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]

Spotlight on: 54 Baxter Gate

Former nurses' home



Number 54 in the distance


I'm a little short of time at the moment, so I am posting today about a brief conversation which I was involved with on the fbk Remember Loughborough page about a building on Baxter Gate. Coincidentally, I had been talking about this building earlier this week, and it has been one of my favourites since I first discovered it as part of my tour guiding course end 2012/beginning 2013.







Baxter Gate is an interesting street, with buildings from many different eras existing side-by-side. It's

1930s building on Baxter Gate

a one-way street: On the left-hand side as you go down, there are many fantastic examples of 1920/30s buildings, whilst on the other side are much older buildings, one such - Titania's - being thought to be 16th century. The reason for these different building styles is that in the late 1920s, early 1930s Baxter Gate, along with several other Loughborough streets, was widened from its original Tudor width. I do find it rather amusing that around 1985 (and I did say "around" because I can't quite remember the exact year!) the corner of Baxter Gate, where you turn left off the High Street, was made narrower again when the market Place was pedestrianized and the pedestrian lights changed. Not sure what's happening there at the moment, with the pedestrianization of the High Street.

Number 54 Baxter gate

Anyway, the building in question is a Grade II listed building, which at one time was next door to the hospital. Before the hospital was built, in 1862, there was a dispensary on Baxter Gate, which had been originally situated in 1819 on Mill Street (now Market Street), but moved to Baxter Gate in 1824. Looking at a map of 1837, I would suggest that the dispensary is on the plot now occupied by Beacon Bingo, and ceased to be used once the new hospital was built.

Messrs Garton the Mart

So, number 54 Baxter Gate was built around 1900, in brick, with terracotta - possibly from the Hathern Brick company - as an auction mart for Garton and Amatt, with a restaurant and rooms on the upper floors, and has a carriageway arch to the left. I'm not sure when Garton and Amatt vacated the building, but I know Garton moved to the Temperance café on Cattle Market.





The hospital was originally a two-storey building, but in the early 1930s, when more space was needed, a couple of extra storeys were added, and some time later, the buildings adjacent to the hospital were demolished and an extension built on the side. This meant that number 54 Baxter Gate was now next to the hospital.



57 Park Road



The nurses' home at this time, was in a purpose-built building which had been built from about 1924 onwards, but at some point they moved to number 54 and stayed there until 1960 when they then moved to 57 Park Road. In 1963, number 54 became offices for the hospital, and was used in this way until at least 1984, becoming a medical information centre in the late 1980s, before closing the doors sometime in the 1990s.





Folks on fbk have said that they remember number 54 being used as a doctors' surgery: Certainly, a Dr McLeod lived at number 52 Baxter Gate in 1929. Mention was also made of Drs: Thompson, B[r]amber, Riley, Harris, Ryan, Acker, Jeffs, Earl, Shicks, and Janner. Perhaps the term "offices" really meant "doctors' consulting rooms"? Apparently, these doctors moved to Woodbrook Medical centre on Bridge Street: There is still a Dr Ryan listed as working there.

So, there is now a planning application out to re-develop the former hospital site, with number 54 included in this. The notices are currently pinned to the mural where the hospital used to be.  

  
See ya next week, hopefully!