Loughborough connections!

Bit of an apologetic blog this week: the last two weeks have been full-on as they say, and I've hardly had a moment to compose a post.

Friday of the week before last I went to Green's windmill in Nottingham. It's a working tower mill, and it's possible to climb right to the top to see all the workings. Fascinating! I couldn't help wonder if any windmill we might have had in Loughborough would be similar, but I'd always assumed before that we'd have had a Midlands-type post mill, rather than a tower mill, but, who actually knows?

The following Saturday I found myself at Stoneygate Tram Depot in Leicester, from where I took a circular ride on a 1973 single-decker bus!!! Not sure if this had a Brush body or not, but I'm sure someone will be able to tell me! So much to see in the depot, including the Midland Red bus and the underground area - torches provided! After this visit, I popped into the University of Leicester botanic gardens, which was full of interest despite it being the end of summer, nearly autumn. I spotted a Swithland slate roof, but were the granite setts from Mountsorrel?

  

Last Sunday I was out supporting a Loughborough runner at the Rutland Marathon. Not much to report on this, except he completed in a good time of 3 hours 56 minutes - a little over the target but still under 4 hours. Oh, and I suppose this is the closest we get to the sea in our area - except when we have sand in Loughborough Market Place?! 

Monday saw me in Warwick dropping off a student starting at the Med School. From here I went to Kenilworth Castle, another place I can't say why I've never been before. Lots of Loughborough connections here - the Dudley family (Lady Jane Grey being married to the younger brother of Robert Dudley, 1st Earl of Leicester, and favourite of Queen Elizabeth 1), the 1st Baron Kenilworth, John Davenport Siddeley (a founder member of Hawker Siddeley, a company which took over the Brush in 1957), and Baron Hastings (Henry Hastings was created Baron Hastings by Simon De Montfort of Kenilworth Castle, in 1264: the Hastings family were Lords of the Manor of Loughborough).

Then, on Friday this week I helped install a sub-warden at Bill Morris, the university hall of residence on Ashby Road opposite the Bastard Gates. I was looking forward to this as I'd imagined I'd get a chance to look around the detached houses that are part of the hall, but alas, a couple of them were already inhabited by folk on the Cricket Academy, so the best I could do was take a couple of photos of the houses from the outside, and some interesting things inside the grounds:

So that was last week, and I haven't even started on this weekend's trips! But, time is moving on and it's getting late ...

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Dyer, Lynne (2018). Loughborough connections. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/09/loughborough-connections.html [Accessed 23 September 2018]

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Lynne

Ascot Stamford and Loughborough!

Well, I hadn't intended to write a blog post today, as I anticipated feeling too tired, and not really having enough time. However, here's a quick picture diary of the last 4 days:

This was my Thursday:

I went along with this young lady

to this place

  to see some of these

and some of these

but I wasn't expecting to see these

and I hadn't thought I might see some of these, either

Then, on Saturday I went to Tolethorpe. In the afternoon I saw this

And in the evening I saw this

Then I spent the night here

The following day I took  a trip on this

and saw this

and this

I tried to be a bit arty with the camera

and then snapped these

Luckily, I didn't need these

Later that same day, I went along to the Loughborough History and heritage Network Community Local History Day, at which there were stalls, talks and panel events, focussed around the topic of the Future of the Past. Well done to the organisers for a well-attended, interesting, informative and exciting event! Although I arrived very late, I was still able to chat to people I knew, listen to a couple of panels, chat to people I didn't know, and buy a few books. From what people said to me, the event was well-attended, and there was a real buzz in the rooms. History, particularly the local history of Loughborough, is alive and well, and if any of us who attended the event have anything to do with it, it will continue to live for a long time to come.

These are some of the books I bought:

Ian Porter's The last of the Luddites

Neil Fortey and Robert Sparham's Angels and Dragons

Christopher Matchett's Ale houses of Whitwick

Hoping for a quieter week next week!