City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

 

Wigston In Photos 1948-2005 added a new photo.  · 

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Great Glen

British Railways Steam Locomotive 45602

Stanier 6P (Jubilee) 4-6-0

11:18 Bradford - London St Pancras

February 26th 1961

(Photo by Mike Mitchell)

[Paninistickers]

Just read that Manchester is getting its first lido..

 

This has been my mantra for decades. The one single issue which would make me vote for anyone. BUILD LIDOS. 

 

A marvellously financially unviable beast (like the arts) that's exactly  the sort of life affirming thing that local authorities should support. 

[bovril]

Old photo of Sileby with the John Moore pub in the background. And then the local lads outside it. Think it's Sileby fish bar now.

 

 

[davieG]

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The Melbourne Cinema, at Five Ways, Highfields, just before it closed in 1963

[davieG]

12 hours ago, Paninistickers said:

Just read that Manchester is getting its first lido..

 

This has been my mantra for decades. The one single issue which would make me vote for anyone. BUILD LIDOS. 

 

A marvellously financially unviable beast (like the arts) that's exactly  the sort of life affirming thing that local authorities should support. 

Used to go to the Kenwood Lido

 

An aerial photograph of Kenwood Swimming Pool, Leicester, in 1971

 

Youngsters in the tiered fountain at Kenwood Lido in the 1950s

 

The Knighton venue, which opened in the 1930s, was hugely popular in its heyday, with its extensive grassy lawns for sunbathing, high diving boards and its large semi-circular pool.

 

There was a cafe where you could buy drinks, ice cream, crisps and snacks and a small shallow pool for toddlers.

In the main pool there was a floating raft which youngsters would try to clamber on to.

Sadly, the lido was drained and closed in the early 1970s to make way for a housing development.

 

 

I'm guessing they closed due to no trade in the winters but they were always packed in the Summer.

 

It sad that these open air places of leisure, relaxation and entertainment are closing, currently the Enderby and Blaby Golf courses are under threat. They'll soon be no reason to leave your home except to have your nails done and an expensive cup of coffee to walk the streets with.

[davieG]

1963

 

[davieG]

 

Leicester Memories

Peter Taylor  

Crowds waiting for news at No 5 pit in April 1898 , as news of the mining disaster spread. Whitwick Colliery.

© Whitwick Historical Group

[davieG]

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Blackbird Road, Leicester on February 11, 1956. The snowfall has been light, but it appears that there was also a good covering of ice on the road surface. The spot can be accurately pinpointed by the Frears Biscuits lorries on the right. There is little traffic about. Only two vehicles are actually moving and a delivery boy on his bike ambles along towards the camera, in the middle distance

[davieG]

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Swain Street Hillcrest Hospital 1965

 

These fabulous photos showcase what was once a workhouse and then a hospital before the imposing Victorian building was knocked down.

The old Hillcrest Hospital, on Sparkenhoe Street, Highfields, Leicester, was closed and then demolished in the late 1970s after about 140 years.

It was built as a “super-workhouse” in the late 1830s on top of a hill site fronting what is now Sparkenhoe Street.

There were already three workhouses in Leicester, but it was decided that putting all the paupers under one roof would make a saving of at least £300 a year.

The doors opened in 1839 with William and Mary Clarke appointed as the first master and matron. They received a joint salary of £100 a year, plus food and lodgings.

By the mid-1880s the general sick wards housed in the main building had been reconstructed and, by 1892, seven nurses and one night nurse were employed.

 

Laundry

 

 

In 1894, children were removed from the workhouse to live at the Cottage Homes at Countesthorpe and the building they had occupied became a reception centre for wayfarers.

Leicester was considered relatively progressive in the management of its poor and, unlike many workhouses, Hillcrest provided married quarters and didn’t separate husband and wife.

In July 1948, the workhouse buildings became accommodation under the local authority and the hospital facilities were placed under the control of Leicester No. 2 Hospital Management Committee.

Dramatic photo shows brave firefighters tackling massive city centre blaze 40 years ago 

The 1950s saw a mobile meals service established at the building and, by the 1960s, the hospital had become the Leicester Area Geriatric Headquarters.

Hillcrest became a hospital for nursing elderly patients who, on its closure, were admitted to new units at Leicester General and the then new Glenfield Community Hospital. Hillcrest closed in 1977.

 

Demolition 1970s

[davieG]

 

Leicester Memories

Peter Taylor 

Uppingham Rd. Leicester . 1957.

[davieG]

Graham Hulme

 

An old postcard view looking towards the Market Place and the former Corn Exchange, with Gallowtree Gate to the right. The card was posted from Leicester to a farm at the village of Everingham near York in October 1953. Kemp’s the jewellers, with the clock above the entrance, can be seen on the corner. To the right, after the tobacconist’s shop, is the Pelican pub which closed in 1968. The building was afterwards converted into a shop and still stands. On the far right, the Robin Hood Inn can be seen, with a painted sign on the side, at the top of the building. The Robin Hood closed down in 1958 and the building was demolished around the late 1980s. 

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[davieG]

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Bus on London Road advertising Corona Soft Drinks. But what on earth is the man on stilts riding that tall bike advertising? And what year do you think?

 

Comments

Steve Dane

The photo is post war, and mid 1950's at the latest. The bus is fitted wit a semaphore direction indicator rather than a flashing indicator. The latter became legal in 1953. The car immediately behind is an Armstrong Siddeley Whitley, a model introduced in 1946.

 

John Arnold

Diane Withers Wallis Newell The bus built 1949. By 1956 the front destination number was moved to the other side. This pic taken early 1950's as the General Managers name on the bus side is John Cooper who took up the post in 1950.

 

Terry Jones

That would be Ted Bailey from Glen Parva...He was a child entertainer...I think he lived on Hillsborough Rd...What a great character Ted was....Here he is on Gallowtree Gate about 1956...

 

[davieG]

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Astill & Jordan at St Margaret's bus station, Leicester.

[Foxdiamond]

41 minutes ago, davieG said:

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Astill & Jordan at St Margaret's bus station, Leicester.

These look like early versions of the AEC Regent RT with the old roof box which were often damaged by tree branches and were later discontinued 

[davieG]

3 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

These look like early versions of the AEC Regent RT with the old roof box which were often damaged by tree branches and were later discontinued 

What was the roof box for?

[davieG]

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Horsefair Street, 1955

[Foxdiamond]

55 minutes ago, davieG said:

What was the roof box for?

The route number

[davieG]

10 minutes ago, Foxdiamond said:

The route number

Doh!!

[Foxdiamond]

34 minutes ago, davieG said:

Doh!!

Don't worry. Not obvious from the photo of those old buses

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester  · 

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Horsefair Street, 1955

[davieG]

Barwell & Earl Shilton Memories  · 

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Chapel Street, Barwell, looking towards Top Town in 1906.

[davieG]

Story of Leicester

 

It's a busy day along Churchgate here in November 1988.

What brings back memories for you in this photo? Do you remember shopping at places like Mays Electrical, or The Good Earth?

#ThrowbackThursday

[davieG]

https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/communications/public-spaces-protection-orders-pspos/?fbclid=IwY2xjawITBgtleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHarztZCRb2Q30eNDvyXXg8Du58KaCR0yEQgLyJZe62lAhdxp-bP8-75jFQ_aem_P76wYygq4GOrV9lyNohtYA

 

Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs)
Closes 17 Feb 2025

Opened 20 Jan 2025

Contact
Nicola Odom

(Head of Service – Safer Communities)

Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services

[email protected]

Overview
Leicester City Council has the powers under the Anti-Social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014 to create Public Spaces Protection Orders (PSPOs).

PSPOs are intended to deal with nuisances or problems in an area that is detrimental to the local community’s quality of life. The order imposes conditions on the use of the area.

The local authority has received complaints and heard concerns about people's experiences of anti-social behaviour and nuisance whilst being in Leicester city centre. The behaviour complained of is having a detrimental effect on the quality of life.

It is proposed that in the designated area Police Officers and Local Authority Officers will have the power to take enforcement action for nuisance and detrimental behaviour associated with street drinking, begging, amplification systems, charity or commercial subscription collections, bikes, e bikes and scooters and temporary structures.

Failure to comply with the terms of a PSPO may result in an individual being issued with a fixed penalty notice (FPN). In the event of the FPN not being paid, it is the Council’s policy to prosecute. Breach of a PSPO is a criminal offence.

The draft PSPO document is available to download below.

Why your views matter
We are keen to receive your views on the proposed introduction of this new PSPO. 

 

Give us your views

Online Survey

[davieG]

 

https://leicestercivicsociety.org.uk/all-events/

 

From St Margaret’s to Northgates & Frog Island
Meeting at St Margaret’s Bus Station this walk will explore the route from there to Northgates & Frog Island. Northgates is an area that most of us will have passed through but perhaps not walked around. Learn about the area’s

 £5.00 – £7.00
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15 March 2025

 

Leicester History Trail PART ONE ‘Public Space’
Discover more about the development of Leicester as we are guided around the city following the History Trail terracotta plaques originally installed 40 years ago by the Leicestershire & Rutland Society of Architects but now updated by them in 2024

 £5.00 – £7.00
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29 March 2025

 

Arthur Wakerley, Architect, Developer and Politician
Arthur Wakerley was an Architect, Developer, Politician and a family man. He was a significant figure in Leicester’s prosperous late Victorian and Edwardian era. By looking at some buildings that Wakerley either designed or used, this walk through some of

 £5.00 – £7.00
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12 April 2025

 

Leicester History Trail PART TWO ‘Regeneration’
Enjoy the second part of the Leicester History Trail taking in the plaques that relate to the regeneration of Leicester. Due to the quantity of plaques this guided walk has been split into three separate walks. Please book each part

 £5.00 – £7.00
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26 April 2025

 

Humberstone Road & Humberstone Gate
Learn about these iconic Leicester ‘streets’ that blend into one’, from Leicester’s tallest building, coffee, a popular vending machine, a ‘hole in the wall’ and much more. We will also visit some of the streets that lead off Humberstone Gate.

 £5.00 – £7.00
Find out more
10 May 2025

 

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[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester  · 

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Conduit Street, 1946..