During the pandemic, and especially during lockdown, I went along - via Zoom, of course! - to lots of different talks, and courses, which included a number of writing events. What follows is what
I wrote during one of those writing events, in response to the writing prompt – ‘That place has a curious past and may
hold many secrets’!
And, we had to do this under a 30-minute limit!!!
Hope the results are of interest!
I walk a lot,
and I particularly love urban walking. Over the years I’ve found myself not only
looking up, but also looking down, and, in fact, looking all around as I walk! History
is all around us, and it is because of that history that we are where we are
today. Indeed, that is why I am here today, standing outside the International Supermarket, thirsty
after my long walk!
The sun
reflects off the white rendered building. The huge ground floor windows look
somewhat out of place, disproportionate in size, ugly even, with wire grill shutters to deter non-shoppers from entering. Looking up, I see some curious
brickwork that looks like window ledges, but there are no upstairs windows! In
the middle of the triangular-shaped upper storey, alongside what looks like a 20th-century
burglar alarm, is what appears to be a badge - is it a crest
of some sort, or just an ornament, a decoration?
The door to
the shop is awkwardly placed in the middle of the building’s frontage, and I
stagger up the two green-painted steps, to enter the shop – full of delicious
delicacies and foodstuffs from a range of countries, like Poland and Greece, as
you’d expect really, given the shop’s name.
It feels
exciting to go into the shop, and yet, it also feels perhaps a little run down,
and very much more like a corner shop than a clinical national chain food hall. Something – a tingling
down my spine perhaps – tells me that there is far more to this building than meets the
eye, so, refreshments purchased, I rush home to do a bit of desk research – we are
still in the grips of the pandemic, after all, and so many buildings are still
closed, and services non-operational, that desk work is currently the only option.
Several weeks
pass as I amass more and more information about the building that houses the
International Supermarket, until finally, I feel ready to tell its story, albeit somewhat briefly!
The building
is far older than I had realised, and was originally opened in 1823, and according
to Helen and Richard (1986) (1) it was constructed to be Loughborough’s first
purpose-built theatre. If you know the Georgian Theatre in Richmond, Yorkshire,
which is still operating as a theatre – pandemic permitting – then you have an
idea of what Loughborough’s theatre was originally like. An expert in our local
Leicestershire theatres has created a plan of the building as it probably was
at its opening, showing the raked stage and the high ceilings, neither of which
are visible today from the shop floor (2).
Mr Bennett, the
producer for whom the theatre was created, had theatrical interests in other
Midlands towns, like Sheffield, so he was rather experienced. He opened the
theatre with a production of ‘Speed the Plough’, a comedy by Thomas Morton, that
had first been performed in Covent Garden in 1798, and with ‘Warlock of the
Glen’, first performed at the Theatre Royal, Convent Garden in 1820 (3). Later,
Master B. Grossmith, performed his one-man show at the theatre, although there
is speculation about how he could have remained seven years of age for so many
years!
The theatre
was initially successful, but gradually declined in popularity, so much so,
that around 1856 it was used by the local lodge of Oddfellows, as their regular
meeting place. It is the badge of the Manchester Unity of Oddfellows that
adorns the front of today’s International Supermarket.
Once the Oddfellows
left the building, it became a dance hall, showed early films before there was
a dedicated cinema in town, and then became the office of a local auction mart –
Adkinson and Freckletons, the latter of which still have offices on
Loughborough’s High Street.
Although
there was a period of intermittent performance at the theatre, once the auction
mart had left, the building was put to use as a bicycle repair shop, a carpet
shop, an outdoor clothing shop, and has now been an international supermarket
for over 10 years. Did I say earlier that they sell lovely baklavas?
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Notes
(1) Leacroft, Helen, and Leacroft, Richard (1986). 'The theatre in Leicestershire: a history of entertainment in the county from the 15th century to the 1960s'. Leicester: Leicestershire Libraries & Information Service
(2) ibid.
(3) Both according to entries in Wikipedia.
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posted by lynneaboutloughborough
With apologies for typos which are all mine!
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