22/10/2026
Step back in time to Meeting Street, Quorn, August 1935!
Back in August 1935, The Illustrated Leicester Chronicle featured Mr. T Holmes’ old-fashioned smithy, a fantastic piece of village history that had been in the family for over a century. With no windows, an old blower, and iron bars across the roof, it was one of the last traditional smithies left in the area.
As motor transport took over everyday travel and farming, Mrs. Holmes noted that things had changed and business had grown much slack compared to the days of full-time horse shoeing. Even so, the Quorn Hunt kept the forge going; in the photo, assistant Thomas Broom (from Farnham Street) had just shod over a hundred horses for the season, a job that often meant walking all the way from Quorn to the kennels in Barrow upon Soar on Paudy Lane.
A proper look at the village's working roots.
Image and information via the Quorn Museum here:
https://quornmuseum.com/display.php?id=2070
