Changes in Loughborough

Isn't it funny how things can remain the same for years and years, and then suddenly lots of things seem to change all at the same time?

Some of the things that stand out in my mind are the building of the Inner Relief Road, and all the changes that brought, like the partial demolition of Warner Street School and the butchers, amongst other things. The building of the law courts a couple of years previously, then seemed to make a bit more sense, as its position is now on the side of the relief road.

There are too many recent changes for me to document, but here are a few that I have noticed when I've been out and about in Loughborough recently.

Over the last couple of years, I've been watching with dismay and interest as the former nurses' home on Baxter Gate (built as an auction mart for Garton and Amatt), a Grade II listed building, has first deteriorated and then been taken over and renovated by Pizza Express: here's a couple of photos:

After the demolition of the General Hospital

Soon after the start of the renovation in 2015

At the beginning of 2016

At the beginning of 2016

Down by the old Ladybird factory, there's been a bit of derelict land, surrounded by fencing, which is finally taking shape as houses:

In June 2015, from the canal, Ladybird factory in the middle distance

The same view at the beginning of 2016, but with the canal slightly behind me

Fairly close to this, after passing the Herbert Morris works, where, on January 31st, 1916 a Zeppelin bomb landed, a pile of rubble has been transformed into a flat piece of land, presumably on which will be built more homes:

In 2015 there was an interesting pile of rubble, mostly made up of Victorian bricks

In early 2016 the rubble has gone, and the land flattened

  
In March 2015 I had a look around SOFA, a second-hand shop based in the old Towles factory on Nottingham Road. Going up to the top floor gave me a lovely view across parts of Loughborough, including the patch of derelict land which used to be the site of a dye works (if memory serves me correctly). This looks a little different today:

A view from the top floor of the former Towles building in February 2015

A view from the canal, looking towards the former Towles building

The biggest surprise I had on my latest walk was the changes that are happening down on Sparrow Hill, at Sid Powell's old place. The render has been removed, exposing the brick, and the modern tiled roof has been replaced with slate tiles. Ok, so they're not Swithland slate like the Manor House (now Caravelli's) next door, but, I presume, the thinner Welsh Slate:

Sid Powell's shop (formerly the Shakespeare Inn and the Crown and Thistle) in Jan 2014

The same building in Jan 2016. Renovation also taking place on what is thought to be an old butcher's in the yard behind.

Now, I am waiting with trepidation, to see what is going to happen at Parks Millwrights. Planning permission  has been requested to do something to the buildings in the yard. I'm hoping this won't affect the main building.

Sorry if I haven't documented the recent history of your favourite building or piece of land, but I hope you've enjoyed seeing some of the developments that are happening in current day Loughborough.

Review of lynneaboutloughborough 2015

Review of 2015

2015 has, in many ways, been a momentous year for me. I’ve spent virtually the whole year working full-time, and lynneaboutloughborough has suffered a little for this. On a more personal note, daughter gained a First Class Honours degree in Mathematics from Reading, and we were all ablet o go to her Graduation Ceremony. One son successfully completed his first year at university, and the other started his first year at Queen Mary in London, in Chemistry. Mid-way through the year, my daughter and I celebrated her 21^st birthday with a visit to Ascot Races, courtesy of her older brother. During a week-long summer holiday in St Ives, we became aware of health issues and undertook to loose some weight, eat more healthily and get fitter, a state of affairs that continues to this day. In September, my wonderful partner and I got married after 21 year together. 

In Loughborough, so many things have happened, it’s impossible to document them! I’m thinking along the lines of pedestrianisation of High Street, the conversion of several pubs into convenience stores, and work starting on the new cinema complex.

As for lynneaboutloughborough, blogposts have varied in quality, detail and subject matter, ranging from a pub quiz, posts about WW1, needlemaking, posts about people, events and parts of the town, and posts consisting solely of pictures.

Here’s a reminder of the most popular posts of 2015:

Most visited post: Spotlight on Ancient Loughborough 2

2^nd: Sunloch, a winning horse

3^rd: Pub Quiz

4^th: Market Place sale

5^th: Loughborough 2014 in pictures

Joint 6^th: Red about Loughborough 2

Joint 6^th: Museums

8^th: Stoneywell Cottage

9^th: Old Bleach Yard

10^th: Loughborough Remembers

The posts you viewed least in 2015 were:

Least visited post: Out and about (Hathern Band etc.)

2^nd: Needlemaking and other Loughboroughconnections

3^rd: Ascot, Stamford and Loughborough

4^th: So who was John Nichols?

5^th: Needlemaking in Loughborough

Joint 6^th: A walk in Booth Wood

Joint 6^th: WW1 memorial and church of All Saintswith Holy Trinity

8^th: Richard III and Leicester

9^th: Shakespeare in Loughborough and Macbeth

10^th: 250 years of Lloyds Bank

Of the posts that were not the most popular, nor the least popular, these are my favourites:

A society wedding: a description of the marriage of Edward William Cradock Middleton, banker, to Augusta Sophia Vavasour, daughter of the Rev, Marmaduke Vavasour, vicar of Ashby

Never far from Loughborough: description of things that reminded me of Loughborough whilst I was on holiday in Wales (like Taylors Bellfounders, the De Lisle family, and Richard III)

Walking China and Loughborough: a photographic record of my walk from Shelthorpe to the GCR, past the old Ladybird factory, along School Street, Pinfold Gate and Coronation Way, past the Cherry Tree flats, Cottons factory and home via the Baxter Gate development.

So, I do hope you all had a great break, and I wish you all a Happy New Year! Please enjoy these few photos from the Christmas tree service held at St Mary’s Church in Melton Mowbray, with Hathern Band.

Shakespeare in Loughborough: Macbeth, pubs and, um framework knitters!

Shakespeare in Loughborough

Last week was the birthday of our most famous playwright, William Shakespeare, who was born on 23 April 1564. Incidentally, he also died on 23 April, 52 years later in 1616. So, what better way to celebrate the occasion by experiencing a production of one of his plays, in Loughborough itself.

The Festival Players are a Loughborough-based amateur dramatic society, who began life in 1954. The history of the society  shows that they have played many types of productions, including musicals, and plays in many genres. However, I couldn’t find a mention of any Shakespeare in there, so I’m assuming that last week’s performance of Macbeth was a first for them. And what a first it was!

 

 

 

The Festival Players were lucky enough to be taking part in The Royal Shakespeare Company’s Open Stages initiative, which gives selected amateur performers access to workshops, support and mentoring from the RSC, and this was evident in FP’s Macbeth, especially in the battle scenes, which felt realistic, and yet safe!

The acting was great, the set was versatile, and the whole atmosphere dark and scary, made all the more realistic by the venue – Sir Robert Martin Theatre at the university – having a floor level stage area, rather than a traditional raised stage. Interestingly, the inaugural production of the Festival Players - Young Wives’ Tale - took place in Martin Hall, which is the building in which the Sir Robert Martin Theatre is found.

In their time, the Festival Players have played in Stanford Hall Theatre, in Martin Hall, Hind Leys Theatre, The Cope Auditorium, and Loughborough Town Hall.

Back to Shakespeare though. As he is our most famous playwright, I suppose it is to be expected that there will be plenty of things named after him. I’m thinking roads, pubs, theatres etc.. We know Daniel Defoe – he of Robinson Crusoe fame – passed through Loughborough, and wasn’t hugely impressed, suggesting our little market town was of no note, but I wonder if Shakespeare ever passed through? He must surely have known Francis Beaumont (1584 – 6 March 1616), born at Grace Dieu and (I think) a descendant of the former Lords of the Manor, a fellow playwright who also wrote for the King’s Men. Beaumont often collaborated with John Fletcher, and in his turn Fletcher collaborated with Shakespeare on Henry VIII, the play said to be jinxed as it was during a production of this play that the Globe Theatre in London burnt down.

The former Shakespeare / Crown & Thistle

 

 

Anyway, at one time, and certainly in 1889, we had a pub called the Shakespeare, on Sparrow Hill. This changed its name to the Crown and Thistle, closing in 1922, and latterly being a flower shop owned by Sid Powell, which can be found next to Caravelli’s. Of course, we still have Shakespeare Street in town – just like other places have, e.g. Nottingham, Southport, Newcastle, Lincoln, and Glasgow – which has Shakespeare Street School at the end of it. This locally listed building in gothic-revival style has had various uses over the years, including being used by the university for its chemistry department (I think it was chemistry) and as an annex for Limehurst School.

 

 

 

Moving from Loughborough to Leicester, we find there was a Shakespeare’s Head pub on Southfields Road, although this can have had no relation to Shakespeare the bard, as the name was actually the Shakespeares Head, a grammar error that Shakespeare is unlikely to have made! This 1960s pub closed in 2012 and has recently re-opened as a sports bar, grill and café called the Fat Budha. There is also a pub called The Globe in Leicester, on Silver Street, which has been going since the 1720s. Rather naively and until relatively recently, I thought this was some reference to Shakespeare, but I now know this is a reference to the framework knitters who may well have drunk here: The globe refers to a globe-shaped glass cover that the framework knitters placed over their candle in order to better spread the light whilst they were working on the frame. And I’d better stop there before I completely lose you! Sorry, this week’s post has turned out to be a bit of a ramble, but I do hope you’ve found it entertaining!