City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

Just now, davieG said:

23 archive pictures show 1960s Leicester holiday traffic mayhem
Leicester was often in gridlock as folk dashed home for their holidays

ByAndy Baker
12:02, 29 MAY 2021

It’s Friday 2nd of July 1965. A moment in time captured in Leicester prior to the annual industrial July Holiday Fortnight - and no doubt looking at the pictures folk were keen to get home to start their holidays.

The pictures were commissioned by Leicester City Transport, and credited to photographer George Haggis of Narborough.

Mike Greenwood, director of archives and research at the Leicester Transport Heritage Trust, who kindly supplied the pictures, said “The majority of the photos were taken from what I believe is a cradle in a borrowed lorry from the corporation’s street lighting department, with the photographer being elevated slightly above the queue of following traffic.

"How the photographer communicated with the lorry driver remains a mystery!”

Take a look at the vintage vehicles filling familiar streets below.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/23-archive-pictures-show-1960s-5439491

The buses were great you could get off any time is slowed down / went around a corner. 

 

Whenever I got the bus to school, I used to walk most of the time. I'd jump off the bus as it went around the roundabout that used to be at the Welford Rd. - Knighton Lane East junction. Was also useful for jumping on to avoid having to wait for the next one.

[Parafox]

5 hours ago, davieG said:

23 archive pictures show 1960s Leicester holiday traffic mayhem
Leicester was often in gridlock as folk dashed home for their holidays

ByAndy Baker
12:02, 29 MAY 2021

It’s Friday 2nd of July 1965. A moment in time captured in Leicester prior to the annual industrial July Holiday Fortnight - and no doubt looking at the pictures folk were keen to get home to start their holidays.

The pictures were commissioned by Leicester City Transport, and credited to photographer George Haggis of Narborough.

Mike Greenwood, director of archives and research at the Leicester Transport Heritage Trust, who kindly supplied the pictures, said “The majority of the photos were taken from what I believe is a cradle in a borrowed lorry from the corporation’s street lighting department, with the photographer being elevated slightly above the queue of following traffic.

"How the photographer communicated with the lorry driver remains a mystery!”

Take a look at the vintage vehicles filling familiar streets below.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/23-archive-pictures-show-1960s-5439491

Those photos are fascinating. Every one of those vehicles would now be a classic or an example of it's type in a museum. How much we took/take for granted. 

Like any modern city, The centre has changed almost beyond recognition. I was 9 yrs old when those pics were taken and I can remember the shops and buildings. The city centre used to be such a lovely, vibrant place to be. I wonder if 9 year olds will look back in 50 years time and think "I miss the old Leicester"

[davieG]

2 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Those photos are fascinating. Every one of those vehicles would now be a classic or an example of it's type in a museum. How much we took/take for granted. 

Like any modern city, The centre has changed almost beyond recognition. I was 9 yrs old when those pics were taken and I can remember the shops and buildings. The city centre used to be such a lovely, vibrant place to be. I wonder if 9 year olds will look back in 50 years time and think "I miss the old Leicester"

Probably saying I remember when you weren't knee deep in rubbish, needles and dead rats and when they had shops selling stuff not just food and drink. When you looked up you could see all these beautiful buildings now all we've got is rectangular blocks that have to be rebuilt every 20 to 30 years.

[davieG]

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/latest-plans-emerge-radical-overhaul-5470389

 

A £20 million bid is being prepared to go to the Government's Levelling Up fund

ByDan MartinAgenda Editor
05:00, 30 MAY 2021

How Leicester station would look with after the revamp (Image: City council)

Fresh plans for a multi-million pound overhaul of Leicester’s railway station have been unveiled.

The city council is making another attempt to realise its long-held ambition of ‘spinning’ the London Road transport hub so its main entrance faces onto Station Street - as it did when it originally opened in 1840.

A bid is being prepared to try to secure £20 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to undertake major changes in the immediate area around the station.

The plan is to shift the current taxi rank and short stay drop off out of the station’s porte-cochere, to an area near the new entrance accessed via Fox Street.
That would free up the area for new cafes, bars, or restaurants

Station Street would be replaced by a tree-lined new public space, but the Parcel Yard pub and the next door taxi office are to be demolished.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “We have been working for some time with rail industry partners, who are very supportive of us developing a plan to revamp the station, linked to wider regeneration plans.

“The opportunity to proceed with this has come about with the chance for us to bid for money from the Government’s Levelling Up fund, which enables us to bid for up to £20million – the approximate cost of the whole project.

“Current proposals include creating a major new entrance to Station Street, repurposing the porte-cochere for food and beverage use, and creating a new and spacious main concourse area with some retail, benches, tables and wi-fi so it can be used as short term workspaces for passengers and other people.”

Sir Peter added: “We are due to submit our bid by June 18, and will find out in the autumn whether we have been successful.

“If funding is secured, we will then undertake about a year of detailed design work with the rail industry, in order to start construction work in late 2022/early 2023, with a view to it being completed by March 2024.

“We’ve been in regular contact with the company leasing the space to neighbouring businesses to keep them informed as these plans progress.”

Last year the council was unsuccessful in a bid for £65 million of Government cash to carry out a wider revamp of the station area - including on the current car park where it was suggested the construction of a multi-storey could free up space for a new office complex.

Sir Peter said the ambition was still to carry out a far reaching transformation of the station The mayor said: “The aim is that we do things stage by stage and sorting out the immediate area around the station will hopefully be the catalyst to the further regeneration.”

 

Billy Allingham, of Steamin’ Billy Brewing Company, which runs the Parcel Yard welcome the plan which will likely see the pub relocated.

He welcomed the latest plan saying: “I hope the council does get the money out of the Government this time.

“This idea has been around for 22 years.

“Leicester desperately needs to smarten up and this could be good.”

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

On 29/05/2021 at 19:13, davieG said:

Probably saying I remember when you weren't knee deep in rubbish, needles and dead rats and when they had shops selling stuff not just food and drink. When you looked up you could see all these beautiful buildings now all we've got is rectangular blocks that have to be rebuilt every 20 to 30 years.

 Well said sir. I completely concur.

[DANGEROUS TIGER]

On 30/05/2021 at 09:14, davieG said:

I have some fond memories of the place. 

[enmac]

On 22/03/2021 at 11:14, Wymsey said:

What's that tall building that you can see from many miles away, near to the Phoenix Theatre?

Edit: This one.

 

Quite an eyesore, just like the blue building (which I believe houses Hastings Direct call centre) near to the train station.

 

Tallest building in Leicester. 54th in the UK in 2012.

 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tallest_buildings_and_structures_in_Leicester

[PAULCFC]

On 29/05/2021 at 19:13, davieG said:

Probably saying I remember when you weren't knee deep in rubbish, needles and dead rats and when they had shops selling stuff not just food and drink. When you looked up you could see all these beautiful buildings now all we've got is rectangular blocks that have to be rebuilt every 20 to 30 years.

Didn't realise the chinese restaurant on Charles st had been their that long!

[Parafox]

On 30/05/2021 at 09:24, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/latest-plans-emerge-radical-overhaul-5470389

 

A £20 million bid is being prepared to go to the Government's Levelling Up fund

ByDan MartinAgenda Editor
05:00, 30 MAY 2021

How Leicester station would look with after the revamp (Image: City council)

Fresh plans for a multi-million pound overhaul of Leicester’s railway station have been unveiled.

The city council is making another attempt to realise its long-held ambition of ‘spinning’ the London Road transport hub so its main entrance faces onto Station Street - as it did when it originally opened in 1840.

A bid is being prepared to try to secure £20 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to undertake major changes in the immediate area around the station.

The plan is to shift the current taxi rank and short stay drop off out of the station’s porte-cochere, to an area near the new entrance accessed via Fox Street.
That would free up the area for new cafes, bars, or restaurants

Station Street would be replaced by a tree-lined new public space, but the Parcel Yard pub and the next door taxi office are to be demolished.

City mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “We have been working for some time with rail industry partners, who are very supportive of us developing a plan to revamp the station, linked to wider regeneration plans.

“The opportunity to proceed with this has come about with the chance for us to bid for money from the Government’s Levelling Up fund, which enables us to bid for up to £20million – the approximate cost of the whole project.

“Current proposals include creating a major new entrance to Station Street, repurposing the porte-cochere for food and beverage use, and creating a new and spacious main concourse area with some retail, benches, tables and wi-fi so it can be used as short term workspaces for passengers and other people.”

Sir Peter added: “We are due to submit our bid by June 18, and will find out in the autumn whether we have been successful.

“If funding is secured, we will then undertake about a year of detailed design work with the rail industry, in order to start construction work in late 2022/early 2023, with a view to it being completed by March 2024.

“We’ve been in regular contact with the company leasing the space to neighbouring businesses to keep them informed as these plans progress.”

Last year the council was unsuccessful in a bid for £65 million of Government cash to carry out a wider revamp of the station area - including on the current car park where it was suggested the construction of a multi-storey could free up space for a new office complex.

Sir Peter said the ambition was still to carry out a far reaching transformation of the station The mayor said: “The aim is that we do things stage by stage and sorting out the immediate area around the station will hopefully be the catalyst to the further regeneration.”

 

Billy Allingham, of Steamin’ Billy Brewing Company, which runs the Parcel Yard welcome the plan which will likely see the pub relocated.

He welcomed the latest plan saying: “I hope the council does get the money out of the Government this time.

“This idea has been around for 22 years.

“Leicester desperately needs to smarten up and this could be good.”

At last, something that will make a positive change in a Leicester landmark building. 

[Parafox]

On 30/05/2021 at 09:14, davieG said:

 

22 hours ago, DANGEROUS TIGER said:

I have some fond memories of the place. 

Me too. I was in the Scouts in my youth and we used to do the "Gang Show" there.

 

Also my mum took me to see Cliff Richard there.

 

And went with mates to watch the wrestling... Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki, among others.

[davieG]

Gallowtree Gate 1945

[PAULCFC]

49 minutes ago, davieG said:

Gallowtree Gate 1945

So much better and cleaner....and that's where marks and Sparks should be!

[Stoopid]

On 29/05/2021 at 19:08, Parafox said:

Those photos are fascinating. Every one of those vehicles would now be a classic or an example of it's type in a museum. How much we took/take for granted. 

Like any modern city, The centre has changed almost beyond recognition. I was 9 yrs old when those pics were taken and I can remember the shops and buildings. The city centre used to be such a lovely, vibrant place to be. I wonder if 9 year olds will look back in 50 years time and think "I miss the old Leicester"

Absolutely they will. It's human nature to think that the time period coinciding with your youth is some kind of golden age. 

Actually, Humberstone Gate apart, the city centre of Leicester has changed relatively little in the past few decades. 

Main changes have been social (and now commercial) rather than structural. 

[davieG]

Postcard view of London Road in Leicester. The card was posted from Leicester to someone at Royal Navy quarters in Dunbartonshire, Scotland, in September 1943. The back of the card bears a printed quote from one of the Prime Minister, Winston Churchill’s wartime speeches which had been broadcast over the wireless in October 1940. The large building seen beyond the Midland railway station was the Wyvern Building which was built to the designs of the Leicester architect Arthur Wakerley (1862-1931) around 1895. The building originally housed the Wyvern Hotel, a temperance hotel, with shops on the ground floor, and was designed in a red brick Renaissance style to match the new London Road Station next to it. The station was built in 1892-94, designed by the Midland Railway architect Charles Trubshaw (1840-1917), and replaced the old Campbell Street station which had opened in 1840. The Wyvern Building was constructed on the site of St Stephen's Presbyterian Church which was taken down in 1893 and rebuilt on New Walk. The hotel closed in 1933 and the building was subsequently occupied by Shell-Mex-BP. Later it became offices for British Road Services. The building was demolished in 1974 and the Elizabeth House tower block was built on the site. The white building seen beyond, in contrast to the hotel, has an impressive curved Art Deco frontage of Portland stone and is set at the corner of Granby Street. It was constructed in 1933 and was designed by the Leicester architects, Symington, Prince & Pike. The building was originally Harris's furniture store, the managing director being Cecil Herbert Harris (1899-1969) who was Lord Mayor of Leicester in 1954-55. It has been Blunts Shoes since about the 1980s and is part of a chain with shops in other towns around the country. The business was established in Kidderminster in 1865. Slightly in view on the far left of the picture is the old Leicester Evening Mail newspaper office, a fine Art Deco building designed in 1932 by the Leicester architect Shirley Harrison (1876-1961), of the firm Stockdale Harrison & Sons. Shirley Harrison also designed De Montfort Hall. The Evening Mail had been founded in 1910 and was originally based in Belvoir Street, moving to London Road in 1926. The newspaper ceased publication in 1963. The building was sadly demolished in the 1970s.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/54-million-plans-flip-train-5517985

 

£54 million plans to 'flip' train station, create 650 jobs and help Leicester bounce back from lockdown
Three major regeneration schemes have been drawn up

ByDan MartinAgenda Editor
07:26, 13 JUN 2021


How Leicester station would look after the £22 million revamp (Image: Leicester City Council)

These images show how the inside of Leicester railway station would be transformed if a bid for nearly £40 million of Government cash succeeds.

Plans have been unveiled that would create more than 600 jobs in the city by transforming three key sites - including a majore overhaul of the London Road railway station.

The city council is bidding for around £39 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund in an effort to help Leicester economy recover from a year of lockdown restrictions.

The most high profile element of the bid is the £22 million remodelling of the station’s entrance to create a new gateway to the city centre.

The station would be effectively 'flipped' to face onto Station Street, as it did when it was originally built.

A new taxi rank would be set up there freeing the Victorian entrance hall areas – known as a port cochere – into space for bars, cafes and restaurants.

How Leicester station would look after the £22 million revamp (Image: Leicester City Council)
Another key pillar of the bid is the revamp of the former factory at Pilot House, in King Street, for start-up and growing creative businesses, bringing the cluster of heritage buildings back into use as part of the wider regeneration of the Belvoir Street, Market Street and New Walk areas.

The scheme, which would cost about £11m, would create around 250 skilled jobs.

If the funding bid is successful, the buildings could be in use by 2023/24.

The plan for Pilot House in King Street
The plan for Pilot House in King Street
A further £21 million project that could create around 400 new jobs is proposed for three related projects in and around Pioneer Park and Exploration Drive, near the National Space Centre.

The area is already home to the council-owned Dock workspaces for high-tech industries, and three linked elements would see more Dock-style buildings and high-quality manufacturing spaces created.

The vacant Ian Marlow Centre council depot site in nearby Blackbird Road would be transformed into light industrial spaces to provide much-needed small units, while other land at Pioneer Park would be redeveloped to complement the University of Leicester’s Science Park, providing high-quality production facilities linked to space and satellite technologies.

The Pioneer Park proposal (Image: Leicester City Council)
The three schemes are expected to cost about £54 million overall with the rest of the investment made up from existing match funding and council contributions.

The bids are due to be submitted to the Government on June 18.

Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said: “The bids we are making for this for cash are the latest phase of our work to drive the city’s economic recovery, and would finance major, long-term projects to create new jobs, retain skilled workers and improve infrastructure in both the city centre and the Pioneer Park areas, as well as upgrading Leicester’s station to meet the modern needs of a city of this size.

“Businesses across the city have suffered greatly over the last 15 months or so, and it is vital we rebuild confidence in Leicester and let people know we are open for business."

 

Sir Peter added: “Part of that is ensuring the opportunities for skilled employment are there, meaning we retain skilled workers, develop high-quality manufacturing facilities and build on our reputation as a place which has much to offer businesses, and with good transport links to the rest of the region.

“Last month also saw the launch of the 'We’ve Missed You' campaign, working with businesses to encourage people back into the city, so they can once again enjoy the retail, hospitality, heritage and entertainment we have on offer.

“As a city we’ve lived through a hard time recently, and this is the next important step in us being able to bounce back from that.”

 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/120-years-holiday-hotspot-skegness-5511008

 

 

 

Holidaymakers queue for trains to Skegness from Belgrave Road station in August 1953. September 1962 was the last time passenger services were used

 

 

 

 

 

[Wymsey]

Went through the new Food Court area of Fosse Park the other day; it certainly is a lot more attractive being able to walk through it in the 'open air', compared to the 'boxed-in' environment it had before the renovation.

 

Edited 13 June 2021 by Wymsey

[SemperEadem]

Leicester has been a city for 102 years today.

[davieG]

 

Leicester, Gallowtree Gate. A busy day in the 1950s.

[Rob1742]

To me anything Soulsby is involved in enhances the City greatly. Anything that is done by the public appears to be in their own interests and don’t enhance the City.

 

The train station plan again looks like a positive move for the City

[Free Falling Foxes]

3 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Leicester, Gallowtree Gate. A busy day in the 1950s.

That is exactly how I remember shopping trips to town on a Saturday. I was only waist high to most other shoppers and my mam used to cling on to my hand so tightly to prevent me getting lost or trampled under foot!

The pavements were packed because of no pedestrian areas in those days of course and lots of though traffic.

 

Thanks for posting.

Edited 16 June 2021 by Free Falling Foxes

[Paninistickers]

Leicester Contemporary 

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/inside-new-leicester-contemporary-art-5536981

 

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/gallery/demolition-plan-2-pictures-show-5548657?fbclid=IwAR2sGN31jxsh89qnyJUozstVxVM0wD52JFjyyGAp5TcYHvAE_TkCtkH0ss4

 

Pictures show wrecking crews removing landmark buildings in Leicestershire

 

 

Amongst them is this....

 

This view of Humberstone Gate, Leicester, will be filled with nostalgia for many of my readers who recall the scene before the buildings were demolished to make way for the present day Haymarket Centre. A sign over one of the windows of the Stag and Pheasant Hotel indicates that it has already been sold. The building to the far side of it is The Tower public house and behind the bus queue is one of the stores of W A Lea and Sons

[davieG]