Beacon bonfire commemorates coronation
26 June 2022
On 26 June 1902, a 40ft high bonfire was built on Beacon Hill to celebrate the Coronation of King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. The cost was £80.
For the Coronation of King George V and Queen Mary on 22 June 1911, the bonfire was guarded the night before by Woodhouse Scouts to ensure that it was not mischievously lit beforehand.
Article submitted by Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers.
On this day in Loughborough … 26th June 1891
25 June 2022
Severe Thunder Storm 25th June 1891
A severe thunderstorm broke over Loughborough on Thursday Evening 25th June. Throughout the day the atmosphere had been sultry, and rain fell at intervels; shortly before 5 o’clock a storm was heard towards the south west which gradually came nearer the town, causing the people to seek shelter. There was an extremely heavy rain for about three quarters of an hour, nearly two inches being registered between 4.30 abd 6.00 p.m.
With scarcely a minutes cessation, the torrent continued to descend until 20 minutes to 6, tremendous peals of thunder succeeding brilliant and dangerous flashes of lightening.
The Derby Road was covered with something like three feet of water. In the Cherry Orchard district the streams from Hume Street and Cobden Street met at Peel Street which lying somewhat low, was soon four feet under water.
Printed Thursday 2nd July 1891
Article submitted by Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers and taken from the Loughborough Advertiser, Loughborough Herald and Loughborough Monitor as collated in Matthew’s Local Newspaper Extracts Vol 3.
Ladybird’s People at Work books remembered
17 June 2022
This week I nipped along to check out the ‘People at Work – Earning a Living in a Ladybird World’ exhibition at Charnwood Museum.
The Museum already commemorates Loughborough’s link to Ladybird – the famous children’s publishers which originated in the town – with a permanent display of books which can be read and enjoyed in a ladybird-patterned winged chair. Now, an exhibition based on titles from the company’s People at Work series is also being displayed in their temporary gallery.
Ladybird’s first series of occupation-themed books for their Key Reading scheme were published in 1962, illustrated with paintings by the artist John Berry. The second series, published in the 1980s, contained photographs of real workers, many of them of local people in workplaces in and around Loughborough.
Leicester County Council’s museums and participation team have brought the topic up to date by with displays showing firefighters, nurses and police officers from today’s workforce.
The exhibition runs at Charnwood Museum until 1st October 2022 and visitors can pick up a free set of postcards there, showing illustrations from the original series of books.
Alison Mott
Coronation of a Queen
6 June 2022
Royalty first came into my life during 1953, when I was a small boy at Cobden School in Loughborough.
Much was being made of the fact that the nation was to have a new queen, named Elizabeth II. Every member of our class was presented with a glass tumbler, furnished with a portrait of the new queen, complete with the royal Coat of Arms. Much less exciting, was the associated English Lesson, when we were instructed to write copiously about the illustrious event!
At the time of the coronation, my family, having no television, were invited into the home of my father’s friends for the entire day. I was pleased to discover that these friends had a son called Paul, and that he was about the same age as me.
Paul and I quickly decided that the garden had much more to offer than the solemn activities in Westminster Abbey, and as a result we managed to avoid most of the ceremony. Our parents called us inside to see the actual crowning as this was ‘very serious and important.’
My dad made the occasion much more memorable by exclaiming as the crown hovered over the recipient’s head, “Drop it!”
Today on the occasion of her Platinum Jubilee, I am very glad that we have our Queen Elizabeth. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and the Commonwealth could not be the same without her.
God Save the Queen.
David Taylor
Great Central Railway Exhibition, Loughborough Library
6 June 2022
The Golden Years of the Great Central Railway’s London Extension (1899 to 1957) are to be celebrated this summer with a new exhibition in the Local and Family History Centre at Loughborough Library.
Opening on 30th June 2022 and on display until 23rd September, the exhibition is free to view during the Library’s staffed hours.
(Please note – the area is not available when the Library is in Smart mode.)
