Category: Local History

When I looked in on Harborough indoor market recently, I didn’t expect to find such an unusual and rather rare piece of local history. Boxes full of old postcards from yesteryear were on display on one of the stalls.

Although the weather finally picked up for the start of the school holidays, there have still not been very many boats through. The situation is similar elsewhere, and some hire companies have half their fleets tied up, which is highly unusual, and a worry. Visitors come to the canals to see boats, and boater spend is important to the local economy.

National Heritage Weekend

A replica of the Hallaton Helmet was officially unveiled at Hallaton Museum last Wednesday 19 June. This amazing, high quality replica of the original helmet was researched by Leicestershire Museums, and made by Rajesh Gogna, Silversmith. He produced two copies: one that is on display at Harborough Museum, the other at its home in Hallaton.

Edward Kennard (left) was Deputy Lieutenant of Leicestershire and a justice of the peace. He lived at ‘The Barn’ (below). This was a large property situated on the hill off Shrewsbury Avenue in Little Bowden, Market Harborough. He had travelled in America during the Civil War (1861 – 1865) and entered Richmond, Virginia with the Northern troops. He won the second prize in the 1,000 miles motor competition in 1900 and was an ardent motor cyclist. Edward Kennard’s paintings in watercolours and oils were regarded as treasures in leading art circles, especially those done on china. Of which he had a unique collection. He also won several prizes for photography and was a well- known sporting novelist.

Over 70 people enjoyed a rare opportunity to visit the oldest mill in Leicestershire when it opened in glorious sunshine on Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 May as part of National Mills Weekend. Volunteers explained the history of the mill before showing visitors around, demonstrating the inner workings and highlighting the various marks left by the millers over the last 400 years.

At an invitation-only reception, held on the evening of Wednesday 15 May in Market Harborough Theatre, Kibworth resident David Holmes presented a short talk about the latest Market Harborough History Society publication, which he has recently edited.

Recent Kibworth & District Chronicles have included news items and photos referring to the Kibworth Community Hub. This being the transition towards a new community hub on the Grammar School Hall site. It presents many welcome opportunities as listed by Kibworth Beauchamp Parish Council Chair Andrew Munro in the first Chronicle of this year:

Benchmarking is a global practice, but in the UK at least, these symbols were made by officials from the Ordnance Survey and were often carved onto public buildings or structures that were expected to stand the test of time and be around for many years to come, enabling future surveyors to use them as a reference point for elevation. You’ll most often find them on town halls, railway bridges, churches or stone gateposts. However, like many other things, benchmarking eventually became an outdated practice, superseded by GPS and other digital technologies.

On Tuesday 26 March volunteers from  the Hallaton Fieldwork Group (it’s this group who previously discovered the Hallaton Hoard (which currently has pride of place in Harborough Museum) visited with their specialist equipment.