Saturday, May 02, 2015

Loughborough Carillon Tower and War Memorial

WWW1 Paul Conneally Cultural Forager Poet Artist

'Loughborough Carillon Tower & War Memorial was built after WW1 to commemorate the men of the town who gave their lives. Unique in Britain, it is the only purpose built carillon tower.

Set within the beautiful Queen's Park the tower is also home to a museum, 3 rooms packed with military memorabilia. Including one room dedicated to the Leicestershire Yeomanry.

Climb the 138 steps, past the 47 bells and you are out onto the balcony with fantastic views across Loughborough.'

Above text from Go Leicestershire

In 1999 artist Paul Conneally proposed to Charnwood Borough Council planning committee that the Carillon Tower be turned into a Peace Beacon with the addition of a helter skelter slide around the external walls of the tower. The proposal itself was the artwork as Conneally knew, correctly, that the proposal would be rejected but would have to be considered. The proposal was made in the form of a poem and resulted in newspaper coverage and media discussion of the piece.

As Britain embarks on a frenzy of state funded events between 2014 and 2018 to commemorate 100 Years passing since the carnage of World War 1 Conneally will formally once again propose the transformation in some way of the Carillon Tower War Memorial into a more upfront peace proposing landmark whilst still remembering all those from all sides that lost their lives in the conflict, the war (Conneally will not call it the 'Great War') of 1914 to 1918 and all other wars too.

Photograph: Paul Conneally May 1st 2015

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