Loughborough in Nottingham: pubs and stuff!

A forthcoming evening wedding do with a 1940s theme had me head off to Nottingham to a vintage fair looking for something suitable to wear. The venue was the Albert Hall, which is a place I've been to many-a time, either to sing, or to listen to my children singing or playing in bands and orchestras.

Anyway, it didn't take me long to walk around the stalls, partly because I knew I wouldn't find anything appropriate, being so short, and partly because I'm not a huge fan of dressing up either (if you saw me at last year's Picnic in the Park, you might like to know that that's probably the first time I've ever dressed up: I'm debating whether or not to dress up for this year's Picnic in the Park, which is a celebration of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - 8th June - do come along!), which means I didn't really want to find anything!!!

So, finding myself with a bit of time before my train, I went off on an adventurous (well, adventurous for me!) walk around bits of Nottingham I wasn't very familiar with. 

Starting from the Albert Hall, I couldn't help but be impressed with the hall itself, and the wonderful buff terracotta used in its decoration. The current building is actually a replacement for the original which was designed by Watson Fothergill - who also designed our NatWest bank - but which burned down in 1906. The new building was designed by Alfred Edward Lambert, who also designed the Victoria Street station and the Nottingham Midland station, both in Nottingham:

Nottingham Midland railway station

Nottingham Midland railway station

Nottingham Midland railway station

Albert Hall

Albert Hall

Albert Hall

Albert Hall

Terracotta detail next to the Albert Hall

From the Albert Hall, I went up the hill, called Derby Road, until I hit its junction with Ilkeston Road and Alfreton Road, where I followed the latter. There were some lovely pubs this way, including the Sir John Borlase Warren (I admit not someone I'd previously heard of, but it piqued my interest because of the artist Borlase Smart who has a connection to St Ives, a place I visit most summers), and The Falcon, of which there is also one so named in Long Whatton:

The Sir John  Borlase Warrem

The Falcon

The Rose and Crown I passed on my travels was no longer a pub. Our own Rose and Crown was opened in 1930 during a period of street widening and has been through a number of name changes, but has reverted to its original.

The Rose and Crown, Nottingham

Rose and Crown, Loughborough

Another former Nottingham pub, whose identity I do not know, simply reminded me of the Clarence Inn on the corner of Nottingham Road and Clarence Street, though known more recently as the Jack 'O Lantern, and now flats, although now I put the two pictures together, I can see they look not at all alike!! Maybe I was thinking of the new shape of the Royal George? 

A former pub in Nottingham

The former Clarence and Jack 'O Lantern

New flats on the site of the Royal George

The Generous Briton in Nottingham was quite unlike ours, which is on Ashby Road, although ours is still a pub, whereas the Nottingham one is now a Chinese restaurant:

Nottingham's former Generous Briton

Loughborough's Generous Briton, from Regent Street

And the last of the Nottingham pubs, one which is now a restaurant, is quite unlike any of ours, with very decorative tiling:

A former Nottingham pub

The other things that I noticed whilst on my trip around Nottingham were some of the road names. The Nottingham Midland station is on Carrington Street, and we have one of those in Loughborough, although I think ours is often spelled with only 1 "r":

Nottingham's Carrington Street

Nottingham also has a Boden Street, whereas we have a John Boden Way - a very recent addition to our collection of street names:

A stunning former bank on the corner of Boden Street, Nottingham

A close up of the Nottingham street

Loughborough's similarly named street

Loughborough has many streets named after poets, like Wordsworth Road, Burns Road, Larkin Lane, and Tennyson Road. I passed a Tennyson Street in Nottingham:

On the way back to the railway station there were a number of things that caught my eye and reminded me of Loughborough. Here's a few of them:

Slate gravestones, although these were Welsh slate, not Swithland slate

A pub with a Swithland slate roof (compare this to our former 12 Degrees West)

I always feel close to home when I'm near a canal!

Quite unlike either of ours!

And, when I returned to Loughborough I thought how lovely 'The Brush' looked in the sun, and how nice to have a reminder of the train station in the flats opposite!

'The Brush'

Reminder of trains

Of course, there were loads of other things that reminded me of Loughborough, but time has again caught up with me, and I should be doing something else!!

'Til next time!!

Lynne

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). Loughborough in Nottingham: pubs and stuff! Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/05/loughborough-in-nottingham-pubs-and.html  [Accessed 5 May 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

Connecting Loughborough

Oh dear, apologies are due again! There was no post last week as I was on half-term break in sunny (yes, it really was!) Wales!

Every time I go away I am always so surprised by all the things I see that remind me of home, everything from bells, to slate, to lime kilns, canals, and many, many other things! Here's a few of the things that caught my eye on this break: there really were loads more too!

In Brecon it was lovely to see Welsh slate in use, as gravestones, laid out on the floor of the cathedral, and as roofing tiles. Welsh slate is quite different from our local Swithland slate: it splits more cleanly and thinly, so the gravestones (those that were standing in the graveyards) had smooth backs and the roof tiles were not as chunky as Swithland ones. We also saw slate at Conwy and Clatter.

Slate flooring

Slate gravestones at Clatter

Slate at the Welsh slate mnes

Slate roof at Conwy

Slate roof at Conwy

Slate roof at Conwy

A Swithland slate roof

There was evidence of there once having been a railway in Brecon: an inscribed stone on one of the former railway bridges. Loughborough's Great Central Railway is still steaming ahead, but the only remaining evidence of the former Charnwood Forest Railway has recently been demolished.

Evidence of a railway at Brecon

  

The Great Central Station

The site of the former Charnwood Forest Railway

The canal at Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, affectionately known as the Mon and Brec, is about 36 miles long and terminates in Brecon. Along its length are the usual bridges and locks that so remind me of our Grand Union. As far as I know though we haven't got an aquaduct: the one at Brecon is good enough to rival the one at Ponty-whatsit!!

A bridge on the canal at Brecon

A lock on the canal at Brecon

An information board at Brecon

The Grand Union canal

What we haven't got alongside our canal, however, are lime kilns, but having seen the ones at the Moira Furnace running alongside the Grand Union, or like the ones in the grounds of Calke Abbey.

The run of lime kilns at Brecon

The inside of one of Brecon's lime kilns

The Museum of the Welsh Borderers in Brecon reminded me of our Carillon Tower and War Memorial Museum, especially since there was a picture of a German airship. 

Uniforms at the South Wales Borderers Museum in Brecon

A picture of a German airship in the South Wales Borderers Museum in Brecon

In Brecon town centre there was a clock which reminded me of the one on our town hall.

And some mosaics which reminded me of those in Town Hall Passage

Milestones are a particular favourite of mine: sometimes they're easy to find, other times less so!

Milestone on the road to Brecon

Milestone on Leicester Road, Loughborough

And, of course, there were pubs that reminded me of Loughborough too: our Griffin is on Ashby Square, our Clarence has been converted into flats and our Royal George has been demolished, and is to be replaced by flats.

The Griffin in Brecon

The Clarence in Brecon

The George in Brecon

The demolition of the Royal George in Loughborough

I'm sure you'll know that I could go on along these lines for a very long time, after all, this post just covers connections to Brecon, but we also went to Monmouth, Llandudno, Conwy, Bronllys, and Bodelwyddan - all of which had things that reminded me of home!

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

Dyer, Lynne (2018). Connecting Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/10/connecting-loughborough.html  [Accessed 28 October 2018]

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