The History All Around The King Power

[kushiro]

This one's for those who like to appreciate the amazing history of the area around the King Power as they make their way to the ground on matchday.

 

August 6th.  Across the years, so many key developments have happened on this date.

 

Here's six of them. 

 

 

1) August 6th 1792

 

That beautiful stretch of water you see today as you approach the stadium owes its existence to a sequence of events that began on this day 231 years ago. As canal mania took off across the country, at the Swan Inn, Market Harborough, a meeting of subscribers to the intended 'Navigation' canal from Leicester to Market Harborough took place, setting in train the sequence of events that led to Leicestershire's first manmade waterway. 

 

 

2) August 6th 1859

 

As fears grew about an invasion from France by Napoleon III,  groups of rifle volunteers were set up across the country. On this day, the Leicester Chronicle reported that Leicester Corporation had unanimously approved a request from the Leicester Volunteer Rifle Corps to use land off Cow Lane as a rifle range. ,

 

Cow Lane is what later became Walnut Street. And the area in question was on the exact site where Leicester Fosse established a football ground  thirty years later. The first ever 'derby match' on the site of Filbert Street was Leicester Rifle Volunteers v Robin Hood Rifles from Nottingham in 1868. Leicester were the victors.

 

When the Corporation approved the site for this use, they insisted that ‘a rifle butt of sufficient height and strength to stop stray balls’ be installed.  Sadly, when football took over the site, this provision was ignored, and the upstairs windows of houses in Filbert Street were in danger every other Saturday from a procession of less than sureshot Leicester strikers, Ade Akinbiyi being the last example before we moved to the King Power. 

 

 

3)  August 6th 1890.   Leicester Corporation approves the plans of the Great Central Railway company to build a new line straight through Leicester's historic centre - demolishing much of the Newarke and Castle area. The line would have run parallel to the canal and very close to Filbert Street on its way south to London. After a public outcry the line was moved further west. The line closed in the 1960s and Leicester Central Station is no more.

 

 

4)  August 6th  1947   Parliament passes the Transport Act, taking the haulage industry into public ownership. One man impacted hugely by this was Len Shipman, director of Leicester City.  A year later, Shipman became club chairmen. The link between these two events is unclear - but would be fascinating to uncover.

 

 

 

5)  August 6th  1957     Next, a brief diversion to what became Leicestershire's second best football ground. The Mercury reports on Enderby Town's ambitious plans for the future, and the opening of their new stadium, 'a mini-Wembley', at George Street. 

 

 

 

6)   August 6th 1970    The start of the biggest international sporting event ever to take place in Leicester - the World Cycling Championships at the new Saffron Lane Stadium.  Newly elected Prime Minister Edward Heath opens the event in pouring rain. Most of the opening day’s races were abandoned. A canopy over the stadium had been deemed too expensive.

 

 

Here's hoping we make some more history today.

Edited 6 August 2023 by kushiro

[kushiro]

Yes - Enderby's ground really was reported as a 'mini-Wembley'. Here's that article from August 6th 1957:

 

 

[Quorndon_Fox]

Love this 😍

[kushiro]

The original post was hurriedly put together this morning so I could finish it before the match.  That's my excuse for the ridiculous statement that the Navigation canal was 'Leicestershire's first manmade waterway'.

 

Oh dear. I'm having a 'mare. Totally writing off the Roman Invasion and the Raw Dykes!

 

A spell in the sin bin for me.  No more threads about history, Enzo Maresca or Italian connectons for a while.

 

 

[Plastik Man]

On 06/08/2023 at 20:28, kushiro said:

The original post was hurriedly put together this morning so I could finish it before the match.  That's my excuse for the ridiculous statement that the Navigation canal was 'Leicestershire's first manmade waterway'.

 

Oh dear. I'm having a 'mare. Totally writing off the Roman Invasion and the Raw Dykes!

 

A spell in the sin bin for me.  No more threads about history, Enzo Maresca or Italian connectons for a while.

 

 

One of the things I was hoping with the expansion of the stadium and the land alongside is better access to the  Raw Dykes, though I guess there's not much to see other than a big ditch!