All the fun of the seaside!

Since completing my challenge of reading all the Agatha Christie novels, I’ve had a chance to read a few more books, including some more crime novels, and other books like The Observant Walker, Postal Paths, and Newark-on-Trent. 

I’ve just started To the Sea by Train which seems an appropriate book to read, given that it’s summer, so holidays are on the cards, and that there’s an exhibition at the public library about the Leicester Fortnight – so the time when all the local factories closed down for two weeks so workers could go on holiday, but probably more likely was because it meant that the company could completely shut down for a period and save some money on overheads, like lighting, heating, and general energy consumption.

Of course, it wasn’t just Leicester and Leicestershire that closed down for a short period. Other towns and cities did too, Coventry, for example. According to this article, while Leicester and Leicestershire folk made their way by train to Skegness, people from Coventry went by bus to Great Yarmouth.

Anyway, back to “To the Sea by Train”. Only 39 pages in and I did a bit of a double-take! I wasn’t expecting to find our lovely town mentioned, but there it was, in black and white! The author was considering a trip to the seaside town of Brighton, that had taken place in August 1844, and which was organised by Rowland Hill, who is perhaps better known for beginning the Penny Post. On this particular trip people were going to Brighton races, and the author presumes that these groups of racegoers were not members of the Temperance Society!

He says:

“Surely it was almost impossible to go to Brighton races and not drink, and this early excursion was presumably a rowdier affair than the landmark event organised by the temperance campaigner and holiday entrepreneur Thomas Cook.”

Hmmm … Our author continues:

“He [Cook] is taken to be the originator of the railway excursion, having laid on a jaunt from Leicester to Loughborough on 5 July 1841, which, given the absence of sea, doesn’t like it would have been much fun even had alcohol been involved.”

Hmmm, again …

If I’ve tracked down the right newspaper report of the event, either the reporter wasn’t a member of the Temperance Society, or people really did actually have a fun time! The Nottingham Review of 9 July 1841 had this to say:

“Tee-total Festival at Loughborough

A number of delegates from different parts of the midland counties, having had to meet at Loughborough this week, for the transaction of the general business of the societies, it was agreed upon to take advantage of the occasion and have a festival, which the tee-totallers of Nottingham, Derby, Leicester, Harborough, and other places should be invited to attend: William Pagett [sic.] Esq., although not, we believe, a tee-totaller himself, kindly granted them the use of his park [Southfields] for the occasion.

The morning dawned rather inauspiciously, but as the day advanced the weather became fine, and dissipated the fears of those who took an interest in the holiday. Engagements had been made with the railway directors, for the persons coming from Leicester and Derby, at half the usual prices; and at about eleven o’clock, crowds of people were seen wending their way towards the railway station to witness the arrival of the train from Leicester. The committee of the Loughborough Tee-Total Society were in attendance with a flag to receive them. About half past eleven the train arrived, consisting of one second class carriage, and nine third-class carriages, each crowded with respectably dressed and apparently happy tee-totallers.

We understand there were about five hundred in all. They had with them the Leicester Independent Band dressed in uniform, and two flags. Having joined the Loughborough friends, they proceeded in procession towards the Market Place, and were met by a number of the members of the Catholic Society with a banner, near the Barracks. [1] The number of spectators was immense, the Nottingham Road from the Canal Bridge to the Barracks being one mass of human beings.

A number of the Dragoons at the Barracks, had got astride the roof, and being stripped to their shirts, and wide white trousers, their fine proportions were swelled to those of Patagonians. The windows were also crowded with fierce moustachioed faces, one of which in particular attracted our attention. This soldier, like those on the roof, was stripped, his head was covered with a red woollen night-cap, his moustaches were black and of great size, and he regarded the moving, joyful crowd with the imperturbable gravity of a Turk. The procession having arrived at the park, more from Leicester partook of ham and other refreshments, which had been provided at the general expense.

At two, the procession was again formed, and they then proceeded to the station house, to meet the Derby and Nottingham friends. In consequence of the late excited state of Nottingham [2], but few came over from that place, but from Derby above one hundred had arrived. After they had joined the procession, the whole then paraded the town. On arriving in the Market Place, they formed into a circle, and sung the National Anthem accompanied by the band. They then went to the park and dispersed themselves into separate parties to amuse themselves with dancing, “drop handkerchief” [3] and other games.

Owing to the large number, more than was expected, attending, the preparations for tea were hardly so complete as would have been wished. After tea, addresses were delivered to those who could be prevailed on to leave their amusement to listen. The Rev. Mr Babbington, took the chair; Mr Forth, from Nottingham, Mr Robinson from Leicester, Mr Cook from Harborough, editor of the Temperance Messenger, Mr Burne from Wolverhampton, the Rev. Mr Jones, Unitarian minister, from Derby, Mr Vaughan, from Mountsorrel, and others delivered addresses. About nine, the procession again formed and proceeded to the station house, but a considerable number remained in the park until darkness had ended the day and their innocent sports.”      

Sounds to me like people actually did have fun on their visit to Loughborough, and I cannot imagine why one would think otherwise!

Now, what had I intended to write about … Thomas Cook … Agatha Christie … ah, yes connections!! Next week maybe!!

_______________________________________________

NOTES

[1] All that remains of the barracks is a little road called Barrack Row, which runs beside the Post Office sorting office on Nottingham Road, and leads out onto Duke Street.

[2] I’m not sure if that might have been Chartist riots, perhaps?

[3] Here’s some information about the game:

https://www.ludozofi.com/home/games/drop-the-handkerchief/

____________________________________

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). All the fun of the seaside. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2025/08/all-fun-of-seaside.html  [Accessed 10 August 2025]

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Devonshire Square plaques

You probably know that there is a lot of work going on around Ward's End and Devonshire Square to pedestrianise the area and make it more attractive to visitors and shoppers? When I was walking the area a couple of weeks ago, I noticed plaques inset into the paving slabs, which celebrate things from Loughborough's history.

Two of these plaques commemorate the market and the fair, both of which are celebrating 800 years since the granting of the charters.

One of the other plaques marks the spot near which Clarke's Dyeworks and the bleach works were situated, conveniently close to the Wood Brook.

Devonshire Square was where the Devonshire Militia used to drill. Known as the 1st or East Devon Militia, and later the 3rd Battalion, Devonshire Regiment, was a part-time unit based in Devon. In the early 1800s, when the 'Luddites' began to smash machinery, the Militia were sent to various parts of the country to restore order. They travelled first to Warwick, thence to Derby and Burton-on-Trent, before coming to Loughborough, and then onto Lichfield and Tamworth, before returning to Plymouth.      

In Loughborough, the Luddites destroyed the lace-making factory of John Heathcoat, which was situated approximately where Iceland is now, and which bears a Leicestershire Heritage Green Plaque.     

The idea of temperance really took hold in the nineteenth and early twentieth century. This was a social movement with the purpose of persuading people to give up drinking alcohol. In Loughborough, a dedicated Temperance cafe was constructed on the corner of Devonshire Square and Granby Street, opened in  

View of the pedestrianised Devonshire Square, showing floor plaques and the 'mural' above

I wonder if there are any more plaques likely to spring up in our lovely town centre?

Posted by lynneaboutloughborough 28 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). Devonshire Square plaques. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2021/11/devonshire-square-plaques.html  [Accessed 28 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                                              

Thomas Cook or Maypole Dairy?

I recently caught sight of an interesting photograph of a Maypole Dairy which I want to tell you about, but first I feel I should explain about Thomas Cook!!

I was taken to task last week for suggesting that Loughborough was not a traditional tourist destination, because of the outing Thomas Cook made in 1841. Let me explain ...

When I suggested we weren't a touristy place, I was thinking around a number of things. When I first visited Loughborough I was an avid collector of souvenirs of places I'd visited, which usually took the form of a keyring with the name of the place on it. Sometimes these were beautiful with crests on, other times they were plastic fobs with a blurry picture of the place on, and other times they were a leather affair with the name of the town printed on. I looked all around the town, but the only one I could find was in Woolworths, and was one of the rather less-than-inspiring leather ones. I've still got it (and the rest of the collection) probably upstairs in the attic.

Ok, that's perhaps not the best reason to suggest Loughborough is not a tourist destination! The other thing that I was thinking was that I think people who would consider spending a week's holiday in Leicestershire are probably in the minority (something to do perhaps with a lack of coastline, and a dearth of charismatic, legendary heroes, like Robin Hood). I know I'm a bit on dodgy ground here, after all, Leicester now has Richard III, and it's true that visitors to the city have increased as a result of this, and not everyone wants to see the sea! 

As I said last week, when I first came to Loughborough there was a tourist information centre, but now there isn't. True, Leicester has a destination organisation in Leicestershire Promotions and they've done a good job of trying to connect tourist venues in the city and the county. And, as you know, I'm forever extolling the virtues of our 5 museums, our Local and Family History Centre, our wonderful buildings, our parks, our cinemas, our markets, our fair and everything else I can, when I chat with people, take people on guided walks, give talks, blog or write books. the one thing I keep forgetting to mention is that all our 'attractions' are within a very close area. If you start at the Market Place and walk the shortest route, these are the distances:

To Charnwood Museum in Queen's Park - 0.2 miles
To the Carillon in Queen's Park - 0.25 miles
To the Old Rectory Museum - 0.3 miles
To Taylors Bellfoundry - 0.5 miles
To the Great Central Railway - 0.8 miles 

So what of the Thomas Cook connection? Cook, living at Market Harborough, brought a party of about 500 people along to Loughborough from Leicester on a Temperance outing, on 5 July 1841. They each paid one shilling to travel by train, and arrived at the Midland Main Line station from where they walked to the meeting on Paget's Park, which I believe is now known as Southfields Park. This trip was successful, and Cook planned and executed excursions for Temperance supporters and school children over the next few summers. By 1854 Cook had given up his trade as a woodturner, and begun to make a living from arranging trips. So this is what makes Cook's trip from Leicester to Loughborough the first 'package tour', or more accurately, the first of Cook's package tours. 

Of course, Cook's trip in July 1841 was not the first trip to take place. An example of an earlier one happened when the Nottingham Mechanic's Institute brought a group of between 400 and 500 members by rail to Leicester to visit that town's * own Mechanic's Institute. This appears to have been a very successful visit despite there being few people around to welcome the visitors. However, by the time the group came to leave they were enthusiastically waved off by thousands of Leicester people.  

It does appear, however, that Leicester seems to play a role in those early trips. Sorry for the lack of photos and dense text!

Now, onto the Maypole Dairy. Ahhhh, sorry, I've run out of time today, so I'll be back next week with that story.

Thank you for reading. 

* Although Leicester was a city at the time of the Domesday Book, it lost that status in the 11th century, not regaining it until 1919, thus at the time of the visit of the Nottingham Mechanic's Institute, Leicester was a town. Nottingham gained its city status in the year of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in 1897.

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). Thomas Cook or Maypole Dairies? Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/02/thomas-cook-or-maypole-dairy.html   [Accessed 24 February 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     
    

Loughborough to Tiverton Pt 2

I recently posted about our stopover in Tiverton on the way to Cornwall this summer. There were so many connections between Tiverton and Loughborough, and so many things that reminded me of my home town that I wanted to share with you, but ran out of time last time! So, here's some of the things I didn't get a chance to tell you about. The order they come out might seem to be a bit random, but is actually the order in which I happened upon things that reminded me of Loughborough!

So, to horses!!

In one of the cabinets in the Tiverton Museum of mid-Devon Life there was a china Shire horse, which reminded me of the work of Robert Bakewell in relation to the heavy horse:

"Bakewell also improved the draught horse, the Black Carthorse, or Leicestershire Black, which was the forerunner of the Shire horse. These horses were bred for their strength, and it is widely reported that where other farmers needed between for and seven horses to pull their ploughs, Bakewell only needed to use two."

Shire horse

The next reference to horses was in relation to the Point-to-point and steeple chase which was held in Tiverton on 20 March 1909, at 2 o'clock in the afternoon. This reminded me of Sunloch, the Loughborough horse who won the Grand National in 1914, because at the age of 8, after being a hunting horse, he entered the steeple chase.

Point-to-point and Steeplechase poster

Temperance is a topic which has been covered quite extensively in this blog - Loughborough and the Temperance Movement, Loughborough and the Opening of the Temperance Hall, Nanpantan and Temperance, and Coffee Houses to Coffee Shops - so I was thrilled to see a poster in the Tiverton Museum relating to the Temperance Society (although I took a rubbish photo!).

Temperance Society poster bottom right

Now, in 1770 - Tuesday 31 July, to be precise - John Wesley, the Methodist preacher - passed through Loughborough, and in the Tiverton Museum they had a plate commemorating the life of said Wesley!

Plate commemorating John Wesley

Of course, in Victorian times, brickmaking and bricklaying were quite popular occupations due to the explosion in house-building, so it was great to see a poster referring to the Operative Society of Bricklayers

Operative Society of Bricklayers poster

In Tiverton there used to be a brick and tile company called Culm Davy Brick and Tile Company (not sure when it was founded, but it was wound up in 1881, although whether it that means wound up completely, I'm not sure), which reminded me so much of the Hathern Station Brick and Tile Company, which still exists today, albeit as part of another company! Concerning Culm Davy, curiously, the records on the National Archive website reads as follows:

Description:	Papers re formation of the Culm Davy Brick and Tile Company Limited, leasing of the brickworks and Chancery Case re non-execution of the lease by William Moss
Date:	1880-1881

So now let's talk cinemas!! At one time Tiverton had two cinemas (that I know of), The Electric (converted from a drill hall in 1912, last show in 1976, converted to a snooker hall and then demolished between 2004 and 2009) and the Tivoli, threatened with demolition, but reprieved - well, it was still there, and in use when we visited this summer!

Clock from the Tivoli

Information board about the Tivoli

Chairs from the Tivoli

Loughborough, being a slightly bigger town, boasted three cinemas at one point, as well as other places that showed films. Now, we have one Odeon, which has been a cinema since about 1914, and one Cineworld, which was built earlier this year, which reminds me of nearby Swadlincote (which had an Empire Cinema, which closed and a new Odeon was built in about 2014), but that's a story for another day.   

Now the Odeon

Formerly the Odeon, now Beacon Bingo

And finally for today, how's about this? The workhouses at both Loughborough and Tiverton were designed by Scott and Moffat, Tiverton's in 1837-8 and Loughborough's in 1838. Loughborough's became Hastings House and then Regent Hospital, before being demolished, whilst Tiverton's became the Belmont Hospital, a Grade II listed building. This investigation came about because we passed an AA sign directing folk to a new area of house-building called Gilbert Scott Way. Further investigation once I got home revealed that according to the local newspaper the hospital was demolished in 2012, however, there are a number of websites that reveal that actually, some of the former workhouse has been renovated and some new houses built around it, so all is not lost!! Scroll through all the pictures to see what has actually happened to the buildings. So, a similar story to our own workhouse, and a similar story to our own hospital, which was sadly demolished around 2012.

Oh dear, it's now getting rather late and I still have so much to say! Perhaps I'll pick this up again next week, as I'd still like to share the story of John Heathcoat with you, as well as a few other things! Apologies for spelling and grammar mistakes - mine, all mine, I'm afraid!! It's been a long, tiring few weeks!!

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

Dyer, Lynne (2016). Loughborough to Tiverton Pt 2. [Online] Available from: http://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.co.uk/2016/08/loughborough-to-tiverton-pt-2.html [Accessed 14 August 2016]

Coffee houses to coffee shops

The local paper, The Loughborough Echo of Wednesday 27 April 2016 had a front page headline proclaiming that cafes are good for the town! A study of people's shopping habits by the university revealed that if people partook of the offerings of a cafe in town they were more likely to stay in town after being refreshed and do more shopping. Interesting!

I think there had previously been some concern expressed by townsfolk that cafes were taking over the town, a bit like at one time it was banks, and then it was charity shops! I think there may also have been a bit of a worry that the chain coffee shops would drive the local independent ones out of town, but as far as I can see this doesn't seem to be happening (although, ok, I agree I'm not privvy to the balance books).

So, yes there do seem to be quite a lot of cafes in town, but they do all seem to offer something different. I can't critique them all as I've not visited all of them - good grief, where would I find the time?! I will, perhaps, mention a few later, or post some pics.

Thinking about the coffee shops that we have in town at the moment set me to thinking about the coffee shops of the past, often known as coffee houses, and way back when, as the penny universities. Ok, way back when would have been the 17th and 18th centuries, and people would meet in the coffee houses to discuss topics of interest (like politics, fashion etc.) and gossip. Of course, there were also public houses (alehouses), but without alcohol it was possible to have more serious cultural and intellectual conversations. 

The coffee houses of these days also sold tea and chocolate, each of which cost 1d, which, along with the tenor of the conversations, is how they came to be known as penny universities. I really don't know if Loughborough had any such coffee houses.

These establishments went out of favour for a while, but came back with a vengeance in the 19th century. This resurgence was orchestrated by the Temperance movement, and came in response to the popularity of the public house. Proponents of the Temperance movement set these coffee houses up for the working class population, a place where they could meet that was free of alcohol. Loughborough certainly did have coffee houses of this nature, notably in the building on the corner of Granby Street and Devonshire Square, at one time the offices of Garton, the estate agents.  

Throughout the 20th century, there have been cafes of various nature in the town centre, and these have enjoyed both periods of popularity and fallow periods, which, to my mind, mirrors that which has happened in other towns and cities. So, for example, in Leicester in the 1970s, the old-established coffee shops suffered the same fate as the locally owned shops in the city centre, who were forced to close or relocate due to rising overheads, the changing tastes of the public, and the introduction in the city of new competitors. Apparently, many of these establishments (for example, Crane's) had been created in the years surrounding WW1, and had been preceded by the coffee houses of the Leicester Coffee and Cocoa House Company, which was founded in 1877.

So it would seem that the popularity of coffee shops in Loughborough ebbs and flows and mirrors national trends, so that today we have a broad selection of coffee shops, catering to all tastes and pockets, and a blend of the global and the national, and the local.

Which of these have you tried?

• Cafe Nero in Market Place
• Costa on the corner of Market Place
• Starbucks in Old Hospital Close
• Number fifty three at 53 Wards End
• Greggs in Market Place and on Market Street
• The Cheesecake Shop in Devonshire Square
• The Coffee Pot on Granby Street
• Chino's in Carillon Court shopping centre
• Baobab Cafe in Market Street
• Party Pieces in Market Street
• Dolcino on Cattle Market
• Amore Gelato in Angel Yard
• The Three Monkeys in Swan Street
• Tyler's
• Casa Cafe on Church Gate
• Goodliffe's on Church Gate
• So Coffee on Warner's Lane (though I think this may have recently had a name change)
• The Cafe on Biggin Street
• Muffin Break in The Rushes shopping complex
• Cafe, Takeaway, Bakery next to Sonny's Street Food on Swan Street
• Delice on Baxter Gate
• Glebe House on Wood Gate
• Cocoa on Ashby Road
• Choclate Alchemy in Church Gate Mews
• Queen's Park Cafe

Now, what have I missed?! Apologies if your establishment isn't listed here: I've been doing this post from memory, and I can assure you it simply ain't what it used to be! What a good job I'm looking at the town of Loughborough today, and not through the ages: that list of cafes would be enormous! There have been discussions about cafes that used to be in the town, over on the Remember Loughborough facebook page: pop over and have a look if you're interested.  

Delice

Chinos

Cafe Nero

Temperance cafe

 

About Loughborough in 2014

It's Sunday evening, almost exactly half way between Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and I'm sitting here wondering what to write! Of course, I've had little time to research any specific topic, and although there have been plenty of opportunities to take photos, I haven't! Truth to tell, I've not been aboutloughborough much lately, either, and when I have I've been frantically last-minute shopping, or entertaining.

So, as we're approaching New Year's Day here's my review of the year 2014, through my blog posts.

lynneaboutloughborough blogposts are posted each Sunday, around 8pm. This year I have managed to publish 44 out of a possible 52 weekly articles. Some of these have been rather popular, but as I'd have expected, others have drawn fewer readers, and those posts that appeal to me, aren't necessarily the ones that appeal to you! Sometimes I've had time to do some in-depth research and have presented this to you, other times I've not had a chance to look into anything in detail, so I have either presented a photoblog of something I've done, or somewhere I've been, or I've described some of my latest shenanigans around and about town.

Let's count down to your number one favourite post, starting from 13!!

• At 13, with 225: Spotlight on: 54 Baxter Gate was a post prompted by a conversation on facebook and described Baxter Gate, and specifically number 54 which was once the home of auction mart Garton and Annatt, before becoming a nurses' home, a doctor's surgery and a medical information centre. Plans are afoot to create a Pizza Express in this Grade II listed building.
• At 12, with 226 views: Loughborough fair, 2014. A few pictures and lots of news from fairs gone by!
• At 11, with 233 views: Loughborough and the Temperance Movement. Descriptions of various Temperance marches in the town.
• At 10, with 255 views: Ghost signs of Loughborough, Pt 2! A selection of pictures of ghost signs in town, at least one of which is now no longer there.
• At 9, with 284 views: Magistrate's Court, Police Station and the Wheatsheaf Pub. A post about the old police station, the now demolished one and the new one, as well as the yard at the Wheatsheaf Pub.
• At 8, with 298 views: Devonshire Square. I wasn't able to attend the unveiling of the mural in Devonshire Square, but I did get down to town and take some photos to show you.  
• At 7, with 302 views: The GCR, the diesel gala and electrification of the mainline. Title says it all really!!
• At 6, with 313 views: The Empire Cinema, WW2 and Sir Malcolm Sargent. Did he or didn't he visit our local cinema (now The Odeon)?
• At 5, with 372 views: Handel's Messiah, Snibston Discovery Museum, Jennens and an international supermarket. An excuse to tell you all about the Sparrow Hill Theatre, and the visit of Master B Grossmith! 
• At 4, with 400 views: Spotlight on Radmoor House. Again, does what it says on the post!! This one generated lots of comments from people who were born there, or whose children were born there!
• At 3, with 444 views: Dishley Grange in photographs. A rare visit to Dishley Grange resulted in this set of pictures.  
• At 2, with 455 views: WW1 and the Zeppelin raids on Loughborough. An illustrated description of the Zeppelin raids of 1916.
• At 1, with 1008 views: Ghost signs of Loughborough! What more can I say?!

Now, let's look at my favourites, by month!

• January 2014: Baubles. In which I tell you about spar ornament makers in Loughborough.
• February 2014: Spotlight on: Unity House
• March 2014: Afternoon at Pilling's Lock. You would not believe the controversy these pictures of a few birds caused over on the Canal World forum!!
• April 2014: The Empire Cinema, WW2 and Sir Malcolm Sargent.
• May 2014: So who was Robert Bakewell? Read the post to find out!!
• June 2014: If you go down to the park today, you're in for a big surprise! The unveiling of the WW1-related sculptures outside the museum in Queen's Park.
• July 2014: Carillons! In which I discover that my uncle plays the carillon in the States!
• August 2014: Spotlight on Middleton Place. One of my favourite posts.
• September 2014: Spotlight on Ancient Loughborough, part 1, The Windmill Inn.
• October 2014: Spotlight on Radmoor House.
• November 2014: A November walk through Queen's Park. In which I also visit the Charnwood Museum and the public library's WW1 exhibition.
• December 2014: Children's book illustrator exhibits at Charnwood Museum. Local book illustrator, Andy Everitt-Stewart, the illustrator of Spot the Dog books exhibits his paintings for the first time.

Hope you've had a good 2014, a good festive season, and I wish you well for 2015.

lynneaboutloughborough

Nanpantan and Temperance

Nanpantan and the Temperance movement

While I was researching last week’s blopost on The Windmill Inn, I happened across a mention in a 1928 trade directory of a temperance establishment on Baxter Gate (number 27) run by a Mrs Mary Peberdy, which reminded me that I had not shared with you my research into temperance in Nanapantan.

I also mentioned in my blogpost a couple of weeks ago that I had been moved to research the temperance movement because of a facebook post I’d read about the Temperance Hotel in Nanpantan, where reference was made to some postcards on ebay of two different buildings in Nanpantan purporting to be the Temperance Hotel. Obviously, I can’t post pictures of those postcards, but here’s a link to the one (scroll down to the bottom of the page) and here’s a link to the other. (see below for further information about the latter).

1911 census entry for Mr Clarke, and Mr Potter

An extensive search of the census returns for Nanpantan has revealed that at one time there were two Temperance venues in Nanpantan – at least, according to the enumerator of the 1911 census - one being the Longcliffe Hotel, and the other being Nanpantan Temperance Hotel. The Longcliffe Hotel was on the corner of Nanpantan Road and Breakback Road, and is now a nursing home, having at one time being a hall of residence for the university. The Temperance Hotel is on the same side as the Longcliffe, at the end of the row of cottages coming down the hill towards Loughborough. You may well have noticed it: I have travelled to work that way for the last 28 years, but had never stopped to wonder what the house that set back from the road was, until now, but now it’s not so easy to see as there has been some development in front of it.



The former Longcliffe Hotel

In 1891, The Longcliffe Hotel was being run by John Bennett and his wife Mary Ann. John had previously been a licensed victualler at the King William IV pub at 46 Pinfold Gate, in 1871, before moving to The Boat Inn at 2 Fishpool Head (listed exactly as this: 2 Fishpool Head (the Boat Inn) – which is odd because the only Boat Inn listed in Bill’s book is the one on Canal Bank, whereas Fishpool Head was, I think, where the Cattle Market is now).

I believe the Nanpantan Temperance Hotel had not quite been built in 1891.

In 1901 Thomas Clarke was the “Full Licensed Public Hotel Keeper” of the Longcliffe Hotel, where he lived with his wife, Mary, and children Beatrice, Ernest, and Amy, and two servants.

In 1911 the Longcliffe was still being run by Thomas Clarke and his wife, Mary, and his occupation was listed as a licensed victualler. The business had a small cottage attached at the side which the couple rented out as a holiday home. According to a friend of mine, people used to come to Nanpantan from as far away as Derbyshire for short breaks.

The former Nanpantan Temperance Hotel

 

 

 

By 1901, The Nanpantan Temperance Hotel had been built and was being run by Samuel Potter and his wife, Mary Ann. Samuel was a former cabinet maker who had previously – certainly in 1891 -  lived at number 18 Nottingham Road. In 1901 he is listed as a registered hotel keeper, and his children, Nellie and Mary are also living with their parents, as is Samuel’s brother-in-law, who is listed as a cabinet maker. There are also a couple of servants living in.

In 1911, Samuel, listed as a caterer and hotel keeper, is running the Temperance Hotel with his wife, Mary and daughter, also called Mary.

 

 

 

 

 

So, I think you can see why I am somewhat confused by Nanpantan and its temperance hotels! Ebay has featured photographs of two different buildings claiming to be the Nanpantan Temperance Hotel (as well as one claiming to be the drive of said hotel scroll down a bit to see it), and the enumerator of the 1911 census has listed Thomas Clarke, and Samuel Potter as both residing at the Nanpantan Temperance Hotel, but I can only find information for one temperance hotel (the one run by Potter, I think), the other establishment being the Longcliffe Hotel, which is quite obviously a licensed establishment, run by Clarke.