City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

Map of Leicester 1828

Notice all the places now swallowed up from the County like Knighton Lourdes

 

 

 

Aylestone in the County of Leicester

 

 

 

[davieG]

1930s

Dare you leave your bike unlocked now.

[Wolfox]

20 minutes ago, davieG said:

 

Humberstone Gate 1969...On the right Lewis`s Department Store and some memories as told by Joy Jordan........Mum would often take me into Leicester for her standard shopping trip, a visit to Lewis's, through the back doors straight into Marks and Spencer, then on to Boots...Lewis's was my favourite because there was so much to see, they seemed to sell absolutely everything.As far as I can remember, the basement had household goods, gardening, pots and pans and lovely china displays.The ground floor had cosmetics, hats, gloves, stationery and of course, the delicious food hall.Above that, was clothing, then another floor of furniture and carpets and finally the top floor restaurant.Christmas was very special at Lewis's. We gazed for ages at the delightful window displays, followed by a trip to the fantastic toy department and then into Santa's grotto. You knew Christmas was just around the corner when you'd seen Santa at Lewis's!
As a 15-year-old schoolgirl in the mid-1960s, I decided I needed some extra money to buy clothes, make-up and records. It was Lewis's that provided my first part-time work in the school holidays and later, a regular Saturday job. Hours were 8.30am until 6pm, and my first weekly wage was £4. Then, later on, as a Saturday girl, I was paid £1......Happy Days. 

 

Older pic.

 

That’s a recent demolition too…. Unforgivable…. Was an amazing slice of Art Deco history 

[davieG]

2 minutes ago, Wolfox said:

That’s a recent demolition too…. Unforgivable…. Was an amazing slice of Art Deco history 

The Tower was planned to go as well it was only public pressure that at least saved that.

[lcfc278]

7 minutes ago, davieG said:

The Tower was planned to go as well it was only public pressure that at least saved that.

Does anyone know what the tower was originally for? Could you go up in there to view Leicester?

[Guest WarehamFox]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

Map of Leicester 1928

Notice all the places now swallowed up from the County like Knighton Lourdes

 

 

 

Aylestone in the County of Leicester

 

 

 

Does that map of Leicester not say 1828? No Clock Tower (still the Haymarket obstruction) and no London Road Station to mention a few.

[MPH]

Does anyone know if there are any pillboxes left over from World War II? I saw a video last night of a guy who ‘camped’ in one and was intrigued to know if we have any in Leicestershire. 

[davieG]

2 hours ago, WarehamFox said:

Does that map of Leicester not say 1828? No Clock Tower (still the Haymarket obstruction) and no London Road Station to mention a few.

Yeah sorry typo.

[davieG]

They didn't mess about back then, closed the whole centre and I think they did it all in 9 days

 

Now

[Buce]

2 hours ago, MPH said:

Does anyone know if there are any pillboxes left over from World War II? I saw a video last night of a guy who ‘camped’ in one and was intrigued to know if we have any in Leicestershire. 

 

A few:

 

https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/pillboxstudygroup/surviving-leicestershire-pillboxes-t1362.html

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/world-war-ii-defences-you-2721739

 

 

[davieG]

7 hours ago, lcfc278 said:

Does anyone know what the tower was originally for? Could you go up in there to view Leicester?

 

Not sure but I know architects in the past put a lot of emphasis on making buildings attractive and add parts that served no real function, someone suggested it they could have been trying to represent the big ocean liners which were very popular at the time in the Art Deco era. 

What I do know is that Santa used to abseil down it when they opened their Christmas Grotto.

 

[Parafox]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

 

Not sure but I know architects in the past put a lot of emphasis on making buildings attractive and add parts that served no real function, someone suggested it they could have been trying to represent the big ocean liners which were very popular at the time in the Art Deco era. 

What I do know is that Santa used to abseil down it when they opened their Christmas Grotto.

 

He must've parked his sleigh and reindeer on the roof. And as far as I know, Lewis's never had a chimney.

[davieG]

14 minutes ago, Parafox said:

He must've parked his sleigh and reindeer on the roof. And as far as I know, Lewis's never had a chimney.

That's why he abseiled down the outside silly. FFS.

[Parafox]

6 minutes ago, davieG said:

That's why he abseiled down the outside silly. FFS.

Obvious when you think about it. 

[davieG]

Nearly finished building it. 1935.

 

[davieG]

 

All those local Cinemas, only the Little Theatre left out of that lot

[Parafox]

On 18/11/2021 at 09:48, davieG said:

Nearly finished building it. 1935.

 

I never realised that was built in the era of those vehicles. Fantastic photo.

[davieG]

41 minutes ago, Parafox said:

I never realised that was built in the era of those vehicles. Fantastic photo.

30s I believe.

[davieG]

[davieG]

 

The rickety but beautiful wooden escalator - Lewis's

[Wolfox]

26 minutes ago, davieG said:

 

The rickety but beautiful wooden escalator - Lewis's

Jeez…. That takes me back…. Just near the walkover to the Haymarket I think?

[jgtuk]

1 hour ago, davieG said:

 

The rickety but beautiful wooden escalator - Lewis's

Do you know when that was removed?

[davieG]

30 minutes ago, jgtuk said:

Do you know when that was removed?

As far as I can remember it was still there until it closed which I believe was around 1991 so didn't last that long considering it was so well built in 1936ish

 

Lewis’s department store is wiped off the city centre landscape in 1995. Just the tower remains today.

 

Even the removal of the tower was part of the original redevelopment until people protested.

[davieG]

 

Looking down Granby Street towards the Essoldo Cinema. The Essoldo was a former Temperance Hall which opened in 1853. The building became a permanent Cinema in 1913 under different names over the years. The building was demolished in 1961. (Photographs by Tom Bassett)

 

Replaced by this

 

 

[DennisNedry]

Such a shame that the posted images seem to stop showing after a while. Any techies know why? Could happily sit for a few hours looking back through this thread.