In 2001, Thringstone gained an attractive landmark in the form of a distictive sculpture, unveiled on The Green to commemorate the Millennium.

Funds for the landmark - known as the 'Millennium Marker' or 'Village Sign' - were raised in and around the village by a committee who met weekly to hold a tote at the Rose and Crown public house on Monday evenings throughout 1999.

A three-foot high boulder, estimated to be 600 Million years old and donated by Cliffe Hill Quarry, stands on a four-sided platform of stone which has black granite inserts on each of its sides, etched with scenes from the village's history.

The etchings depict (1, facing The Green) Charles Booth with the Thringstone House Community Centre in the background; (2, facing Loughborough Road) The beautiful six-arch railway viaduct in Gracedieu Woods; (3, facing Bauble Yard) The ruined Priory of Gracedieu and various local buildings including St Andrews Church and the Gables, Main Street; (4, facing Main Street) A coal miner and working pony, with commemorative inscription over.

The landmark was designed and constructed by Kurt Russell, a Leicestershire Stonemason, and the cost was approximately three thousand pounds.

The sculpture was officially unveiled on Saturday, 20 January 2001 by David Taylor, M.P for North West Leicestershire, and also present on this occasion (and depicted in the above photograph) were Steve Jones (Operations Manager at Cliffe Hill Quarry); Mrs Janet Cufflin (Chairperson of the village Millennium Committee) and other committee members, namely Peter Atkin, Tom Fairbrother and Mrs Brenda Simpson. Mrs Lillian Taylor - then Manager of the Rose and Crown - was also an active member of the group.

During the summer of 2001, block paving was laid around the sculpture and a bench was provided by North West Leicestershire District Council in memory of the late Mrs Agnes Smith, village Concillor for some twenty-six years. Two additional benches were also provided from surplus funds raised by the Millennium Committee.

The Mystery Marker...

Mention should also be made of a local resident's initiative in having an old boundary post incorporated into the Millennium site.

The post, made of cast iron, had stood for many years a few yards further along the Green - at the road junction opposite the turn into Brook Lane and had rusted, almost unnoticed, before finally toppling over in 1999 (no doubt with a helping hand - or foot - from some late-night passer-by). Concerned that such a hazardous chunk of metal was now left lying at the side of the road - and also conscious that it might carry some interesting historical significance, I dragged it over to the Queens Head public house on one of my visits (much to the dismay of the then Landlady, Debbie Roberts!) where it was then stored in an outhouse for many months.

There it may well have remained for posterity were it not for the idea of Mr John Bradford to take it home, restore it and appraoch the Local Authority to incorporate it as part of the Millennium site at the time they were carrying out paving work, simply on the basis that it had always previously stood thereabouts - for as long as anyone in the village could remember!. Municipal consent obtained, John duly coated the post with black Hammerite paint before it's re-planting, using white paint to pick out the raised inscription, B & Co BOUNDARY . It was then left up to myself to find out exactly what significance the object may once have carried.

The clue, "B & Co", led me to contact Bass Brewery, who confirmed that in 1933, they had sold a considerable portion of land fronting the Rose and Crown to Thringstone Parish Council for a nominal fee of One Pound - that it might be laid out and used as a village Green. Hence the post had probably stood on The Green since Victorian times to mark the boundary of their ownership.

A mystery is solved !!

Rusty Mary

'Rusty Mary', photographed by Geoff Walker in 2003

It was also in 2001 that another sculpture appeared on the Thringstone landscape. The 'Iron Madonna' was commissioned by SUSTRANS and unveiled to mark the opening of the new cycle trail between Gracedieu and Turrylog. The statue was created by Northamptonshire-based sculptor, Mike Ivens - the idea being to have the image of a Mother Superior keeping a watchful eye on the ruins of Gracedieu Priory, just across the brook.

Within a short time the statue had become known locally as 'Rusty Mary', owing to the discoloration of the metal.