After a later breakfast than usual we headed off to downtown Morecambe. We had only just got there when we nearly lost mum. She had bags of jigsaws she was taking to the charity shop and was blithely wandering down the middle of the road, ignorant to the following traffic as she veered out into their path looking to see if the charity shop she wanted to drop them off at was open. It wasn’t, and so she turned around and nearly walked into the car behind her.
We found another charity shop that was open and accepting donations (most currently aren’t) and dropped the jigsaws off before heading to the front. It was a pleasant enough morning and we walked along the front to just past the town hall and then back down to a new café / bistro that had only just opened opposite the clock tower. It is very posh for Morecambe, and it was very nice, we only had a drink, but the food looked great, especially the large cheese board and meat platters that were on adjacent tables.
It was time to pack the car ready for the next stage of the journey, and there was quite a bit more than we had arrived with. After a late lunch it was off to East Midlands Airport. Not to fly anywhere, just to stay at the Holiday Inn Express there as a base for the next four nights. A nice straightforward trip along the M6 and A50.
Looking for somewhere to eat is always going to be entertaining in these only slightly relaxed post lockdown times. But we found that The Plough in the nearest village of Diseworth was open and we booked a table. This north western part of Leicestershire isn’t an area I know very well, not being able to drive most of the time I lived in Leicester, and this wasn’t on any kind of local bus route.
The pub was an old building with some newer extensions to it, and much like the village itself, it is full of character. The village has buildings from every era back to Tudor times, and the modern houses have mainly been built sympathetically with the older buildings in mind.
The church of St Michael and All Angels dates back to Saxon times. The church sits just off the crossroads in the centre of the village and is a fine example of a medieval church with spire. A wander through the church’s graveyard shows how the village’s families have stayed through the ages. Lines of headstones would be set out for a single family, with some lines longer than others and then single headstones with no relatives dotted about. There was even a section set out for the burial of ashes with small square plaques set on the ground. The graveyard is still in use and two freshly laid graves were visible with just wooden crosses on them, no headstone yet.
The former Baptist church now houses the Diseworth Heritage trust and their Heritage Centre. It wasn’t open that late at night, but it did prompt me to look at their website when we got back to the hotel. I contacted them and they were kind enough to open up for me on the Tuesday morning, so that I could buy various books they had published. They are still suffering the after effects of winter flooding and need the floor replacing in their main hall. But for any local history enthusiast I would recommend visiting when they are back up and running and certainly buy their books, which are very interesting.
https://www.diseworthcentre.org/
On the way back to the hotel we went the long way around, first driving through Long Whatton; a mile long according to the heritage trail published by the above, most of it along the main road. The old village is in the centre and radiating out in both directions the houses become more modern. We came out just above Hathern and went into Kegworth (ignoring the new bypass) to head up to where you used to pop out onto the A453. Only to find that it is now only open to buses and bicycles. We had to turn around and cut through to the new bypass after all.
A nice gentle easing in to exploring Leicestershire.