City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[Stadt]

Hard not to feel a sense of loss with what replaced the grandeur.

[davieG]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Corner of High St and Highcross St 1903...The building behind was William Hallam`s Family Frypan..This building was demolished along with a few others to make room for the double row of tramlines along High St....Nowadays on the right is Jubilee Square....

Another angle

Before the coming of the electric trams the High St was very narrow...Pic taken from the junction of Highcross St and High St looking towards the Clock Tower.

...William Hallam`s hardware shop is on the right corner and on the left is The Highcross Coffee House.....

 

[davieG]

 

Looking along High St towards The Clock Tower..Quite easy to get your bearings with Arthur Wakerley`s Coronation Building on the right.....

[davieG]

The Stag & Pheasant demolished 1962.

[davieG]

Random pictures form the Merc

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/24-nostalgic-images-plucked-random-5926092?fbclid=IwAR0Q3ZNN-zuEQ767UV_N26vNRIF3VsNueQsgcue-SyRNwPOWxecWJRqJ2n0

[davieG]

 

Another piece of old Leicester.Looking down Humberstone Gate away from the Clock Tower...Far left is the original Stag and Pheasant and a few doors away the old Admiral Nelson.The Plough is next door and nearby The Craven Arms before you get to The Bell Hotel...The old hoss trams ply their trade along here and you might notice its single track so the tram on the right as taken to the passing track so the 2 dont collide... It isnt dated but obviously before 1904 and probably much earlier.

[davieG]

!

 

From the top of Lloyd's Bank looking up High Street back in the day.

 

Health & Safety gone mad!

[davieG]

 

Frog Island in the 50s.

[Parafox]

7 hours ago, davieG said:

!

 

From the top of Lloyd's Bank looking up High Street back in the day.

 

Health & Safety gone mad!

Noddy Holder applying the mastic.

[Stadt]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Frog Island in the 50s.

Remarkable how badly the council, architects and planners have butchered it.

[Free Falling Foxes]

9 hours ago, Parafox said:

Noddy Holder applying the mastic.

And Alan Whicker supervising.

[Kinowe Soorie]

12 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Frog Island in the 50s.

I can’t believe the eyesore it has become. Progress…

[davieG]

 

The LR I tea bar Knighton Street out patient's 1910

[davieG]

 

Freemans Common between when to was allotments and built on.

 

I used to walk down that path from Welford Rd to Aylestone Road to get to Filbert St when it was like this

 

 

History

Freemen`s Common...Here`s a piccy from not long ago before the industrial estate ravaged it....The Freemen had held grazing rights on the town fields(common land)which was all enclosed including the south field of about 600 acres. By the end of the 18th century only this field remained enclosed.The Borough Corporation wanted to enclose this area so they could obtain higher rents by dividing the land into separate farms. An agreement was reached between the Freemen and corporation where they gave up their grazing rights of the common land in return for 125 freehold acres of the south field...The Freemens portion became Freemens Common and the last 6 acres were sold off to Leicester Corporation in 1967...The dosh was put towards sheltered housing in Aylestone village near St Andrews church and where the old rectory once sat called The Holt.. They named it Freemen`s Holt and it`s there for retired freemen and their descendants...It`s lovely.

[Phil Bowman]

On 20/09/2021 at 07:51, Kinowe Soorie said:

I can’t believe the eyesore it has become. Progress…

They do say modern life is rubbish. Look at a photo of pretty much any street in the UK up to about 1960 (even into the seventies, often), compare with the same view now, and you’d have to say they’re probably right.

The inner ring road screwed up Leicester completely, I reckon, btw.

[Stadt]

5 hours ago, davieG said:

 

Freemans Common between when to was allotments and built on.

 

I used to walk down that path from Welford Rd to Aylestone Road to get to Filbert St when it was like this

 

 

History

Freemen`s Common...Here`s a piccy from not long ago before the industrial estate ravaged it....The Freemen had held grazing rights on the town fields(common land)which was all enclosed including the south field of about 600 acres. By the end of the 18th century only this field remained enclosed.The Borough Corporation wanted to enclose this area so they could obtain higher rents by dividing the land into separate farms. An agreement was reached between the Freemen and corporation where they gave up their grazing rights of the common land in return for 125 freehold acres of the south field...The Freemens portion became Freemens Common and the last 6 acres were sold off to Leicester Corporation in 1967...The dosh was put towards sheltered housing in Aylestone village near St Andrews church and where the old rectory once sat called The Holt.. They named it Freemen`s Holt and it`s there for retired freemen and their descendants...It`s lovely.

I'd say I've got quite a lucid imagination but I really struggle to comprehend built up city centre land as anything but what it is now.

[Footballwipe]

Think I've posted this before, but this video shot throughout 1996-1997 shows a bit of Freemans Common history. 

 

Timestamped it to the FC section, but lots of interesting footage from around the city and near Filbert Street as the place was transformed.

 

 

[lcfc278]

16 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

Think I've posted this before, but this video shot throughout 1996-1997 shows a bit of Freemans Common history. 

 

Timestamped it to the FC section, but lots of interesting footage from around the city and near Filbert Street as the place was transformed.

 

 

Makes you feel nostalgic seeing Filbert Street in the distance!

 

I never knew this area used to be a Cattle Market but interesting to see the Counting House existed before everything else, has it always been a pub?

[davieG]

Filbert Street under snow 1970s photo taken from the Nurses Flats.

[davieG]

Belgrave Gate 1960s

That imposing Victorian building was Stead & Simpsons factory. It had been there since about 1860 and was said to have been a school before being converted into a factory...Now Mary Linwood ran a school on Belgrave Gate from her home that was called The Priory and she ran it up to about 1860..I wonder. Further down is the fleapit which was The Floral Hall and next door The Palace Theatre...Lovely building that wudda made a great indoor market but the site was bought by Sketchleys and we ended up with a Lego building...

 

The circular structure on the skyline had The Palace displayed on it. It was lit with neon lighting and rotated. I

 

From this....

 

 

 

                                                                                                                     ..to this

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, lcfc278 said:

Makes you feel nostalgic seeing Filbert Street in the distance!

 

I never knew this area used to be a Cattle Market but interesting to see the Counting House existed before everything else, has it always been a pub?

 pubhistoryproject.co.uk/2019/04/29/cattle-market-bar-counting-house-almond-road/ 

 

It's unclear but it seems to have been a place of refreshment for the traders at the cattle market. I believe it may also have been where money was counted for the sale and purchase of livestock.

[davieG]

 

We used to go there to watch the cows being slaughtered, Yeah I know not very nice. But to a kid it was fascinating to see how they did it.

[davieG]

 

A view of the Picture House cinema from Granby Street, circa 1970s.

The Picture House opened in December 1910, running until June 1973. It was a splendid example of 1920s luxury cinema, even with the original secondary 'gas' lighting still in use.

Most of the building is now gone but the back facade was retained and is visible from Every Street in Town Hall Square.

[Buce]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

 

We used to go there to watch the cows being slaughtered, Yeah I know not very nice. But to a kid it was fascinating to see how they did it.

 

"Where we going for me birthday, dad?

 

"Down't slaughterhouse to watch 'em kill the cows..."

[davieG]

1 hour ago, Buce said:

 

"Where we going for me birthday, dad?

 

"Down't slaughterhouse to watch 'em kill the cows..."

No dad where I lived this was me and some mates, Footy on Viccy Park, bit of train spotting down New Walk or the Cemetery and occasional visits to the slaughterhouse. We had to fill the day up somehow.