Pubs and a bit of art!

While I was away in Wales a couple of weeks ago, I kept seeing pubs that reminded me of Loughborough, and in one town there was even a pub called the Robin Hood - which seemed a long way from where I'd have expected to find it!

A couple of weeks ago I went along to a writing session at the Three Nuns as part of the Hidden Voices project. It was great fun listening to other people's stories of how they came to be living in Loughborough, and it was great to see all the results of this project on display in the Old Rectory over the last couple of weekends. Sessions weren't just held in the pub though - there were other meetings of other groups of folk in different places, which made for a varied ad interesting display. You can read more about the events that have taken place at the Old Rectory on their blog. See pics at the end, too.

We were recently discussing different pub venues for such writing events, and someone suggested the Orange Tree. Funnily enough, I've just read today that the Orange Tree and Kelso have been sold to the Charles Wells Brewery. Let's hope they continue to be successful in welcoming both townsfolk and students. 

I've also popped across to Woodhouse Eaves for the annual exhibition of the Woodhouse Eaves art group. This was a lovely event with so many beautiful paintings on display, from a range of very talented artists. While I was there I noticed an advert for another art event, this time in what I still call St Peter's Community Centre, which I believe is now Rosebery Community Centre, so I dropped in there too. Again, lots of talented artists showing a wide variety of art!

This last Friday I visited the Local Studies area of the public library, where it was really, really busy! This was the last day the area would be open to the public, as the library is now closed until the beginning of January while they install SMART access. When it does re-open, the display in the Local Studies area will feature the life and work of the architect William Railton.

Pubs spotted on holiday

An out of place Robin Hood found in Monmouth! 

Built Wells has a White Horse: Loughborough's White Horse, in Bedford Street is now Moza's

Was this once a White Swan in Builth Wells? Loughborough's White Swan was on Wellington Street

The Barley Mow in Builh Wells. Loughborough's was on Market Street.

The King's Head, Llandudno. Loughborough's is now the Ramada Inn on High Street.

The Albion in Conwy. Loughborough's was a canalside pub which is now closed.

Photographs of all Loughborough's pubs can be found in Bill's wonderful book, Billy's Book of Loughborough Boozers.

Hidden Voices at the Old Rectory Museum

Woodhouse Eaves art exhibition

Art exhibition at Rosebery Community Centre

Looking forward to the Railton exhibition in the New Year in the public library ...

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). Pubs and a bit of art. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/11/pubs-and-bit-of-art.html   [Accessed 4 November 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



   

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

    

Art in Loughborough

Well, this weekend there was certainly a lot of art on show around the town!!

First I popped into the public library to have a look at the Ladybird exhibition in the local studies area: this was excellent, and a lot of research had gone into producing the history of the main players in the firm.

Then I walked down Derby Square towards Swan Street to see artists decorating the wooden hoardings where the Amateur Swimming Association and Da Francos used to be. Wow! Lovely smell of paint! So fascinating to watch the artists in action! Here's a few photos:

After this I went across to the Old Rectory Museum where the NHS 70th anniversary exhibition had been replaced by a display of work by two local artists, Liz and Adriana. How absolutely fantastic to see the art work hanging from the rafters, mounted on the display boards and in the display cases! Here's a few photos:

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). Art in Loughborough. Available from: https://lynneaboutloughborough.blogspot.com/2018/10/art-in-loughborough.html [Accessed 13 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