Remembrance Day 2025

As usual Loughborough held its magnificent Remembrance Day Service in the beautiful Queen’s Park. It was a relatively mild day weatherwise for the time of year, but I was surprised at how wet under foot the ground was, as I hadn’t really noticed, but we must have had a lot of rain recently.

As last year, we didn’t manage to get an order of service, but we heard people mention that there was a copy online, so we stood amongst the crowd with our mobile phones on. Not that we really needed to know what was happening as it’s pretty much the same service every year. Having said that, however, I have to admit that the first hymn was completely unknown to me! Luckily, the people behind us seemed to know it so I was able to follow them, only the tune was clearly written for high voices, so I was singing along an octave lower!

This year was the first year that the Reverend Emily from All Saints led the service, and she was supported by the Chairman of the Royal British Legion, the mayor of Loughborough, and the Bishop of Leicester, with the Deputy Lieutenant of the County speaking last.

There seemed to be far more people in the crowd this year than I remember from previous years, but I got the impression that there were fewer military groups, and also fewer beavers, cubs, and scouts than in previous years, although in truth, I do struggle to see what’s going on around the carillon, given my height! Interestingly, there were a couple of large television screens in the park, so there was an opportunity for people to watch the action as it happened, but it did make for an interesting echo effect – or maybe that was just the new hearing aids playing tricks on the ears! I believe the event was streamed online too, so people who weren't able to come were able to watch from home.

 

The band seemed a bit quieter too – maybe the wind was blowing in the wrong direction – and most of the crowd missed the beginning of the National Anthem! And, we missed the gunshot at the end of the two minutes’ silence, which was replaced by a WW2 whistle!

After the service was finished we watched the dignitaries process out of the park. I took a few not very good pictures - including the back of one of our new Aldermen, the back of one of our Freemen, and the back of the university VC!

Then we hung around a while to look at the new sculpture representing Bing the dog, which was unveiled on Thursday last week, and event I missed as I was away. Bing served during the Second World War, and received the Dickin Medal for his bravery. He was standing with Songster, the war horse, and surrounded by poppies. So lovely that there are folk out there who decorate Songster with lovely purple poppies too – thank you! Thank you, too, to the people who decorate the tree trunks with knitted poppies.

Until next year. 

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2025). Remembrance Day 2025. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/11/remembrance-day-2025.html [Accessed 9 November 2025]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

Loughborough's Carillon

Every year, when I ponder what to write about the Zeppelin raid on Loughborough on 31st January 1916, or when I wander through the Queen's Park, or when I think about what I can do to promote Loughborough to visitors, and when I do promote the town when I lead guided walks, one of the features that always comes up is the Carillon. And, would you believe, in the recent Art Deco talk I gave to a local history society, the Carillon even made an appearance in there!!!

The Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum is unique in the country. True, there are other carillons, for example, that at Bournville, and there's even one down at our own bellfoundry, but the uniqueness is attributed to the one in Queen's Park being a war memorial. The carillon itself is a musical instrument that has been regularly played by the Borough Carillonneur, who was Eric Jordan at the time of the opening, and is currently Caroline Sharpe, or by visiting carillonneurs, or student carillonneurs, since the day the Carillon was opened in 1923. Regular recitals were also broadcast from the Carillon by the BBC!

Of course, such a magnificent monument, the building of which was a truly local affair - bricks by Tuckers, steelwork by Morris, bells by Taylors, and actually built by Moss - but came at a cost, some of which money was raised by the creation of a bedspread, which was awarded as a prize to the person who guessed the correct weight - or at least, came closest - of the Carillon tower! 

It was when I was doing my tour guide training, way back in 2012, that I first learned about Songster, the war horse who returned from the First World War and lived to an old age. Then, when I was a volunteer museum assistant at the Carillon for a couple of seasons, back in 2014, I encountered the life-sized Songster - well, it may not have been full size, but it seemed very large to me! - whose reins were being held by a mannequin dressed in full Leicestershire Yeomanry uniform. I have to say, both were rather scary! I also learned about trench art, which wasn't something I'd come across before. Since then, an attractive wire model of Songster has graced the flowerbed close to the Carillon!

The first year I volunteered I staffed the top museum floor; the second year, I was on the first floor museum - see the end of this article for a selection of photographs of some of the artefacts that were on those floors. Access to both floors - and to the clavier room, and the actual bell chamber - is via a wonderful, spiral staircase! Who doesn't love these?! I have to put my claustrophobia to one side, and concentrate fully on putting one foot in front of the other! It's really not unlike climbing to the top of a castle turret - and who doesn't love those, too?! Or climbing the church tower, either to get to the bell chamber, or out onto the roof to see the surrounding countryside!! Or even the tower of the Loughborough Grammar School which is often open during Heritage Open Days in September. When the Carillon tower is open, it is possible to climb to the top and survey the countryside around our wonderful town, and see the actual bells in the bell chamber.

Carillon stairs

Descending the spiral stairs in the parish church

One of the bells in the bell chamber at the parish church

The spiral stairs in the Loughborough Grammar School Tower

In May 1952, the Leicester Evening Mail informed its readers that there was a "small museum inside where war relics are kept". 

In January 1964, the Illustrated Leicester Chronicle included a long description of the "unique building", saying:

 "Anyone may enter the tower to view the bells, at certain times of the day, for a small admission fee, however, one must be warned that there are 138 steps to the top of the tower! Half-way up there is a war-museum, relics brought back from the war by local men who served there." 

A comprehensive description of the contents of the museum then followed, and included both artefacts and documents.

It wasn't until Monday 5th November 1984 that the Carillon was added to the Register of Listed Buildings, and granted Grade II status. 

During the opening season, which I believe is usually Easter to October (but do please check the official website!), the Carillon receives all kinds of visitors, many of whom come from overseas on special visits. Locals and students alike climb the tower, listen to the carillon recitals, and learn from the museum exhibits, and from talking to the volunteer guides, and members of the Carillon team even go out into schools, sharing the story of the wonderful building, and taking along objects that the students can handle and learn more about.   

Last summer we celebrated the 100th anniversary of the completion of the Carillon in July 1923. I believe the weather on the occasion of the opening ceremony was quite reasonable and seasonable, however on 23 July 2023 it rained heavily and constantly! Nevertheless, enthusiasts did turn out for what was a momentous occasion. More recently, the Carillon was the destination for the replica of the Great Paul Bell, which was made from willow, and journeyed from the parish church to Queen's Park via the town centre!

Of course, every November, the Carillon is the focal point for the poignant Service of Remembrance, which is fitting, given its role as the town's war memorial, commemorating not only those who died during the First and Second World Wars, but also in subsequent, and more recent conflict.

____________________________________

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

_______________________________________________

Thank you for reading this blog.

Copyright:

The copyright © of all content on this blog rests with me, however, you are welcome to quote passages from any of my posts, with appropriate credit. The correct citation for this looks as follows:

Dyer, Lynne (2023). Loughborough's Carillon. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/02/loughboroughs-carillon.html [Accessed 18 February 2024]

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.

External Links:

By including links to external sources I am not endorsing the websites, the authors, nor the information contained therein, and will not check back to update out-of-date links. Using these links to access external information is entirely the responsibility of the reader of the blog.

Blog archive and tags:

If you are viewing this blog in mobile format, you will not be able to easily access the blog archive, or the clickable links to various topics. These can be accessed if you scroll to the bottom of the page, and click 'View Web Version'. Alternatively, there is also a complete list of posts, which when clicked will take you to the page you are interested in.

Searching the blog:

You can search the blog using the dedicated search box that appears near the top of the blog when viewed in the web version. Alternatively, you can search using your usual search engine (e.g. Bing, Google, DuckDuckGo etc.) by following this example:

site: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/ “Radmoor House”

NOTE – the words you’re actually looking for must be in “” and the first of these must be preceded by a space

Thank you for reading this blog.

Lynne

The return of the Remembrance service in Queen's Park

Last year's service of Remembrance in Queen's Park was a very different event, from that which we in Loughborough have come to expect and love over the past 100 years, so it was lovely to be able to attend this year's service in the park. There were changes to the usual programme, and changes to the parade route, so instead of finishing in the Market Place, the parade stayed in the park. The Loughborough Concert Band played as usual, but sat outside the bandstand, and the Hathern Concert Brass also played, but in their usual spot near the Carillon. And, the Carillon played during the laying of the wreaths. What was also different for me was that I couldn't find a good view from anywhere and I didn't manage to get a programme until after the service was over!!! And, the weather was really rather warm for the time of year. It was lovely to bump into friends old and new, too. Here are just a few photographs I managed to take at the event.

The remains of the fair in the 800th year since the granting of the Charter

An impression of Songster - sorry for cutting off his tail!

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 14 November 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). The return of the Remembrance service in Queen's Park. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/11/the-return-of-remembrance-service-in.html     [Accessed 14 November 2021]

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.

You can leave comments below, but do check back as my reply will appear here, below your comment.

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne

Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show

A chance sighting of the name Crimwell Chief has sent me off on a real treasure hunt this week!!

Who would have thought such a name could have resulted in so much time spent on research!

Loughborough Agricultural Association was set up in 1838, and in 1839 its first anniversary show took place on Mr Warner’s land on the London Road – so probably in the grounds of The Elms. There already were other shows happening in places like Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Market Harborough and Waltham-on-the-Wolds, and the hope was that Loughborough’s would equal any similar show in the Midland Counties.

The show did indeed prove to be successful, and ran for nearly 100 years.

The pictures below were taken at the 1948 show:

Vanners at the 1948 Loughborough Show

A bull at the 1948 Loughborough Show

A cow at the 1949 Loughborough Show

Showing in the ring at the 1949 Loughborough Show

Around 1880 the show moved to Mr W.B. Paget’s land, Southfields – today’s Southfields Park – and continued in the same format until 1930, when financial difficulties forced a change of focus. Although many of the shows were held on Southfields Park, there were a number of occasions when the show took place elsewhere. In 1920 the former cricket ground at Allsopps Lane was the venue; in 1929 the show took place on the Corinthians football ground, and the final show of its type, in 1930, took place in the grounds of Burleigh Hall.

Most of the shows were held in mid-September, and most years were on a Wednesday, but the association did play with the date a bit, so there were times when it was held in early August. During the period of the First World War, no show took place.

Following the stretch of financial difficulties, the show was rebadged as an exhibition, and from 1937 it was held in various locations, including at Cedars Farm, Normanton-on-Soar in 1937; in Wymeswold in 1939, and at Ladygate Farm, Diseworth in 1947. There were no shows during the period of the Second World War.

I’m unsure where the 1948 and 1949 shows were held, but it was these shows that popped up when I was researching Crimwell Stuart.

Our area has long been associated with Robert Bakewell, the eighteenth-century agriculturalist who developed an animal breeding programme which improved the quality of sheep (the Leicester Longwools) and cattle (the Longhorns). Bakewell, who lived and farmed at Dishley Grange also improved the process of irrigation. The other improvement that he made was to the heavy horse, which was the forerunner of the Shire horse, a type of draught horse, being tall, strong and hardworking and often used in farm work like ploughing. Shire horses, often known as draught horses, were often used to pull carts, perhaps carrying beer.    

So, like Songster – Loughborough’s war horse - and Sunloch – a Loughborough winner of the Grand National in 1914 – Crimwell Stuart turned out to be a horse! On 31st July 1948, Crimwell Stuart, a bay gelding, took part in the Loughborough Show, where he came first in his class, and was the runner-up of the challenge cup for the best horse in the draught horse section. Crimwell Staurt was owned by Offilers Brewery, of Derby: they also entered another of their horses, Samson, into the show, and it was he who won the challenge cup.

As well as owning Ambrose and Birkwood Surprise, Offilers also owned quite a number of horses whose names began with ‘Crimwell’, including Crimwell Quality; Crimwell Chief, and Crimwell Prince.  Other Crimwell horses included Crimwell Mimic; Crimwell Goldlust, and Crimwell Modern Boy, although I am not sure who owned them.

These horses were all around in the late 1930s-late 1940s, and appear to have been bred by William Brock at his stud farm called Crimwell Pool in Lower Whitley, Cheshire. Legend has it that the farm was actually named after Oliver Cromwell, as it is thought Cromwell watered his horses here in 1645 – which reminds me that Cromwell is reputed to have rested his horses and his men in our parish church during the Civil War, and, of course, it also reminds me of the story of the Bloody Pool in the grounds of Garendon Hall, so named because legend says that during the Civil War, the pool turned red on four consecutive days, which was believed to represent the 4 years of the Civil War.

However, the name of Cromwell Pool, was changed to Crimwell when the farm became registered to breed pedigree Shire horses. In 1841, at 175 acres, the farm was one of the largest farms in Lower Whitley. 143 of those 175 acres were sold to William Brock around 1941, where as well as breeding Shire horses, he also bred British Friesian cattle, and large white, and Saddleback pigs. His Queen Mary line of pigs trace their lineage back to Derby in 1881, and the prefix ‘Crimwell’ was first used for the large white pigs in 1922. Foot and mouth disease in 1967 meant that the farm had to be re-stocked. Descendants of William Brock continue to farm at Crimwell Pool.  

Offilers, of course, was a brewery formed in Derby in 1876. Although taken over by Charrington in 1965, and closed in 1966, there is still evidence of Offilers in Loughborough, in the windows of the Peacock on Factory Street, and in off-licence ghost signs advertising their ‘nut brown ale’, like the one on the corner of William Street and Curzon Street.

As for the Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show, well this was rather like today's Leicestershire County Show, which did for a few years take place on the land next to Dishley Grange, but which now takes place at the showground in Market Harborough, or like the Sutton Bonington Show - some pictures towards the end of this post. Here's hoping these will return next year. 

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

Dyer, Lynne (2020). Loughborough Agricultural and Horticultural Show. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2020/08/loughborough-agricultural-and.html     [Accessed 16 August 2020]

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   

The Carillon - a perfect setting

Well, there's nothing quite like a good book launch, and this weekend I've been lucky enough to go along to a really exciting one!

This particular book has been a long time in the making - and there's nowt wrong with that! I'm a great believer in things happening for a reason and that every experience leads to the next, so perhaps without completing an MA in Creative Writing at Loughborough University in 2011, and without following that up with a PhD, this book might not have happened. 

Karen signing copies of her new book

For her PhD, the author, Dr Karen Ette, studied and investigated modern English creative writing, and her research focused particularly on literature of the 'Great War', so is it really surprising that the novel she has now published is based on original and unpublished letters and diaries of David Adcock, a soldier in the Leicestershire Regiment (later the Royal Leicestershire Regiment), members of whom were called The Tigers.





Of course, I haven't yet had time to read this lovely book, but the synopsis hints at everything a good read should do, and the cover is beautifully designed, and evocative of the period.

The appealing front cover of Karen's book ...

... continues onto the back cover! 

There's a queue building ...

Loughborough's Carillon in Queen's Park

So, the carillon was the perfect setting in which to launch this book, surrounded by artifacts from the First World War, and to the melodious sound of the carillon being played by the Borough Carilloneur, Caroline Sharpe. 

Memories of Loughborough's war horse, Songster, were evoked as the original marker for his grave was on display (a new one was made by a member of staff at the university, and placed at his grave at a memorial service in June 2018). This also reminded me about another writer friend, Alison Mott, whose children's book called 'Songster Loughborough's own war horse' was released in October 2018, and was beautifully illustrated by Liz Waddell. 




Also on display in the carillon was a model of a Zeppelin, rather like the one which dropped its bombs on Loughborough during the evening of 31st January 1916. Hmm, and that reminds me that another writer friend, Ian Castle, has written several books about the Zeppelin raids, and I'm pretty confident that 'The First Blitz in 100 Objects', which will be published in February 2020, will contain something of interest to the people of Loughborough!

A model Zeppelin

Display case containing information on the Zeppelin raid (1)

Display case containing information on the Zeppelin raid (2) 

Display case containing information on the Zeppelin raid (3)

Many of my other friends have written books related to Loughborough too, including Bill Wells ('Billy's Book of Loughborough Boozers', to name but one of the many pub books he's written!), whom I first met in 2013; Ian Porter, who wrote 'Last of the Luddites'; Dennis Powdrill who wrote about his experience of working at Cottons for many years ('Cotton's of Loughborough') and Derrick Hewitt, who has now completed the second book in his series about the Cartwright and Warner, hosiers, called 'Cartwright and Warner'. I do hope no-one is offended if they've written a book about Loughborough, but I haven't mentioned them above


Just in case you are interested in yet more books about Loughborough, 'Loughborough in 50 Buildings' and 'Secret Loughborough' are both available in Loughborough's Waterstones and W H Smith, and online from Amazon, and other good booksellers, including the publishers. Copies will also soon be available from the Local and Family History Centre in the public library. 


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). The Carillon - a perfect setting. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-carillon-perfect-setting.html

[Accessed 22 December 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