Civil war and the Leicestershire Round

Off at the weekend to Bosworth Field to see Ernie White off on his walk around Leicestershire in aid of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The walk is 100 miles and passes through some of the best countryside in the County. It was inaugurated by me in 1996 on a wet and muddy day that was so cold I have no photos of it. I do, however, have this one of a visit I paid to the Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre in 1997. When I worked for the Leicestershire Museums Schools Service, I helped create the Alabaster tomb effigy seen here.

Of course, we needed some civil war soldiers to help the walk go off well.

The only problem was that they insisted on cheering "AYorke! AYorke!" something I find problematical, being a Lancastrian.

Ernie checking the route...

The present Chairman of the County Council, Peter Osborne, came over to see Ernie off (this was a bit of a Chairmen's do - Ernie preceded me as Chairman).

It was a bright Autumn morning and Ernie led off with a will followed by his faithful retinue.

On our way back home we found the guard on its way back having left Ernie at the nearest village.

To donate to Ernie's effort, go to http://www.justgiving.com/ernie-white and join the august company.

A death in September

This was going to be a slightly poignant piece about things like the Holdenby Food Fair...

September - trees full of fruit...

... birds gathering in the mist ready to fly off to the sun...

following hay trailers down country lanes, etc., etc... but this has now been overshadowed by the death of an old friend.

Nicholas Corah died in a car crash, typically on his way to a charity event, on Wednesday 1st of September.

I first got to know Nicholas when I was Chairman of Leicestershire County Council and he was 'my' High Sherrif. Together, we were the last such officials to serve the combined Leicestershire and Rutland, later divided by Local Government Reorganisation. Nicholas and I were not natural political allies but he was the most welcoming, friendly man intent on doing all in his power to serve Leicestershire and its good causes.

Many people make money in business and Corah's was a supplier to Marks and Spencers, a major employer in Leicester and a profitable company for many years. on his retirement, Nicholas and his wife Penny set about seeing how they could make a greater contribution to the life of the county and, later, Norfolk where they moved to a few years ago. He was founding chairman of Leicestershire Cares, an initiative which sees major companies provide staff to carry out charitable work. He also headed a fund-raising team which secured £13 million for the University of Leicester.

There's lots I could say about Nicholas Corah but I'll leave it to the local paper, the Leicester Mercury and to the University website to fill in the many details of his life.
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/major-county-figure-dies-crash/article-2597421-detail/article.html

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/news/Death-founder-hits-charity-s-anniversary/article-2600963-detail/article.html


http://www.le.ac.uk/press/press/businesschampion.html

RIP Nicholas Corah; 23.1.1932 - 1.9.2010