City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

https://maproom.net/demo/listed-buildings/0.html?fbclid=IwY2xjawLvSNpleHRuA2FlbQIxMAABHqOYOgkwkitvabogNvmxCL4HlErbuq5gav7GtOqt0-bPFTNcLRK7nx5aEFg__aem_kSlX1zVsPLDRmrHabtxxKQ

Historic England — Listed Buildings Map

Contains 379,000 sites. The deeper you zoom, the more you see.
Tap site points for info. Large dataset map created by Maproom

 

[davieG]

Leicester Memories

Stephen Butt ·

Charles Street in 1931. Could anyone suggest exactly where in Charles Street? Is this the junction with Humberstone Gate, looking towards the Haymarket Centre, with Belgrave Road in the distance?

 

 

Charlotte Victoria Hubbard

 

Northampton Square is on the Right. Where the policeman is is Rutland Street. The building on the left is now The Ale Wagon.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Aylestone Road / Walnut Street 1960s.

Photo from Memories of Leicester.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble ·

 

Beatrice Road 1930s

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

 

East Park Road 1955.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Walnut Street 1950s.

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester ·

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History of Newfoundpool

The Romans finished constructing a military transport road that ran from Exeter to Lincoln in 47AD. Nearly 2000 years later, the Great Fosse Way still exists, cutting right through the western part of Leicester.

Today it is still one of the city's most important roads and a commercial hub for the adjoining residential area.

Newfoundpool, for instance, has an interesting history. Lying south of the old Leicester-Swannington railway, the land was bought by Isaac Harrison in 1830. Harrison wanted to develop the area as a spa, using a spring as the source of water for a bath house. Later the building was converted into a home, Newfoundpool House, in which members of the Harrison family lived until 1885. That house then became the Empire Hotel on Fosse Road North.

In 1885, Leicester builder, Orson Wright, bought the land. He laid out roads across the area in a grid system and sold off the land as building plots. Most of the houses were brick built two-storey terraces, with the corner plots built as shops.

Along Fosse Road North, a number of three- and four-storey red-brick villas were constructed along with the parish church of St. Augustine, between 1900 to 1912. The church itself has been abandoned since 2000 and was severely damaged by an arson attack in March 2004.

Many will also recall the Art Deco style Fosse Cinema, opened 1936 which later became a bingo hall. This was demolished in 1998 to make way for the Tesco Express shop and filling station.

Newfoundpool's connection with the Harrison family is commemorated by the acrostic, 'IHARRISON' This is formed by the initial letters of the street names between Pool Road and Beatrice Road. His wife's name was given to Beatrice Road with each of the other roads taking their first letter from his name - I for Isaac Harrison.

So we get Ingle, Hawthorne, Alma, Rowan, Ruby, Ivanhoe, Sylvan, Oban and Newport Street.

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester ·

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RAG DAY 1957

Floats going through Leicester town centre by Leicester Station on London Road.

http://specialcollections.le.ac.uk

 

 

Shame these disappeared I was on one in the 60s and their Rag Mag was a good seller and very anti-establishment.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

City Arms Saffron Lane 1985.

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester ·

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High Street - 1969

[davieG]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cglnk8dje9po

 

 

A landscape in Leicestershire could be set for the world stage as a bid is made to secure a prestigious international designation.

An application to get Unesco Global Geopark status for Charnwood Forest is being led by The National Forest.

The area in the north of the county is home to attractions including Bradgate Park and Beacon Hill, and is famous for its landscapes and ancient fossil finds.

Organisers behind the bid said an application would be submitted to Unesco later this year with international evaluators visiting the site in 2026.

If the application is successful, the designation would be awarded in the spring of 2027.

 

A 560 million-year-old fossil representing the earliest known animal predator was uncovered at the site in 2007

[davieG]

Another facility that was good enough to hold the World Championships and host the Leicester Panthers American Football not replaced.

[Parafox]

10 minutes ago, davieG said:

Another facility that was good enough to hold the World Championships and host the Leicester Panthers American Football not replaced.

 

My dad took me to the world track cycling championships, must have been about 1970 when I would have been 14.

 

I remember the sense of pride that Leicester had been chosen and seeing all the different nations flags on the lampposts on Saffron Lane.

 

The last event I went to there was a car boot sale in the car park. The venue had been closed by then and the state of the place was quite saddening.

 

On the plus side my BiL sold a petrol strimmer for a fiver after being short of the truth when the buyer asked if it was working. 

[davieG]

Another Bygone

 

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble

 

High Street 1964. Lord Mayors Show ?...

[Paninistickers]

18 hours ago, davieG said:

Another facility that was good enough to hold the World Championships and host the Leicester Panthers American Football not replaced.

Councils used to make capital investments in stuff that, frankly, didn't make much financial sense but did add another dimension to the community. Lidos were another thing Libraries and municipal golf hanging on by a whisker. 

 

Today councils seem to get arts council grants for street festivals or venues but sports and leisure wise, the Lottery ploughs money into members clubs as opposed to municipal

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Paninistickers said:

Councils used to make capital investments in stuff that, frankly, didn't make much financial sense but did add another dimension to the community. Lidos were another thing Libraries and municipal golf hanging on by a whisker. 

 

Today councils seem to get arts council grants for street festivals or venues but sports and leisure wise, the Lottery ploughs money into members clubs as opposed to municipal

Plus Leicester is at the bottom of every government department's budget.

[Grebfromgrebland]

3 hours ago, davieG said:

Plus Leicester is at the bottom of every government department's budget.

The problem is that there was a global financial crash because there were too many libraries and sure starts.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Peter Brownscombe 

Luftwaffe reconnaissance photo of Southwest Leicester taken in 1940

 

Comments

Peter Brownscombe

As seen on Google Maps.

Andy Bukiel

I can see my old house on here, Filbert st 

[davieG]

 

 

History of Leicestershire in Images

Mervin Wallace ·44m ·

HINCKLEY YARDS - FOX YARD (#36)

Fox Yard that ran between Trinity Lane and Lower Bond Street. Cobbles and no running water back then, only from a parish pump in the yard. Just visible is Atkins Factory top left and centre. Credit pictures from the John Rielly collection.

[davieG]

Leicester Civic Society

7m ·

The latest plans for the Corah redevelopment have now been submitted, virtually unchanged from before, and the public has just days to respond, with the consultation closing on Friday, 7 August. To be swiftly followed by a Leicester City Council planning committee meeting on the 20th of August, where councillors will decide the fate of this application, less than three weeks later.

Why the rush? It feels as though LCC is keen to fast-track approval and quietly sweep away these marvellously robust factory buildings, along with the legacy of Corah, once Britain’s greatest knitwear manufacturer and a workplace for generations of Leicester families.

This despite earlier submissions from…

Historic England

The Twentieth Century Society

SAVE Britain’s Heritage

The council’s own Conservation Advisory Panel

Leicester Civic Society

Private Eye Magazine

Each of these organisations raised serious concerns about the substantial harm this scheme will inflict on Leicester’s heritage. The developers have responded by ignoring all their suggestions and warnings.

They all said the same thing. Reuse the existing buildings, making them part of the plan; they are perfect for reuse as attractive and successful accommodation. Ignored. Because such a brilliant transformation would mean reduced profits for the developers, and maximising returns from this scheme appears to be their priority.

You can still comment, although bearing in mind the above, what would be the point? But be very quick, Friday the 7th is the deadline! You can view the submitted plans and documents for the application by using the following web link

https://planning.leicester.gov.uk/Planning/Display/20220709

And it is on this web page that you submit comments by using the button labelled "Comment on this application".

In summary, Leicester Civic Society’s view is that the current proposal for the Corah site is nothing short of a disaster for Leicester - a wasted opportunity of historic proportions. Far from being a meaningful regeneration scheme, it represents a reckless act of heritage erasure, short-term thinking, and environmental failure.

The site is arguably the most significant development opportunity Leicester, and indeed the wider Midlands, has seen this century. This 7.5-acre plot, right on the edge of the city centre, has the potential to become a flagship example of how new development can work in harmony with historic fabric. It could be a landmark for Leicester: a place where heritage-led regeneration creates a vibrant, characterful community.

We have consistently advocated for a Corah Village model - a thoughtful development that respects and incorporates the site’s historic architecture, particularly the remaining factory buildings, and reuses them to create high-quality, sustainable housing and public space. Instead, what is proposed is a dismal collection of anonymous blocks, designed with no regard for the site’s unique identity.

This isn’t regeneration, it’s obliteration. The current scheme shows no vision, no ambition, and no understanding of Leicester’s past or potential. We’ve seen this kind of thoughtless overdevelopment before, and we know what happens: rapid deterioration, social disengagement, and long-term damage to place and pride.

It is painful to witness such a golden opportunity squandered, driven by profit rather than community or legacy. Leicester deserves better.

https://planning.leicester.gov.uk/Planning/Display/20220709

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Nafisa Keval

 

Humberstone Gate around 1910

[davieG]

 

[davieG]

 

History of Leicestershire in Images

Mervin Wallace ·2h ·

 

COUNTESTHORPE STATION

The station was on the Midland Counties Railway main line to Rugby, and it opened at some point between 1840 and June 1842. In 1844 the Midland Counties joined the North Midland Railway and the Birmingham and Derby Junction Railway to form the Midland Railway. It closed on the 1st January 1962.

[davieG]

 

Joanne Vigor-Mungovin - Author Leicester

On 13 August 1915, the murderer George Joseph Smith was executed for drowning his wives in a zinc bath. The case became known as the Brides in the Bath Murders.

In 1898, George Joseph Smith moved to 23 Russell Square in Leicester, set up a baker's shop, and married local girl Caroline Beatrice Thornhill under the name George Oliver Love. It was his only legal marriage, and the following year he married another woman bigamously.

George and Caroline moved to London, where Caroline worked as a maid for a number of employers, stealing from them for her husband. Thornhill was eventually caught in Worthing, Sussex, and sentenced to twelve months. On her release, she incriminated her husband, and he was imprisoned in January 1901 for two years. On his release, Thornhill fled to Canada (she later returned to Leicester and married). Smith then returned to his other wife, cleared out her savings, and left.

In March 1915, George Joseph Smith was charged with the murders of three of his wives, Alice Burnham, Bessie Munday and Margaret Lofty.

Russell Square still exists in Leicester, but is now swallowed by the St. Mathews Estate.

[davieG]

Cool As Leicester
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Out and about in Leicester on Friday? You might be lucky enough to spot the Red Arrows on their transit route, which will be going directly over Leicester city centre just before 1pm. 
Lutterworth - Peatling Parva - Countesthorpe - South Wigston - Knighton Fields - Tigers ground - Leicester city centre - Abbey Park - Rothley  - Swithland - Coalville - Packington
They will be going from Bournemouth in a loop back to Bournemouth for a lunchtime flypast at the National Memorial Arboretum to mark VJ Day, before displays at Eastbourne International Airshow later in the day. 
Route and timings all subject to last minute changes. Correct as planned at time of posting. Also note this is their transit route and not part of the official display so aircraft may occasionally be slightly higher than usual.

 

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/1Aw2oEoGt9/  - video of route