An arch with a cross in the gap, lanterns to either side.

I have featured this memorial before but it was partly obscured by a street fair then. In September 2023 it wasn’t.

Great War Dedication and names:-

World War 2 Dedication and names. Also on  pavement below the inscription, “220 miles to Ypres”:-

This time were able to get into the street behind the memorial where there was an assortment of wreaths:-

The plaque to the right above is a Victoria Cross commemoration. Lt Colonel Philip Bent, Leicestershire Regiment, 1/10/1917:-

Close up on tributes to left above:-

We have friends who live just north of Sunderland and took the opportunity when travelling back up from Rye (and Ashby de la Zouch) to visit them.

On the way we passed through East Boldon which is part of a group of villages called the Boldons which also includes West Boldon and Boldon Colliery, historically in the County of Durham but now administratively part of South Tyneside.

I spotted this Art Deco building and stopped to photograph it. Rule of three in main windows, plus porthole window:-

Side of building. Critallish windows. Those at rear have been poked out though:-

Frontage. Deco fanlight, Critall windows to left above East Boldon Dental Practice:-

Castle from its grounds:-

Main tower block:-

Apparently this is William Lord Hastings’s tower:-

We climbed it. All 23 metres of it via 96 fairly steep steps. Knackering. This is a video of the panorama from the top. (All through our visit those church bells were ringing. It was a Saturday – the bell-ringers must have been practicing):-

Formal Gardens information board. There was no way to avoid my shadow on it!:-

This tower was in one corner of the grounds:-

In its heyday the castle was a centre for “noble” sports:-

This nearby field is said to be the jousting ground where Walter Scott set his tournament in Ivanhoe:-

We had no idea before we went that Ashby de la Zouch had an old ruined castle, but as we were doing the detour round the town required by the street fair blocking the main road we saw a sign pointing to it.

As old castles go it’s one of the better ones.

From entrance:-

Welcome Board:-

First building:-

Further portion:-

Picture window:-

The fireplace on the left wall has the remains of shields on it:-

Interior:-

The castle was demolished as the result of the Wars of the Three Kingdoms:-

There were slim pickings for Art Deco in Ashby. The only possibilty was this branch of the National Westminster Bank.

The hints of deco are in the cartouche below the roofline and there is rule of three in the frontage’s arches.

After Coalville (see previous posts) our next stop was Ashby de la Zouch, known originally as Ashby and still referred to by that name in short.

The town’s War Memorial is in the form of a stone arch with a cross in the arch’s gap. On either side of the arch are plaques bearing names for the Great War dead. Below the cross and flanked by those names a dedication plaque reads, “Erected to the glory of God and in undying remembrance of the men of Ashby de la Zouch who gave their lives for their country in the Great War.” On the wall on which the arch stands a further plaque carries Second World War names.

Unfortunately the Memorial was partly hidden by a street fair the day I visited Ashby so the photographs are taken from either side.

This one shows the cross:-

World War 2 plaque:-

Lanterns stand to either side of the Memorial. This one is to its left as you look at it:-