Wells or bells?

Last year I was most disappointed to not be able to attend the very first Bell Festival that was held across town. It was September 2023, and I always seem to have a lot on in September, but luckily, I had someone who attended on my behalf, and took some wonderful photographs which I shared on a blog post.   

This year, the event was held in the latter half of October, and I was able to turn up at the events taking place, mostly in the older part of Loughborough, near the parish church and the Old Rectory. True, the Bellfoundry was open, but I was unable to make it to the factory.

The whole event opened in the early evening. You may be familiar with well-dressing – an occasion in many Derbyshire and Peak District villages when the wells that supplied water are adorned with handcrafted artworks, often created from natural materials like petals and seeds, or possibly with clay decorations. The events seem to run between May and September, but there seem to be several different theories as to the origin of well-dressing. Perhaps it started as a pagan celebration to thank the gods for the supply of water; or perhaps it originated around the time of the Black Death (c.1348), when people were very thankful for a clean water supply; or perhaps people were celebrating their constant water supply following a long period of drought (c.1615). Whatever the reason, well-dressing is now well-established, and draws many visitors to the area. 

So, imagine my surprise when I turned up at the opening of our second Bell Festival to be greeted by a “bell-dressing” event! I'm supposing that this originated as a way of celebrating Loughborough's industrial heritage of bellfounding (and, of course, our current bellfounders) and our cultural, artistic and crafting heritage. 

For the bell-dressing, lengths of cloth had been prepared and cut into long strips, and people were invited to ‘dress’ the willow bell that currently sits in the grounds of the Old Rectory. The bell was created for last year’s festival by local artist Nita Rao, and some of her other work can be seen permanently (in as much as untreated willow sculptures can be permanent!) in the Rectory Wildlife Garden, and during the summer period at various local woodlands, like The Outwoods, or Beacon Hill Park. The ‘dressing’ of the bell entailed weaving the strips of cloth through the stems of the willow, which, by the time it had been completed, looked rather effective!

The dressed bell in the grounds of the Old Rectory

The following morning I popped along to the Old Rectory, where they were giving a tour of the building and grounds to visitors, before moving over to the parish church where Taylors Bellfounders had set up a mobile ringing tower outside the church. This was really popular, and lots of people were keen to have a go at bellringing!! Meanwhile, inside the church a group of bellringers performed some music on handbells – quite fascinating to watch, and a lovely sound to hear!

There were a few other things going on in the Charnwood Arts building, but unfortunately I was rather limited for time, so only managed to get in and briefly see the bell-related exhibitions. I couldn’t miss the decorated railings along Rectory Place though!

Here’s hoping I can make it to next year’s Bell Festival!

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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 (2024). Wells or bells?. Available from:  https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2024/10/wells-or-bells.html  [Accessed 29 October 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.

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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:

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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

Gravestones and bells

It has occurred to me that the blog is coming up to its 10th anniversary in a couple of months' time, so I had a quick look back at what has already appeared here. In so doing, I found a few posts that were still lurking in draft, never actually published. One was completely blank, so I've deleted that! Another was simply a list of topics I thought I'd like to write about, which is obviously for my own use, so fine to keep the draft - and maybe add to it! The final post was a half-started affair entitled 'Gravestones', created in August 2017. It looks as though I'd been travelling around Cheltenham and Malvern and discovered an interesting Loughborough connection with a little place in Gloucestershire, called Hartpury. So ...  

Hartpury church

Over in Hartpury, having walked around the church and churchyard of Saint Mary the Virgin, I spotted a small sandstone gravestone, quite unlike many of the gravestones I'd seen in the Loughborough area, which tended to be - although weren't exclusively - slate. I took a photo of the gravestone because there was a beautifully carved skull on the top, and the person commemorated had been the parish blacksmith. It wasn't until I got home and came to look at the pictures that I read the detail on the headstone:

In Memory of John Hale of this Parish, Blacksmith, who deceased September 9th 1692, Aged 25 years 4 months.

 

Loe, here's interred the muses passive friend; 

their noblest science (ringing) was his end. 

His actions just a martyr of that skill, 

crushed by a bell twas Heaven's sacred will. 

Melodious bells delighting him on earth, 

Exchanged terrestrial for celestial mirth. 

This fatal stroke (in haste) did stop his breath, 

lamented was his unexpected death.

What a very sad ending for the local blacksmith.

Accidents that are recorded on gravestones in our own parish churchyard included the death of Thomas Bombroffe, William Peck, and William Smith, who were all drowned in the River Soar, on 9th July 1767:

HERE LIE

in the same grave

THOMAS BOMBROFFE aged 46

WILLIAM PECK aged 20

WILLIAM SMITH aged 18

Who were unfortunately drowned together

in the River Soar on the ninth day of July 1767

It is presumed that T. BoMBROFFE lost his life by endeavouring

To save his two companions, for he only was found in his clothes.

Some of the principal inhabitants of this parish

Tenderly concerned for the sudden fate of these their

Fellow Christians, and for a perpetual warning to all others

Caused this stone to be erected by voluntary subscription

READER

be thou constantly prepared for Death

to which though art exposed every hour

by Accident

The gravestone has been moved and is now sited upright along a raised bank, thus, the final lines "by carelessness ..." are no longer visible.    

  

Again, a very sad end to three lives.

The other, perhaps more cheerful connection with Loughborough is, of course, bells! The bells at Hartpury had been made in various years, and they certainly had a least one bell around 1544. What's happened with the bells since then is that in 1550 a further bell was cast by a Bristol founder called Henry Jeffries and this bell is still part of the peal. Then, in 1626 and 1628, three bells were cast by John Pennington. By 1850, Hartpury had five bells, which were rehung by Isaac Gose, and in 1926, a further bell was added, which was cast by Gillett and Johnston of Croydon. No bells by our very own Taylors ... or is there?

In my efforts to ensure I'd reported accurate information about Hartpury, I had a quick journey around the internet. Imagine my surprise when I read that there were plans afoot to repair and rehang the bells - work that would be done by none other than Taylors! In fact, Taylors will be working on bells for Hartpury and two other churches in the diocese, those at Corse and at Staunton. AND, visitors from Hartpury have been up to Loughborough this week to see the work being done for them by Taylors! How wonderful for all involved!

I was lucky enough to actually be down at the bellfoundry when the folk from Hartpury visited, so I was able to take a few photographs. I believe this is one of the original Hartpury bells:

These are two pictures of the visitors from behind, as they are watching the casting of their bells:

and this is what they would have been watching at the time I took the photographs:

I wasn't able to see their bells actually being cast, but the process is always the same, so this is a photograph of the recent casting of Loughborough's Hope Bell, which is exactly the process the visitors saw.

Casting of Loughborough's Hope Bell April 2023 

One exceptional thing in Hartpury churchyard which even I can't connect with Loughborough is the bee shelter! A truly beautiful home for bees!

_______________________________________________

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). Gravestones and bells. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2023/04/gravestones-and-bells.html [Accessed 30 April 2023]

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.

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

Bells, wreaths, and proclamations

A very strange and difficult week, this week. 

Whilst I was walking to a live screening at the university's Cope Auditorium, of Shakespeare's 'Much Ado About Nothing' on Thursday evening, it was announced that the Queen had died. The performance went ahead, but was prefaced with a 2-minute silence. 

On Friday I was lucky enough to be in the belltower of the parish church, when the muffled bells rang out marking the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The bells were still quite loud from within the tower itself, but I'm not sure how they sounded from outside, hopefully a little more sombre than is usual. I do have some photos, but they are all of people, and as I haven't asked permission to post them I shan't.

On Saturday morning I went along to the carillon in Queen's Park to watch wreaths being laid, and on Sunday I was again at the carillon to hear the local proclamation of Charles III.

 

Awaiting the Proclamation

Deputy Lieutenant of the County

The Mayor of Charnwood

Dignitaries included former mayors, and Freemen of the Borough

Dignitaries from the University, the MP, and the leader of the council

Some of the floral tributes

The Mayor of Charnwood

_______________________________________________

posted by lynneaboutloughborough

_______________________________________________

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

Dyer, Lynne (2022). Bells, wreaths, and proclamations. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2022/09/bells-wreaths-and-proclamations.html [Accessed 11 September 2022]

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.

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.  

 

Thank you for reading this blog. 

Lynne