Everywhere reminds me of Loughborough

So glad to be back in sunny Loughborough after a couple of weeks away in Cornwall! As ever, things I've spotted in the many places I've visited during the holiday have been constant reminders of our lovely market town. Indeed, there have been so many interesting connections, I could use up a whole year's worth of blog posts sharing my findings with you ... but I won't!!

So, a quick look at the similarities between Launceston - which was where we broke our long journey - and Loughborough. Both were small market towns, both played a part in the Civil War. 

Costume in Launceston Museum

Launceston Museum

Costumed mannequin at one time in the Old Rectory Museum

The War Memorial in Launceston rises up in the centre of the town, unlike ours which is in the beautiful setting of Queen's Park, and is now accompanied by a memorial to Loughborough's war horse, Songster. 

The town hall clock in Loughborough is pretty special: the clock I spotted in Launceston was attached to a bank building, and was rather ornate:

Both towns had a workhouse. Loughborough's first was on the site now occupied by the Royal Mail sorting office. The Union workhouse was situated on what is now Regent Street. I've posted before about Loughborough's Workhouse, so here's some information about Launceston's:

Now, of course, almost everywhere I go I am tuned in to spot bells! Sadly, they're not always the Taylors variety, but I love to have a quiet poke around, just in case! There were two in Launceston Museum, the first of these was used to summon estate workers to meals, and the second one from a local iron foundry:

The cast of the Great Paul Bell in Queen's Park Loughborough

Another formerly Loughborough-based company is always evident, wherever I go, because I spend a lot of time in bookshops, and whether they're selling new or second-hand books, you can guarantee they've got some Ladybird Books!!! At Launceston Museum, they had a ladybird, but no Ladybird Books:

Boundary stones, milestones and fingerposts? Don't get me started on that one - something I've blogged about before!!!! Here's a boundary stone from the Bude Canal:

And ours from the boundary between Loughborough and Woodthorpe, although experts suggest that this one is not in its original location:

Pubs everywhere are of interest!!! Like Loughborough, Launceston has a White Hart pub: I don't know what the Launceston one was like inside, but it differed on the outside from Loughborough's as it actually had a 3D white hart sitting on the front of the building.

Then I thought I'd spotted another local connection, when I saw an old boot hanging from the front of a building. Did Launceston, like Loughborough, used to have an Old Boot pub?

Excitement continued to grow, until I came to the doorway of the shop, and looked at the tiled floor ... 

Ah well, Leicester's quite close!!!

Another area of employment in Loughborough was lacemaking. Local inventor John Heathcoat had a lacemaking factory on Mill Lane (now Market Street) which was attacked in 1816. The building that replaced it has recently been honoured with a Leicestershire Green Plaque. Lacemaking on display in Launceston Museum was of the Bedfordshire pillow lace type.

Another interest of mine is fire insurance plaques. I don't think there are many in Loughborough: I've only found one, on a house in Park Street. Launceston Museum had a few on display:

And finally, when I was training to be a tour guide we were encouraged to look up, in order to learn more about a town's history from its buildings. I've been used to doing this for many years, but I would also encourage you to look down, as there is a huge amount of history hidden in our streets, which we simply walk over and take for granted! Here's an example from Launceston:

And a couple from Loughborough:

Many of the things I've written about also appear in 'Secret Loughborough'.

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Dyer, Lynne (2019). Everywhere reminds me of Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/07/everywhere-reminds-me-of-loughborough.html [Accessed 21 July 2019]

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The Old Boot Inn

The Boot Hotel - also known as the Old Boot

Another pub whose name I can't quite work out! The only information I have about pubs with this name are that it could be one of those occupational names (as there were many shoemakers - and probably bootmakers - in the Loughborough of old), or it's related to Sir John Schorne, a rector who apparently turned the Devil into a boot, but since Sir John was living in Buckinghamshire, it seems unlikely to be relevant to our Boot!

The original Old Boot Inn was opened around the 1770s and could be found in what was then known as Fishpool Head. Like so many other pubs, the building was demolished in about 1900 and a new pub of the same name built on the same plot, only now the street is called Cattle Market.

Some of the stories I've heard told of The Old Boot are quite fascinating! When The Essoldo (now the Odeon on Cattle Market) held its dances, it didn't have a license, so people would nip off to The Old Boot for a quick drink before returning to the dance floor. But more exciting than that was the idea that there were hoof marks going up the stairs of the pub as Loughborough's war horse, Songster, after he returned safely from the First World War, would climb the stairs with his mount on his back, parade round the upper rooms and then carefully descend again!

Unfortunately, I have no pictures of The Old Boot to show you, but there are some on the internet. I did go out today to take a picture of Sital House, the former Don Millers/Jessops, the former Abbey National/Santander as this is where the Old Boot used to be, next to town Hall Passage, but it rained rather a lot!

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