Picnic in the park and on the farm

One of the reasons I started this blog was to promote our little market town, and tell people how wonderful it is, and how much is going on, as well as waxing lyrical about our heritage!

And so it is this week that there has been so much going on I simply don't know where to start - but maybe with things I've actually been to sounds a reasonable idea!

You may have heard of the Local History Cafes, an initiative offering a friendly gathering for people over 50 who may be experiencing loneliness or need a bit of support at difficult times? On Friday this week I did a session for them on local cinema, so a bit of history about cinemas in Loughborough over the years, and other venues that showed films at one time. We had a bit of a reminisce too, about old cinema adverts - national and local - and Pathe News reels etc.. I don't know about the group, but I certainly had a good time!!

On Saturday I joined the Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers at the Picnic in the Park. The stall provided information about Suffragettes and the "flapper" election of 1929 - the first in which everyone had a right to vote - and had a mock ballot take place. Strangely, the Returning Officer was able to announce the exact same results as were returned in 1929! As well as a Suffragette being hounded by a rather diligent policeman, there were other shows to watch, including Morris dancing (two different groups - Way of the Wyrd and Bare Bones), a children's singing group, Irish folk music, the Boys Brigade, some drummers, and a Caribbean procession. Stalls were plentiful, offering craft activities, information and food! All in all, a great event!

Today I went along to an open farm event, this one in Charley, at Bawdon Lodge Farm, where, amongst other things, Burleigh Gin is made. This was a fabulous event, with lots of animals for children to get acquainted with, including chicks, calves, and even a unicorn! There were food stalls a-plenty - ice-creams, burgers, cake, fudge, and coffee. Games included clay pigeon shooting and crazy golf. On the long walk back to Loughborough, we passed some lovely rhododendrons, some cows and their calves, some very interesting animal drinking troughs, and some fabulous views of Loughborough!

One of the best things about all these events is that I met some lovely folk, met up with some great chums, and bumped into oh so many people I knew! Here's some pics of the picnic and the farm open day:

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). Picnic in the park and on the farm. Available from:  https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/06/picnic-in-park-and-on-farm.html  [Accessed 10 June 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

        

Trains rhododendrons and peace!

Another exciting week in the Loughborough area, but one that is tinged with a bit of sadness and regret. Every time I talk to friends, or meet someone new, or happen upon another interesting book, I learn more about our lovely town, and I wish I'd started learning earlier! It doesn't matter how much you know, or how much research you do, there will always be a million and one things you don't know. Sad isn't really the way to describe it, I suppose, but it is sad when each of us knows such a lot, but that knowledge remains implicit, and we take it to the grave with us.

Oh dear, that sounds a bit morbid, but was brought home to me on a trip to Ulverscroft Grange, to donate some "stuff" to the charity shop. The model railway room was open, so I eagerly popped in to have a look and marvel at the workmanship and dedication that went into creating this model. I've mentioned before (although I simply can't find the post at the moment), about David Clarke and the Shuttlewood Clarke Foundation up at Ulverscroft Grange, and the work of his charity. So, talking to one of the volunteers it seems that when the model railway was moved to Ulverscroft, it was expected to take about 3 years to get it back up and running, but, since much of the knowledge associated with it wasn't written down anywhere, but was in the heads of people no longer with us, it actually took 10 years to rebuild. Hmmm ...

A small part of the model train layout

Also whilst I was there I took a buggy ride! Now, I've looked longingly at the buggies before, but had not considered they might be for me. When I pop to Ulverscroft, I walk the footpath until it meets the road, and then I turn round and walk back along the same path. Two, what I would consider to be very good reasons for this: i) I have absolutely no sense of direction, so if I turn a few corners I'm likely to end up lost, so if I'm on my own, I usually go one way and then retrace my steps (I do this in both town and countryside!) and ii) to cross the road would take me to Ulverscroft Manor, and the signs at the beginning of the driveway advise you it's private, so, not being one for trespassing, I'd always assumed you couldn't enter!

The path I normally walk down

Seeing the buggy advertising rides to see the rhododendrons (I absolutely love these flowers), I decided to ask if I could join the trip - and to my joy, it was a yes! Oh, and it was fabulous! The driver didn't think I was mad, and in fact said that he encouraged people to take the buggy ride first, so that when they then went to walk around the grounds they had a good idea of where they were allowed to go and how to get there and what they might see!! He was a kindly soul who also paused the buggy when he saw cameras coming out!! And, he was very knowledgeable, telling us all about the estate, the woods, the wildlife, the events and the house. 

Our knowledgable guide!

The house itself is gorgeous, and was built around 1830 for Thomas Pares of the Leicestershire Banking family, who lived there until his death in around 1867, when the estate was bought by the Lillingston family, who lived there until about 1944. After this the estate passed through a number of owners, being an equestrian centre immediately before being purchased by David Clarke in 1990. 

The house

The lodge

The buggy driver told us that a couple of important stained glass windows had been found and these were now in the Stained Glass Museum in Ely, a museum I tried to visit in March this year, but which was closed on the very day I went along. So, now I know I must re-visit!

When I got home, I had a look for that blog post I thought I'd written about Ulverscroft before, but had no luck finding it. What I did find, however, was a mention of the Lillingston family in a post I wrote about Loughborough's own Dr Eddowes ... !

Anyway, here's a few more pictures of Ulverscroft on what started out as a misty and noisy day, but ended in bright sunshine and peace and tranquillity:

Misty morning

Doing some work on part of the garden

In the woods

In the woods

In the woods

Rhododendrons and the yurt

Through the buggy window

Back at the Grange

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). Trains, rhododendrons and peace. Available from:https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/06/trains-rhododendrons-and-peace.html       [Accessed 3 June 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

    

Ashby Pillings and trains

This has been a most interesting bank holiday weekend which has seen me out and about (again!) around the county, having some interesting conversations with some helpful people all with Loughborough at the back of my mind!

A trip to Ashby food festival provided not just food and drink, but also some reassurance over an item of some concern that raised its head recently on Facebook. Lots of food stalls, plenty of drinks stalls, a funfair, performances by Loughborough Border Morris Group, Way of the Wyrd, and societies like the Scouts and wildlife groups.

I was lucky enough to attract the attention of the Wildlife Trust stall. I say lucky enough, because, while I am as keen on preserving our nature as the next person, I only have a very limited disposable income, which means I can't commit to the suggested subscription for all the organisations I'd like to support, nevertheless, I was treated to a very in-depth discussion about the work of the Wildlife Trust, for example, their on-going work that started 25 years ago to encourage ospreys to breed at Rutland Water. 

While I was being shown the geographical extent of the work in Leicestershire and what the current major projects are, I realised it was the Wildlife Trust who own most of the Big Meadow (aka the Nether Meadow, or the Coronation Meadow), about which the Old Rectory held an exhibition about 5 years ago. Now, I wish I'd paid more attention to the exhibition, but the chap at the Trust reminded me (I have briefly mentioned this in an earlier blog post) that Lammas Meadows (which is what the Big Meadow is) have special conditions attached (commoners can graze their animals on the land after the harvest from 12 August to April), so it's most unlikely from that point of view that the land can be built on. The fact that it's on a flood plain is not prohibitive, as there are plenty of new houses already built on such land, and there are strategies for doing this, but the commoners' rights should protect the land.

Here's some photos of the event:

Some of the entertainment

Loving the name of this vegan food stall

The Wildlife Trust

Ridiculously Rich's Alana went to primary school in Loughborough 

 A pretty display

Burleighs Gin based on Charley Road, Nanpantan

After visiting the food festival, I made my way to St Helen's church, which I've visited before when researching the Middletons. This time I went to see the display of painted silhouetted soldiers that had begun their life at Coalville Market, an event at which a friend was an integral part. To see them in the church was most poignant: many of them had been painted by schoolchildren, others by local groups. 

Here's a few of my favourites:

Tomb of Lord Hastings

As I was leaving the church and heading towards the town centre, I happened upon the Lyric Rooms, the plaque below telling me that the Freemasons had been meeting in Ashby since 1836: I assume the Lyric Rooms to be one of those meeting places. I also spotted one of those signs that these days seems to rare in Loughborough (there is one next to George Hills and one on the dentist on The Coneries, but the one next to the Orange Tree has disappeared).

Sunday was such a beautiful day I decided to walk to Pillings Lock. The route I chose took me through the cemetery, down the path just past the Bull-in-the-Hollow farm, through a copse, and through a field normally full of cows, but today full of cars. There was a bank holiday event on the place was busy! There were some interesting stalls selling craft and other items, and I had a great chat with a bushcraft stuff maker, who had recently been to the Charnwood Grove of Druids event at Beacon Hill.

And, if all that weren't enough, I managed to cross the train bridge when a steam train was passing under it!

Here's some of my favourite photos:

See you next week!

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). Ashby, Pillings and trains. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/05/ashby-pillings-and-trains.html  [Accessed 27 May 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