Burleigh Hall

"Oh my goodness, Baron Muncaster!" I exclaimed - perhaps rather too loudly, as everyone in the room turned to look at me!

"Baron Muncaster? asked my youngest.

"Yes, you know, Baron Muncaster!"

"Errr, no! I've heard of lots of other Barons, and Lords, and Counts, and Earls ... but not Baron Muncaster!"

"If I have then you must have!" I replied. "I was hoping you'd be able to help me, because although it rings loud bells in my head, I can't remember why!"

We were standing in the middle of an exhibition at Blenheim Palace featuring the life, work and words of Sir Winston Churchill, and as is my habit I was avidly reading the detailed information boards, when I came across mention of this baronetcy, which made me squeal. The name sounded so familiar, but wasn't one that cropped up often. Other exhibition visitors were, of course, quietly looking around, absorbing the astonishing history that was being presented, and I'd invoked their displeasure, somewhat, with my obvious excitement.

The youngest seems to have an appetite for, and an understanding of the ranks of the nobility, and regularly has his nose in Debrett's Peerage. He's also done the family tree and established his distant relationship with Charles Spencer, the 9th Earl Spencer (very distant - 4th cousin 1x removed of husband of 5th cousin 3x removed!) so when I mention specifically named persons in the  ranks of the peerage, he can usually tell me exactly who they are and how they got their rank. But not this time!

It took me a while, and a lot of wracking of my brain, but I finally got there, and realised why the name meant something to me, but not to my youngest - there was a Loughborough connection, and I was kicking myself for not getting there sooner! Here's an extract from "Secret Loughborough" which mentions Baron Muncaster:

"...in 1902 ...Burleigh Hall became the home of the Honourable Alan Joseph Pennington, son of the 3rd Baron Muncaster."

So, my memory was right - it just took rather a long time to get there!!

There were quite a number of other things I saw that reminded me of Loughborough. One of which was the statue honouring the 1st Earl of Marlborough, called the Column of Victory, which took me to Nelson's Column in London, designed by the architect William Railton, which then reminded me of the many Leicestershire buildings that Railton designed - like St Paul's Church in Woodhouse Eaves, and the lodges on the Garendon Estate.

Column of Victory

Column of Victory 

Column of Victory

Column of Victory

Nelson's Column by William Railton

In the library having oooohed and ahhhed over the books, I then found myself peering at the tiny black radiators! Of course, the chances of them being made by Messengers was low, and indeed, I didn't manage to find any indication of the makers.

A short, low radiator

A long, low radiator (showing scale!)

A long, low radiator

Also in the library was rather a shocker!!! An organ!! Maybe not the kind of thing you'd expect to find in a library? It was absolutely beautiful, and it was great to hear that it was in regular use. This wasn't the only organ, however, and as one would expect, the other one being in the Chapel. What was surprising though, was how tiny the chapel organ was!! These organs reminded me of our All Saints with Holy Trinity church, and in particular the series of organ concerts they hold every Sunday in August.

The organ in the library

The organ in the library

The organ in the library

The organ in the library

The organ in the chapel

The organ in the chapel (showing scale!)

The organ in the chapel

Introducing the organist at All Saints

The organist in action at All Saints

And, finally, Ladybird Books - well, an offshoot, at least - appeared, taking me right back to my childhood and the exhibition currently on at New Walk Museum, Leicester.

Ladybird products

Ladybird covers, exhibition at New Walk Museum

Ladybird covers, exhibition at New Walk Museum

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). Burleigh Hall. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/08/burleigh-hall.html [Accessed 18 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   

Lynne really was about Loughborough this week!!

Well, are the weeks ever quiet?? Is there ever any let up in this local history lark that sees me chatting with chums, engaging in email exchanges, partying with heritage project volunteers, and going all star-struck over those Star Wars toys?! Seems not!

So, a few landmark events this week to share with you.

The week started with a plea for help in publicising a book signing event taking place in the Harvester on Ashby Road. My friend had written a book about the Sea Around Us (the former name for the Harvester) and had been invited to sell the book at the 35th anniversary of the pub on Bank Holiday Monday, with all proceeds from the sale going to Sam White Legacy fund. Whilst chatting, my friend revealed that he is the only person to have sat on the town hall clock!!! Sounds a bit odd, doesn't it, but it makes more sense when I tell you he used to be a fireman!!   

Then Woodhouse Eaves seemed to take over my thoughts again early this week, partly because I was contacted by someone enquiring about Burleigh Hall. During my research I discovered that the owner of Burleigh Hall had donated towards the children's recovery home at Woodhouse Eaves. A bit more research revealed that actually, there were at one time 8 recovery / convalescent homes in Woodhouse Eaves, so quite which one it was, I'm not sure, but I've a pretty good idea. Here's a picture of one candidate:

Coincidentally, chatting with a chum later in the week, unprompted, he mentioned that he had spent some time at the children's convalescent home in Wooodhouse Eaves when he was a young child, recovery from TB! How absolutely amazing is that?!

Meanwhile, in the local studies section of the public library, I was perusing the Taylor's exhibition and chatting with the volunteers there, when I was introduced to the wife of the former carilloneur. That was extremely interesting, as my uncle plays the carillon in his church in New Jersey. 

I also discovered that the library had a short dissertation which explained the background to the recovery / convalescent homes in Woodhouse Eaves, so I shall be popping back to read that in more detail at a later date. Better not leave it too late as I believe the library will be closed from mid-November to the end of 2018 for the installation of SMART access. 

Friday night I was at a party to celebrate the culmination of the Woodhouse Eaves St Paul's church heritage project which saw the collapsing chancel repaired, and the history of the church and its environs researched and showcased in the church over the last couple of months. Volunteers had researched a huge range of topics - from bells to clocks, from bats to birds, from slate to stained glass, from village life to personal lives. Research was recorded and displayed on pull-up banners, talks were given and walks were led. The Memorial Rooms were full to bursting with volunteers who had taken part, and they were thanked for their contribution to the project with a wonderful buffet, and sincere thanks from the person I can only describe as the "project manager".

Saturday I made a special trip into town to purchase a copy of "Songster", a book written by my friend, and illustrated by her friend. As it's not yet officially published, these were being sold on a market stall. On the way there I bumped into a bowler friend - a different one from the one I bumped into earlier in the week in town - and we chatted for a while, and once I was at the market stall, whilst chatting to another friend, I discovered that during the carillon renovation works, he had been lucky enough to actually go right to the top of the carillon, and touch the cross on the top! 

If any of you have read a book called "Loughborough in 50 buildings" you might have seen mention of Delice, the cafe on Baxter Gate. Well, since the book was published, Delice has closed its doors, but today was the opening day of a new cafe based in this beautiful 1930s building, Baxter's Tea Rooms, so I popped in there for a quick brew - which turned into a long cuppa when I bumped into friends who were also in there, and then another as I was on the way out!!

Delice

Eventually, on Saturday afternoon I made it the New Walk Museum in Leicester to see the Star Wars exhibition! It's a lovely building, and has been fairly recently renovated, with a new stairs put in, and extra cafe tables. Anyway, the Star Wars exhibition was upstairs, and was really quite exciting (even for someone like me who isn't really into the SW thing), mostly because it brought back memories of my misspent youth!! On leaving the museum, we popped into the cathedral to see RIII, had a coffee in the nearby Buddhist Centre and then had a wander around the city. For a special treat, we had dinner at Feast India, a buffet on Melton Road, Leicester.

Sadly, I missed two things this week: firstly, the bells of St Paul's starting their return journey to London, having been at Taylors for refurbishment, and then the refurbishment of the Fearon Fountain. 

Anyway, better go now - I have research for a book to do!

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). Lynne really was about Loughborough this week! Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/09/lynne-really-was-about-loughborough.html  [Accessed 2 September 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 

   




  



            

New Walk new walk

This week I shall be taking some work friends for a lunchtime walk up New Walk in Leicester, so I have been out and about planning - not planning the route, of course, because that's easy, just join New Walk at the bottom and continue along the pleasant, pedestrianised path to the top!!! I've tried to spot some of the different things I could talk about as we stroll, so here's some pics of what I found. I know it's not Loughborough, but it's kept me pre-occupied so no time for Loughborough research this week.