National Memorial Arboretum connections to Loughborough

I recently visited the National Memorial Arboretum in Alrewas Staffordshire. I hadn't really thought much about what I expected to see, but I was staggered by the size of the place, the thousands of people remembered in the memorials and their inscriptions, by the plaques to civilians, by the extent of the actual tree-planting, and the general poignancy of the place.

Of course, everywhere I looked and turned there were things that reminded me of Loughborough. Here's a few of the connections that struck me as I wandered around.

There were several mentions of Charnwood Forest and the aim of linking up with it:

The site was close to the River Trent and the River Tame, which reminded me of the River Soar and there were some lovely bridges:

There was also a working quarry nearby:

One of the first things I came across was mention of Loughborough's twin town, Epinal:

This was followed by a stunning lion statue: the connection here is perhaps a bit obscure, but it reminded me of the lions at Nelson's column, which was designed by William Railton who was also responsible for designing quite a number of buildings in and around Loughborough, including the Bavarian or Red Arch on the Garendon estate. There was also an obelisk-type memorial which reminded me of the one on the Garendon estate:

Next up was the memorial to the Richard Emmanuel Rendell, which reminded me of our own Rendell Street and school:

The shot at dawn memorial was heart-wrenching, and the name Beaumont stood out for me, as the name of former lords of the manor of Loughborough:

There was a bench with mention of Operation Herrick, the codename for British operations in the war in Afghanistan:

I was then reminded of the lady who used to live next door to me who was in the Women's Land Army:

There were also quite a number of memorials made of slate, though not of the Swithland variety:

Masons were also remembered:

Bells featured quite extensively at the NMA too:

And the memorial to the people of the Showman's Guild of Great Britain reminded me of our November fair, the last in the traveling season: 

Sadly, the memorial to the horses that had been killed during wartime was missing, but nonetheless it reminded me of Songster:

There were also extensive information boards relating to the work done at Bletchley Park, and mention of the 'Y' listening stations, of which nearby Beaumanor was one:

I can't easily ignore ironwork, so found the gates into this small memorial garden, quite beautiful:

And finally, the quote from W.H. Davies' poem, 'Leisure' is one close to my heart:

If you haven't yet visited, I would highly recommend it.

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). National Memorial Arboretum and connections to Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2019/04/national-memorial-arboretum-connections.html [Accessed 21 April 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