We begin the week here at My Poetic Side with a story about the ancestral home of Lord Byron which is shortly to undergo a major programme of works to remove it from the “at risk” register. We also take a look at just some of the many commemorations planned for Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the former Prime Minister and poet who passed away last week.
Poets Ancestral Home “At risk”
Newstead Abbey in Nottinghamshire, the ancestral home of the poet Lord Byron, has been classed as being at risk by the council.
Preservation work has already begun to help with the safeguarding of the future of the abbey and the historic site it is located on. A recent assessment by Historic England has classed the condition of the abbey as “poor” and suggests that is in a state of “slow decay”.
Work has begun on the west front of the building and it is hoped that the repairs which are being undertaken with the help of the Newstead Abbey Partnership, will allow the building to be removed from the “at risk” register.
The Newstead Abbey Partnership are a group of people who all live in the vicinity of the Abbey, they are keen to work on protecting both the memory of Lord Byron and his ancestral home. The World Monument Fund allocated them some fund four years ago and they have kept it to one side with this project in mind. They are hopeful that once the initial development phase is completed and a list of the work that needs to be carried out is completed that it will be able to be done within a 12-month period. In total they have a grant of £123,000 from Historic England and a further £57,000 donation from World Monument Fund to complete the work. This has been added to with donations of £30,000 from friends of the group
Worn stone is to be replaced and cleaned up and any metal fixings on the building will also be made more secure.
Commemorations for Atal Bihari Vajpayee Planned
Last week we brought you the news of the sad death of the former Indian Prime Minister, and poet, Atal Bihari Vajpayee. On Saturday the chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced plans that he would be making a request to the railway ministry to rename one of their stations, Habibganj, after Vajpayee.
Further plans to commemorate Vajpayee include the placing of a bust of the former Prime Minister in Gorkhi Higher Secondary Government School in Gwalior – his alma mater. From next year Vajpayees life story will be included I the syllabus at the school and there are already plans in place to set up 3 national awards with a prize of Rs 5 Lakh. These will be in the fields of journalism, poetry and good governance.
Memorials are planned for a number of large cities, some will take the form of statues, others will take the form of libraries dedicated to Vajpayee. It is also hoped that a much-needed refurbishment will be carried out on the high school that was attended by the former Prime Minister.
You must register to comment. Log in or Register.