What is Leicester to you?

[Parafox]

On 10/01/2024 at 16:39, Stadt said:

Unbelievable sporting heritage, history, cultural/musical output, hardy and understated people, the accent, cuisine(?) there's so much more. Some of these probably spill out into the county a but as the county town it's a quibble distinction.

 

Sporting heritage

Aside from counties with multiple teams nobody can hold a candle to Leicester(shire), hugely outsized success and I've never been able to ascertain why exactly.

Greatest sporting story ever in our title win

Leics CCC have overachieved relative to our size, most successful T20 side.

Most successful British rugby team

Most successful British basketball team

Selby's success

We're responsible for two England greats in Shilton, Lineker and a lesser extent, Banks

 

Industry

All sorts of manufacturing, I love old images from along the soar, so evocative. Easy to see why the city was purportedly the 2nd richest non-capital in Europe in the interwar years.

Hosiery 

Aggregates 

Steelworks

Mines

Shoe making

 

History

Rich Roman history 

Richard III discovery 

1st DNA conviction - fantastic scientific contribution 

1st local radio broadcast

Leics regiment - great storied history, shame about the amalgamation

Thomas Cook's holiday innovation

Henry Walter Bates first observed mimicry in animals 

Robert Bakewell's selective breeding - hugely influential discovery and utilisation.

John Wycliffe's translation of the bible into English - probably the single most significant thing to happen in Leicestershire.

Codex Leicester

 

Architecture 

Great variety, it's a shame what's happened post-war, without any extensive bombing 

Lutyens' city hall and war memorial 

Town hall/square

The Guildhall 

The Corah Suite

Recognisable local red brick

One of the eldest churches intact churches

Abbey Park is great

 

Accent

Neither northern or southern, love the bluntness and the pace (fastest speakers statistically)

Supposedly the birthplace of modern English 

Hard to mimic

 

Cultural 

Gimson's furniture and design 

Sue Townsend 

The Attenborough brothers grew up here

A Monty Python

 

 

Music full or part contributions

Another outsized contribution 

Kasabian 

Queen

Bassment Jaxx

Cornershop

Englebert

Mark Morrison

h2O

Sea Girls

Matt Darey

Mahalia

Easy Life

Fun Loving Criminals

 

...Cuisine?

The crips, Walkers, KP, Cofresh

Curries

Stilton

Red Leicester 

Foxs glacier mints

Everards

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is some fecking post. Well done @Stadt

[Parafox]

It's hard to know what the OP means. Is it what it means now or is it, as seems to be reflected in the majority of replies, memories of Leicester gone by?

 

In my memories:

 

Going to Skegness on the train for a day from station on Belgrave road.

Midland Red buses (not exclusive to Leicester).

Lewis's Christmas display.

Fenwick's escalators. Creaky and a little bit disconcerting.

Silver arcade and the lifts that you could operate yourself and pretend to a lift attendant.

Ainleys

Bailey's cabaret where I saw (among others) Slade, The Three Degrees, Mud, Paul Daniels who got me up on stage with him, The Drifters, The Four Tops.

 

If I were  to move elsewhere, and felt the pull of my hometown, what would I think of as being essentially Leicester to me:

 

Walkers. Pies and crisps

The Golden Mile.

Narborough Road, the most multi-cultural street in Britain.

Filbert Street.

The market as it used to be. Unique and traditional.

Ron's barbers.

Bruccianni's. Didn't exist outside of Leicester.

The miniature railway in Abbey Park.

Speedway.

Cheese.

Pork Pie. Both the actual pie and the library.

Foxton Locks.

The Newarke museum and by default, Daniel Lambert.

Boot and Shoe factories.

Granny's nightclub (where I was DJ for a time and met City players who regularly visited).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fox_up_north]

So glad I saw some good gigs at the Charlotte. Sticky floor. 

[VERN94]

For anyone who wasn’t there today, or has never been to Coventry city centre I’d highly recommend you make the trip! It makes you realise how lucky we are to live where we do compared to a cesspit like that.

 

*our city is a lot better than there’s!

Edited 13 January by VERN94
Typo

[Vacamion]

Mostly childhood and young adult memories for me from 30 or 40 years ago.

 

Pork Pie Library

Angry dogs barking at me on the Saff

The canal and surrounding area at Aylestone in the Summer - I spend whole days mucking about there

The shouting at the market

LCFC

Tigers and school and club rugby

The "big tit" on the ceiling at the Magna cinema in Wigston

Wigston, Aylestone and St Maggies Baths

Fox Cubs

The pubs

A few particular curry houses after a few beers

 

That accent.  I've tried not to lose mine.  It amazes me that the wider world doesn't recognise an east mids accent, because whenever I hear one in the wild, my ears **** up and I know immediately it's one of us.  Maybe because we don't have a cool name for it like Brummie or Cockney (Chizzits never really took off).

 

That song was bang on, you don't know what you've got til it's gone.

[Raj]

 

These were great- used to get them sometimes from Sparrow Park to Humbo Park for school (Mundella!)

[SemperEadem]

The Shires

Fox Leisure shop

Leicester College Narborough Road

TJ's

The left bank

Downstairs in sumo

Swan and Rushes 

The Meet

Everards Tiger

Wellgosh

Casino Skateboards

Takeover radio

Walking about the market pissed up

The mercury stalls

Swiss Cottage

Bruccianis

Fenwicks smell

Maryland

The Clocktower 

 

 

[suffolk fox]

 Smell of stale piss from the gents urinals in the Haymarket centre.

[Stuntman_Mike]

The bottom of Kingy Road.

 

Crowies

Sam's (corner shop)

Lanes butchers

Mark's electrical

Daymans

Mercury shop

Mick and Dens

 

[Dr Marco]

Reebok classics

leaves on the lawn

gin in teacups

violence at bus stops

a pale thing girl with eyes forlorn

[marcymarc666]

His majesties prison.

Been here 4 years.

[jonthefox]

On 12/01/2024 at 19:47, fox_up_north said:

So glad I saw some good gigs at the Charlotte. Sticky floor. 

Never heard of them 

[Muzzy_no7]

A city that punches above its weight in almost every department.

 

[Stadt]

The city centre is better and worse in some ways than I remember as a kid (b. 97). 
 

My perception was that it was far uglier and smellier then, much improved in that regard. Pedestrianisation, council office demolitions, Jubilee square etc have smartened up public spaces.

 

It’s definitely lost some much loved independent institutions e.g Bruccianis, Fenwicks, Dominoes, pubs, clubs and god knows whatever else.
 

Nicer but more analogous to average British  city in the 2020s. 

[RonnieTodger]

On 15/01/2024 at 10:26, Raj said:

 

These were great- used to get them sometimes from Sparrow Park to Humbo Park for school (Mundella!)

My mum called Arriva Buses “fox cubs” until about 2012 

[Manley Farrington-Brown]

Nowhere near enough people have said Granby Halls. Part of the fabric of Leicester for generations.

 

Come to that, nowhere near enough people have said Filbert St. Part of the fabric of Leicester for generations.

[Guest David Oldfields Gate]

 

[Oxfordfox83]

On 15/01/2024 at 23:42, Stadt said:

The city centre is better and worse in some ways than I remember as a kid (b. 97). 
 

My perception was that it was far uglier and smellier then, much improved in that regard. Pedestrianisation, council office demolitions, Jubilee square etc have smartened up public spaces.

 

It’s definitely lost some much loved independent institutions e.g Bruccianis, Fenwicks, Dominoes, pubs, clubs and god knows whatever else.
 

Nicer but more analogous to average British  city in the 2020s. 

With the greatest of love and respect @Stadt, I’d have sworn from your posts you were pushing 60…

[Voll Blau]

A trip to Brucciani's, a gawp at the toy train going around Domino's and a fresh apple from Lineker's stall.

 

Think I've managed to successfully block out that all of those moments were also usually associated with "back to school" shopping in town.

[Stadt]

7 hours ago, Oxfordfox83 said:

With the greatest of love and respect @Stadt, I’d have sworn from your posts you were pushing 60…

Not the first time somebody has said something like that  

[Lillehamring]

On 08/01/2024 at 23:09, goose2010 said:

As a kid the dominos toy shop train, the bowling alley at the back of the shires and Burger King randomly. Oh and obviously Fox Leisure. 

 

As a teenager getting the train over and going to the record shop on granby street (can remember it's name?!) HMV, The Irish and getting the bus back.

 

As a young adult, Brighton Beach at the uni, the Charlotte, the shed, sophbeck, mosh, Brunny Gate and Las Vegas Chippy. 

 

Now it's just for the football. 

MG Discs?

[Lillehamring]

After making a return to the city last week i was sad to see that Ron's barbers on churchgate is gone - i guess he retired.

 

Also - has anyone mentioned the best band to have come out of the city? Family.

 

Not to mention our great writers: 

C.P. Snow.

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Joe Orton

Sue Townsend (mentioned elsewhere)

Julian Barnes

 

 

[Parafox]

19 hours ago, Lillehamring said:

After making a return to the city last week i was sad to see that Ron's barbers on churchgate is gone - i guess he retired.

 

Also - has anyone mentioned the best band to have come out of the city? Family.

 

Not to mention our great writers: 

C.P. Snow.

E. Phillips Oppenheim

Joe Orton

Sue Townsend (mentioned elsewhere)

Julian Barnes

 

 

Showaddywaddy. 

 

Fixed for you 

 

Also I believe the original Ron died several years ago but the name carried on for a while as it was so well known. 

 

I went there as a child (1965-ish) and I remember sitting on a wooden board laid across the arms of the chair to get me to the right height for the barber.

Edited 26 January by Parafox

[Parafox]

On 24/01/2024 at 23:54, Oxfordfox83 said:

With the greatest of love and respect @Stadt, I’d have sworn from your posts you were pushing 60…

I've had similar comments but peeps here thought I was younger than I am.

 

Not sure what that says about my posts.

[Lillehamring]

56 minutes ago, Parafox said:

Showaddywaddy. 

 

Fixed for you 

 

Also I believe the original Ron died several years ago but the name carried on for a while as it was so well known. 

 

I went there as a child (1965-ish) and I remember sitting on a wooden board laid across the arms of the chair to get me to the right height for the barber.

I'll pass on that 'fix' - even though, as a child, i went on stage with showaddywaddy to do some 50s dance thing.  But always Family for me.

 

I believe i've been sat on some such board as well, but probably at the barbers on Rosemead Drive in Oadby, I only went to Ron's when i was in my late teens.