City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

John Ghent Leicester Estate Agent ·

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At first glance, this could be any street in Leicester — the tight crop makes it almost unrecognisable. But look a little closer: the sloping angle and the buildings at the top give it away. This is Church Gate, captured in March 1962.

[davieG]

Another first for Leicester back when we were seen as an forward thinking city.

 

History of Leicestershire in Images

Mervin Wallace 

ON THE 8th NOVEMBER 1967

BBC Radio Leicester (the first of the new breed of BBC Local Radio stations) began broadcasting at 12.45 p.m. from a transmitter located on Gorse Hill above the city centre. Radio Leicester opened with speeches from the Postmaster General and the Lord Mayor of Leicester. Following a preview of forthcoming programmes, came Insight: The Fire Service, For Children, The Leicester Scene, At Your Request, Termtime – about education in the area - and then, before the news and weather, highlights of the Lord Mayor's Lunch. The significance of the launch was underlined by the fact that the listings were featured in the national press. 

[davieG]

Hidden Leicester  · 

Graham Hulme 

An old postcard of Humberstone Gate looking from the junction with Charles Street, c. 1950s. W. A. Lea's department store is seen on the right with the clock on the corner. William Adams Lea (1851-1933) was born in Orton-on-the-Hill where his father, John Lea, was a farmer. William established his draper’s shop in a dwelling house at 26b Humberstone Gate in 1876 and in the early days of the business William and his wife and family lived in Humberstone Gate. Later, with success and prosperity, he moved out to live in a house named Lea Hurst in Stoneygate Road. He had several children and his son Walter Lea was also involved in the business. Another son, Stanley, was killed in the First World War. The store was greatly expanded over the years, most notably in 1934 when an extension was built next to the late Victorian store at the corner of Humberstone Gate and along Charles Street, the clock being added to the corner extension at that time. In addition, the business had another drapery shop further towards Gallowtree Gate, at no. 8 Humberstone Gate, next to the Stag and Pheasant Hotel. William Adams Lea had died in January 1933 and his sons Walter and Geoffrey Lea were then running the business. In 1957 the business was taken over by the Debenhams Group, though the name and the family’s management were retained. The store was closed at the end of March 1970 and demolished shortly after. A new C&A store was constructed on the site which opened in November 1972 (now a Primark store).

On the left of Humberstone Gate is seen the bulky edifice of Lewis’s department store. Lewis’s opened their new store here on Saturday 21st March 1936 when thousands of people gathered in Humberstone Gate to witness the event. The Lord Mayor of Leicester, Richard Hallam, declared the building open and the opening ceremony was broadcast to Lewis’s other stores across the country. Outside, a fanfare of trumpets sounded from the roof on the opening and flags unfurled from flagstaffs. Around 20,000 people were said to have poured into the new building in the first hour after the opening. The store, Lewis’s seventh, cost about a quarter of a million pounds to build and was designed by Gerald de Courcy Fraser of Liverpool, who was architect to the company. The chairman of the company, Harold Cohen, and the full Board of Directors attended the opening, including Sir Frederick Marquis, joint managing director together with Cohen. Sir Frederick Marquis was to become chairman of Lewis’s a few months later on Cohen’s death (Sir Frederick was subsequently made Earl of Woolton and in political life he was Minister of Food from 1940 in the wartime government - in this capacity he was responsible for food rationing and the famous “Woolton Pie” was named after him). A large extension was added to Lewis’s store towards Charles Street and the Manchester Working Men’s Club in the mid 1960s. The store closed down in January 1994 and was demolished, except for the distinctive 160 feet high tower, during the summer of that year.

[davieG]

I'm not very familiar with this area but I'm sure some of you are.

 

Story of Leicester

What an amazing photo we have to share with you today - Braunstone Village, unknown date.

This photo was taken just up from where Balmoral Drive meets Braunstone Lane - the house in the photo is still there today but looks different with the brickwork and wooden beams exposed rather then plastered and whitewashed as in this image.

The history of Braunstone stretches back over 1000 years. The settlement of is most likely Saxon in origin, established around the late 8th or early 9th century AD, as a ‘daughter’ settlement of Glenfield. It is first mentioned in the Domesday Survey, where it was referred to as 'Brantestone' meaning 'the place where Brant settled'.

#StoryofLeicester

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

I'm not very familiar with this area but I'm sure some of you are.

 

Story of Leicester

What an amazing photo we have to share with you today - Braunstone Village, unknown date.

This photo was taken just up from where Balmoral Drive meets Braunstone Lane - the house in the photo is still there today but looks different with the brickwork and wooden beams exposed rather then plastered and whitewashed as in this image.

The history of Braunstone stretches back over 1000 years. The settlement of is most likely Saxon in origin, established around the late 8th or early 9th century AD, as a ‘daughter’ settlement of Glenfield. It is first mentioned in the Domesday Survey, where it was referred to as 'Brantestone' meaning 'the place where Brant settled'.

#StoryofLeicester

Interesting. Lots of old buildings round there.

 

This is it's location on Google Maps...

 

https://maps.app.goo.gl/GxjQDoYTBP6kb71F7

 

Go onto street view and you can see how it looks now.

 

 

Edited 17 November 2025 by Trav Le Bleu

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Market Area 1916.

[Free Falling Foxes]

I wonder if they will use Leicester locations and, perhaps, local actors in this new Adrian Mole adaptation?

Edited 18 November 2025 by Free Falling Foxes

[davieG]

History of Leicestershire in Images

Mervin Wallace ·

ON THE 19th and 20th NOVEMBER 1940

The Germans bombed Leicester in the ‘Leicester Blitz’, with 108 being killed, rising to 120 over the 8 raids on the city. The first bomb hit Cavendish Road on the evening of the 19th. Many places like Victoria Park, Granby Street, Spinney Hill and Highfields where bombs struck the intersection of Sparkenhoe, Saxby, and Stoughton Streets, were bombed heavily too. The attacks destroyed businesses, like the Freeman, Hardy and Willis building on Rutland Street, and collapsed guesthouses. 

 

 

 

 

 

[davieG]

18 hours ago, Free Falling Foxes said:

I wonder if they will use Leicester locations and, perhaps, local actors in this new Adrian Mole adaptation?

Probably use a Brummie, near enough.

[davieG]

The Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester & Rutland

 

Today marks 85 years since the Leicester Blitz on the night of 19th November 1940.

Having already suffered attacks from the German Luftwaffe, Leicester was soon to undergo its longest and most concentrated raid. Although Birmingham had been the principal target that night, Leicester suffered badly and was the second most affected area.

From just before 8pm to 2.00am the next morning, around 100 Luftwaffe aircrafts flew over Leicester. As the bombs began to fall over the city, fires broke out in the factories of Faire Brothers Limited, Grieve and Company, and the Freeman, Hardy and Willis warehouse. The flames from the fire could be seen for miles around. Residential properties were also caught in the blasts with many being reduced to rubble. The worst incident of the raid happened when bombs fell near the Highfield Street and Tichborne Street corner with 41 killed and many others injured. Amongst the worst hit areas that night was Highfields, and Stoneygate.

As the people of Leicester emerged from their shelters that morning, they saw the damage that had been done. Rubble lay where houses and factories had been the night before, and many people were now homeless. The final casualty list for that night was 108 people killed and 203 injured.

The photograph below was taken on 20th November 1940 and shows the damage caused around the Highfields area (ref: GP200 Image Leicestershire)

 

[davieG]

 

'Uninspiring' flats on Brucciani's site approved despite concerns about what could be underneath
More than 100 flats could be built - unless they find something on the land

News
Tess Rushin Local Democracy Reporter
11:31, 21 Nov 2025

Student flats will be built on the former Brucciani's bakery site in Leicester after plans were approved. Applicant Mr Mandeep Dhadwar is behind the plans for the development in St Nicholas Circle.

The former bakery and neighbouring buildings will be flattened to make way for the project. The planned building will be four to seven storeys high.

125 student bedrooms are planned through a combination of 102 studios, a three-bed shared flat and five four-bed shared flats. The proposals include 5 car parking spaces, including one disability space.

Officers at the city council recommended the development for approval at the planning committee meeting held on Wednesday, November 19, subject to 21 conditions. These included a requirement that no development is undertaken until an archaeological investigation has taken place.

 

Speaking against the plans at the meeting, Councillor Patrick Kitterick said: "I think the thing that strikes me is just the sheer lack of architectural ambition here [...] And if you think that this is really the jewel box of Leicester's heritage, we have Jewry Wall, we have the beautifully redressed Pex building, Mary de Castro Church, Saint Nicholas Church, Castle Gardens, West Bridge, and then we have this.

 

 

"And it is, it is just so uninspiring [...] If we find ourselves driving or walking or cycling past this in five or 10 years' time, that we sat on the committee and we said this was good enough for this particular location [...] I regret the loss of the Brucciani bakery. It's part of the history of the area, it tells about the development across time".

Concerns were previously raised by Historic England over potential harm that could be caused to Leicester's historic fabric. The advisory body said there is a "high chance" that the site boasts a "rich and complex" selection of prehistoric, medieval, and Roman-era remains beneath the buildings currently occupying it.

There could be remains of "equivalent importance" to a scheduled monument – an archaeological site deemed nationally important – surviving under the surface, Historic England believes. This is of particular importance as the land is next to Leicester's Jewry Wall, a Roman bathhouse.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/uninspiring-flats-bruccianis-site-approved-10659003

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

An uninspiring development? In Leicester? I'm not having it 

[Foxdiamond]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

 

'Uninspiring' flats on Brucciani's site approved despite concerns about what could be underneath
More than 100 flats could be built - unless they find something on the land

News
Tess Rushin Local Democracy Reporter
11:31, 21 Nov 2025

Student flats will be built on the former Brucciani's bakery site in Leicester after plans were approved. Applicant Mr Mandeep Dhadwar is behind the plans for the development in St Nicholas Circle.

The former bakery and neighbouring buildings will be flattened to make way for the project. The planned building will be four to seven storeys high.

125 student bedrooms are planned through a combination of 102 studios, a three-bed shared flat and five four-bed shared flats. The proposals include 5 car parking spaces, including one disability space.

Officers at the city council recommended the development for approval at the planning committee meeting held on Wednesday, November 19, subject to 21 conditions. These included a requirement that no development is undertaken until an archaeological investigation has taken place.

 

Speaking against the plans at the meeting, Councillor Patrick Kitterick said: "I think the thing that strikes me is just the sheer lack of architectural ambition here [...] And if you think that this is really the jewel box of Leicester's heritage, we have Jewry Wall, we have the beautifully redressed Pex building, Mary de Castro Church, Saint Nicholas Church, Castle Gardens, West Bridge, and then we have this.

 

 

"And it is, it is just so uninspiring [...] If we find ourselves driving or walking or cycling past this in five or 10 years' time, that we sat on the committee and we said this was good enough for this particular location [...] I regret the loss of the Brucciani bakery. It's part of the history of the area, it tells about the development across time".

Concerns were previously raised by Historic England over potential harm that could be caused to Leicester's historic fabric. The advisory body said there is a "high chance" that the site boasts a "rich and complex" selection of prehistoric, medieval, and Roman-era remains beneath the buildings currently occupying it.

There could be remains of "equivalent importance" to a scheduled monument – an archaeological site deemed nationally important – surviving under the surface, Historic England believes. This is of particular importance as the land is next to Leicester's Jewry Wall, a Roman bathhouse.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/uninspiring-flats-bruccianis-site-approved-10659003

Reminds of the song Little Boxes

[davieG]

 

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble

Leicester Market 1950s.

[Trav Le Bleu]

3 hours ago, davieG said:

 

'Uninspiring' flats on Brucciani's site approved despite concerns about what could be underneath
More than 100 flats could be built - unless they find something on the land

News
Tess Rushin Local Democracy Reporter
11:31, 21 Nov 2025

Student flats will be built on the former Brucciani's bakery site in Leicester after plans were approved. Applicant Mr Mandeep Dhadwar is behind the plans for the development in St Nicholas Circle.

The former bakery and neighbouring buildings will be flattened to make way for the project. The planned building will be four to seven storeys high.

125 student bedrooms are planned through a combination of 102 studios, a three-bed shared flat and five four-bed shared flats. The proposals include 5 car parking spaces, including one disability space.

Officers at the city council recommended the development for approval at the planning committee meeting held on Wednesday, November 19, subject to 21 conditions. These included a requirement that no development is undertaken until an archaeological investigation has taken place.

 

Speaking against the plans at the meeting, Councillor Patrick Kitterick said: "I think the thing that strikes me is just the sheer lack of architectural ambition here [...] And if you think that this is really the jewel box of Leicester's heritage, we have Jewry Wall, we have the beautifully redressed Pex building, Mary de Castro Church, Saint Nicholas Church, Castle Gardens, West Bridge, and then we have this.

 

 

"And it is, it is just so uninspiring [...] If we find ourselves driving or walking or cycling past this in five or 10 years' time, that we sat on the committee and we said this was good enough for this particular location [...] I regret the loss of the Brucciani bakery. It's part of the history of the area, it tells about the development across time".

Concerns were previously raised by Historic England over potential harm that could be caused to Leicester's historic fabric. The advisory body said there is a "high chance" that the site boasts a "rich and complex" selection of prehistoric, medieval, and Roman-era remains beneath the buildings currently occupying it.

There could be remains of "equivalent importance" to a scheduled monument – an archaeological site deemed nationally important – surviving under the surface, Historic England believes. This is of particular importance as the land is next to Leicester's Jewry Wall, a Roman bathhouse.

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/uninspiring-flats-bruccianis-site-approved-10659003

Cram as many people as you can into a smallest place as possible.

[davieG]

20 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Cram as many people as you can into a smallest place as possible.

when they find there aren't enough students to fill it as both Unis are cutting back on their courses they'll find a way to let them to the general public even though they don't meet the building standards. I'm sure they'll be happy with that.

[davieG]

 

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble ·

Old Map of Leicester City. 1950s.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Section of the M1 Leicestershire 1960s.

[davieG]

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/19wfPr3nUc/

 

Joanne Vigor-Mungovin - Author Leicester

Messing around with my AI app - I miss Lewis's...

I just want to clarify that this is purely for entertainment purposes, and that I am not a professional in any way. In addition, I would like to mention that the app can occasionally exhibit peculiar behaviours.

[Tommy G]

23 hours ago, davieG said:

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Section of the M1 Leicestershire 1960s.

Middle lane w*nkers even in the 60's 

[Stadt]

I picked up a copy of Pevsner's Leicestershire & Rutland Architectural Guide and he's borderline scathing sometimes. Although he've very complementary of the church monuments in the county. I had no idea about most, the Col.. Cheney sculpture in Gaddesby church is interesting - apparently the only equine statue in a church in the whole country 

[Foxdiamond]

On 23/11/2025 at 14:09, davieG said:

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Section of the M1 Leicestershire 1960s.

Thankfully armco is now a thing

[danny.]

On 23/11/2025 at 14:09, davieG said:

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble 

Section of the M1 Leicestershire 1960s.

Unrecognisable in 2025 with people using the inside lane 

[davieG]

Hidden Leicester  · 

Graham Hulme ·

 

An old postcard view of the Clock Tower area (card posted in 1967). On the left, at the corner of Gallowtree Gate, is Salisbury's which sold ladies leather handbags and accessories. Along Eastgates can be seen British Home Stores which moved into those buildings in 1932 (previously the premises belonged to Thomas Crowe & Co. who were drapers and furnishers). In 1973 BHS moved to the recently built Haymarket shopping centre but 12 years later moved again, taking over the former Woolworths store in Gallowtree Gate and opened there in October 1985. Burton's the tailors premises is seen at the corner of Church Gate. The building was originally the Eastgates Coffee House and was constructed in 1885 to the designs of the Leicester architect Edward Burgess. It was built for the Leicester Coffee and Cocoa House Company which was formed in 1877 and was supported by the temperance movement. Several of their coffee houses were established around the city centre but the company went out of business in 1922 and Burton’s moved into the Eastgates building later that year. In the building behind the Clock Tower is Timothy White's which was a chemist's and household goods shop, later merged with Boots the chemist. Jays soft furnishings store is seen to the right.

[davieG]

Made In Leicester

Rob Hubble

Vestry Street Swimming Baths.

 

In the late 60s when I was with my brother living in digs (a form of Bed, Breakfast and evening meal) with no bath in fact we used to have to wash in kitchen and every Saturday morning we'd go here to use the slipper baths which felt like a massive luxury then, a big bath and loads of hot water.