!!

Siblings

Pensive moment

Siblings!

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). What a milestone! Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/06/taylors-of-loughborough-and-more.html  [Accessed 24 June 2018]

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Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne  

Carillons!

The New Jersey connection

Firstly, please accept my apologies for not being around to blog for the last few weeks. A combination of factors have meant that blogging hasn’t been possible recently.

I last left you reading about The Temperance Society in Loughborough, and promising you an article on Temperance in Nanapantan, as I had seen sight of two different postcards of two different buildings in Nanpantan purporting to be temperance establishments. That article is almost ready to go, but I have been seriously distracted of late, and would love to share my latest, most amazing discovery with you. Please read on …

At a recent family gathering, I was re-acquainted with some relatives I hadn’t seen for many years, and we spent quite some time catching up with what had been happening over the years. My aunt happened to mention that she and her husband had been over to the States about 7 years ago, and my uncle regaled us with stories of the aeroplane having to circle the American airport because of thunderstorms in the area, which made it impossible to land. So, the pilot, having done quite a few circles, calmly announced that unless he was able to land soon, he would run out of fuel and the plane would turn into a glider. Luckily, there was an airforce base very close by and the plane was able to land there and re-fuel, and waited on the ground for a couple of hours whilst the storm passed. Eventually, the plane was able to take off, lined up with the runway, and made a landing in what seemed like only a couple of minutes.

Anyway, I can hear you asking, “What on earth has this got to do with Loughborough?” Well, thing is, my aunt and uncle were going to visit my aunt’s brother, my uncle, who emigrated to the States in about 1960, and as far as I can remember, I’ve only seen him once since then, in about 1969. They had obviously found the visit incredibly exciting, and were telling me stories of what they’d done. My aunt is fairly quietly spoken, and I don’t hear particularly well, and having been away from Wales for many years, I admit I struggled a little in following the conversation. At one point she seemed to be talking about a “carilan”, and it took me a few seconds to realise that this was how they pronounced “carillon”!

My ears were now well-tuned in! This year was the first time that I had volunteered and helped out at the museum in our own carillon, in Queen’s Park, and I cannot really explain why I did this, but hearing my aunt talk about a carillon in the States, I was all agog. Imagine, my even greater surprise when I realised that she was telling me that the man who played that carillon was, in fact, my uncle! Three times a week, he climbed the 100 steps up to the playing chamber and played for the church service! The fact that my uncle played the carillon was quite astonishing, but the fact that he climbed those 100 steps three times a week, was also astonishing, given that he is aged 80!!

My aunt also said that there had been a recording of him playing on the internet, so the first thing I did when I got home was scour the internet for this video, and, of course, I found it! My first surprise was to see a picture of my uncle: I could have been looking at my own father, had I not known this was his brother!

My second surprise came when I listened to the video and heard my uncle say, in an American-tinged-with-Welsh accent:

“The bells were made at the Taylor Bell Foundry in Loughborough, England, and each of the bells has the Taylor Foundry mark on the back.”

So, a carillon in Morristown, New Jersey, has 49 Taylor’s bells which are played regularly by my uncle!

Well, I know life is full of coincidences, but this one has really made an impression on me!!

But I won’t tell you that the Vicar who presided over the event the family we were attending, was the Vicar of St Mary’s Priory in Abergavenny: This is an extract from their website [my embolden]:

“The Bells

St Mary’s has a ring of 10 bells, the tenor weighing in at 25 cwts 18 lbs. At the dissolution of the monasteries in 1536-39, the parishioners bought the four bells, weighing a total of 45.5 cwt, which hung in the Priory Church.

The tenor was recast in 1603 and the 3rd recast in 1666, by the Purdues of Bristol. The treble was recast in 1706 by Abraham Rudall.

The bells were augmented to five in 1835 and then to six in 1845 by Jeffries & Price of Bristol. To commemorate Queen Victoria’s Jubilee in 1887, the bells were rehung and augmented to eight by Llewellins & James of Bristol, the same firm recasting the tenor (19 cwt) in 1893.

Finally, in 1947, these bells were replaced by the present magnificent 10 from the Loughborough foundry, in thanksgiving for the end of the Second World War. They are considered to be the finest ring of 10 bells in Christendom and bell-ringers from all over the country come to ring the changes.

The medieval 6th of the old ring, dated 1308, is preserved in the nave and inscribed ‘May the bell of John last many years’ – perhaps indicated that this was one of a peal of bells donated by John de Hastings, the man responsible for the first restoration of the Priory Church.”

Anyway, here are a couple of links featuring my uncle and the carillon in Morristown that you might be interested in following up:

A video of my uncle talking about and playing the 49-bell carillon in St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Morristown, New Jersey

A little bit of info about Morristown, New Jersey

A little bit of info about St. Peter’s Episcopal Church carillon

A picture of my uncle

Another picture of my uncle

And another!

Umm, and another! 

Another picture of my uncle and aunt

A video of Santa Claus (aka my uncle) landing in Morristown

And a video of Mr and Mrs Claus ...

I’m hoping to resume weekly blogging shortly, so do pop back again next week ...

Thanks for indulging me!