Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[Heathrow fox]

12 minutes ago, Heathrow fox said:

I haven’t actually lived in Leicester for nearly 20 years.On my frequent ish visits home I would always make an effort to go into Brucci’s though.Always the one next to Marks.Still sad it’s gone.However the food was getting a bit samie+it was quite expensive to be fair.

Will always be grateful to Brucci’s,for demonstrating that cheese and beetroot go really well together in a bap.

[TheLittleBigMan]

On 10/12/2019 at 16:18, Plastik Man said:

I'd be surprised if it wasn't all the bars and restaurants that opened in the Highcross that really affected the Braunstone Gate bars.

 

There's still a couple of good pubs but it can't really compete with the Highcross. It's more of a student area, though do students go out boozing as much as they used to?

Braunstone gates attraction was about having somewhere different for a night out rather than going in to town so I don't think bars at highcross ever affected it, more the vibe changing and if anything becoming more town like. The students in the area will go to a night at Sumo but largely go in to the city centre to get sh*t faced (thankfully).

I can remember dj'ing at the Tucan not long after Natter Jacks opened and having a couple of meat heads come in from there and start scratching on my turntables in the middle of my set. That place really has ruined the vibe on brauny gate. Not bad for a bite to eat during the day mind 

[Footballwipe]

8 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

I haven’t actually lived in Leicester for nearly 20 years.On my frequent ish visits home I would always make an effort to go into Brucci’s though.Always the one next to Marks.Still sad it’s gone.However the food was getting a bit samie+it was quite expensive to be fair.

I guess your not living in Leics is a decent excuse , and it wasn't by any means a dig at you personally, more what Stadt said about people who bemoan change and hark back to the old times all the while they shop in the Highcross, John Lewis, Primark et al.

 

It's never nice when a shop closes. My childhood memories are on the 51 to Braunstone Crossroads and as we went down High St I'd look to see if the train was out at the front of Dominoes. What a great shop that was for me as a kid. Bought absolutely naff all, but looked good! However, the ones that close just haven't been able to change with the times or genuinely have suffered with the major redevelopment which keeps people away from that area.

 

Agree about Brucie, I always streotyped it as an older clientele, and as more coffee shops popped up it was only a matter of time. My mum always used to take us into Crusty's back in the day. How that made it to the 2010s I'll never understand!

[Stadt]

As far as I can tell, Leicester was visually a much nicer city in the 60s. Before all the eyesores went up 

[Parafox]

On 21/12/2019 at 13:58, Stadt said:

Does my head in when old c unts moan about places like Brucciani’s going but then they say they’ve not been into town for years 

I'm in my 60's, live in Hinckley and whenever I went to Leicester to shop, which was maybe once a month, my first point of call for nice hot coffee and the legendary fresh cream lemon iced buns was Brucci's. Everything they sold was locally made and fresh. I hate Costa and such chain coffee outlets. Brucci's was in a class of it's own. Now it's gone and it's a real shame.

Edited 22 December 2019 by Parafox

[Parafox]

6 hours ago, Footballwipe said:

the train was out at the front of Dominoes. 

I used to walk up High St and into the shop, even as an old c unt, (@Stadt) just to see that train. Made me feel like a kid again.

[Paninistickers]

15 hours ago, TheLittleBigMan said:

Braunstone gates attraction was about having somewhere different for a night out rather than going in to town so I don't think bars at highcross ever affected it, more the vibe changing and if anything becoming more town like. The students in the area will go to a night at Sumo but largely go in to the city centre to get sh*t faced (thankfully).

I can remember dj'ing at the Tucan not long after Natter Jacks opened and having a couple of meat heads come in from there and start scratching on my turntables in the middle of my set. That place really has ruined the vibe on brauny gate. Not bad for a bite to eat during the day mind 

I used to start going branstone gate just as it turned into cool, roughly 97 ish. The Left Bank started it. Brilliant little place ahead of its time.

 

The original vibe was for the more thoughtful students and Leicester over 25s who didn't want hassle in town. 

 

But as all these things, it grew out of its skin. Shame.

[Wolfox]

20 hours ago, Heathrow fox said:

I’m presuming the actual chain is still doing ok.When they closed ours they opened one in Bracknell.To be the flagship store of the Towns multimillion £ redevelopment.

I knew they had another store in Newcastle…. Good to hear it’s going strong 

 

It never had an online presence… 

 

I miss it…. It was really a go to store for me and I enjoyed its quirkiness 

Edited 23 December 2019 by Wolfox

[Heathrow fox]

2 hours ago, Wolfox said:

I knew they had another store in Newcastle…. Good to hear it’s going strong 

 

It never had an online presence… 

 

I miss it…. It was really a go to store for me and I enjoyed its quirkiness 

There’s nine in total.Unless another ones gone.They had one in Windsor that closed about the same time as ours.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

Back home for Christmas, sat in the Lanny having a Guinness waiting for folk to arrive and looking across the road, really does highlight how we manage to **** up anything at eye level. Shop fronts and signage ruin some beautiful buildings, it's a problem everywhere but it's chronic in Leicester. 

[Stadt]

18 minutes ago, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

Back home for Christmas, sat in the Lanny having a Guinness waiting for folk to arrive and looking across the road, really does highlight how we manage to **** up anything at eye level. Shop fronts and signage ruin some beautiful buildings, it's a problem everywhere but it's chronic in Leicester. 

The market area is the worst for it, looks unbelievably shoddy 

[Stuntman_Mike]

Having gone Nottingham's Winter Wonderland at the weekend, it's safe to say we're way behind in the Christmas department.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

10 hours ago, Stuntman_Mike said:

Having gone Nottingham's Winter Wonderland at the weekend, it's safe to say we're way behind in the Christmas department.

 

This is practically on my doorstep and isn't my scene -  it gets punters in, however it's incomparable with Leicester in that town simply doesn't have that space. Nottingham's town hall square is massive, and while Leicester is making a (very good) conscious effort to get a few more open spaces going, it won't ever have a space that vast. Not that I think a naff Christmas market and bad pints are important.

[ScouseFox]

the leeds one is rubbish an all.

 

manchester is the only decent markets i've ever been. and they take over the whole of manny for like 2 months. 

[SemperEadem]

Help support the cities homeless.

 

 

[The Syrup]

Purveyors of shit Mexican grub, Taco Bell, coming to Leicester... maybe

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/taco-bell-wants-open-new-3685997

 

[Rob1742]

On 11/12/2019 at 10:54, RoboFox said:

Speaking of Bede Island... 

 

This:

 

 

Replaced by this nondescript lego shit:

 

 

 

This is a prime example of Leicester being ruined. So many examples of nice buildings being saved and utilised in the UK, yet ours seem to disappear. Drove past the Ovaltine building on the way to London the other day, it’s now apartments but the building remains.

 

Builders by nature want to build and n my make things happen. We should have protected sites and our City would look much better. 
 

But like I have said loads of times, Soulsby seems to be the saviour and is an instigator in creating open spaces and bringing out the best that we have left. 

[Rob1742]

On 20/12/2019 at 20:34, Heathrow fox said:

Even though I hadn’t been in it since about 1986,I really miss Fenwick's.Not only was it a grand old store but it feels like that area has been completely given up on now.Shop wise at least.It was also proof that Leicester actually had a few quid floating around,once upon a time.

Find it odd that Fenwicks appeared to let Leicester go down hill. Their Newcastle store is amazing, a real flagship with a much younger audience that Leicester had.

They have a Christmas window scene that literally is a talking point for the whole City, and there are queues at the unveiling and for days after just so people can take a look. 
I know retail is tough, but I always felt Fenwicks missed a trick in Leicester as changes to our store really could have seen a vast positive change in that part of the City.

[Col city fan]

Our kid lives in Nottingham and I sometimes go out with him and his pals into the City at night.

It’s miles ahead of Leicester in terms of venues and the amount of people that go out.

Leicester City centre really is a shit-hole these days.

[Miquel The Work Geordie]

43 minutes ago, Col city fan said:

Our kid lives in Nottingham and I sometimes go out with him and his pals into the City at night.

It’s miles ahead of Leicester in terms of venues and the amount of people that go out.

Leicester City centre really is a shit-hole these days.

 

Amazing how students spending cash in the centre, along with tram connections and far better bus services can impact cities of the same size.

 

I've lived here, Leicester and Leeds though, and Nottingham is, by a considerable stretch, the most aggressive gaff post-11pm. Nobody here handles their booze in a good way at all.

 

-----

 

Oh, and I disagree that Leicester's a shit hole. 

Edited 29 December 2019 by Miquel The Work Geordie

[Dr The Singh]

6 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Our kid lives in Nottingham and I sometimes go out with him and his pals into the City at night.

It’s miles ahead of Leicester in terms of venues and the amount of people that go out.

Leicester City centre really is a shit-hole these days.

Next time your out in Notts let me know......so I know not to.come out........without my camera to take a pic with Cattermole.  

[Dr The Singh]

6 hours ago, Col city fan said:

Our kid lives in Nottingham and I sometimes go out with him and his pals into the City at night.

It’s miles ahead of Leicester in terms of venues and the amount of people that go out.

Leicester City centre really is a shit-hole these days.

I was on a night out last week in Leicester on Thursday before Xmas, expecting the town to be heaving, other then a few bars it was dead, half of the town was full of people @MattP would piss on.

 

Left at 10pm and went out in Notts instead

[sm1]

On 24/12/2019 at 01:03, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

This is practically on my doorstep and isn't my scene -  it gets punters in, however it's incomparable with Leicester in that town simply doesn't have that space. Nottingham's town hall square is massive, and while Leicester is making a (very good) conscious effort to get a few more open spaces going, it won't ever have a space that vast. Not that I think a naff Christmas market and bad pints are important.

If we had that large a space in town, they'd build student flats there. I was around Castle Gardens last week, where the old Wigfalls store was, and all I could see was 10-15 storey student flats everywhere. 

[The Fox Covert]

On 29/12/2019 at 10:33, Miquel The Work Geordie said:

 

Amazing how students spending cash in the centre, along with tram connections and far better bus services can impact cities of the same size.

 

I've lived here, Leicester and Leeds though, and Nottingham is, by a considerable stretch, the most aggressive gaff post-11pm. Nobody here handles their booze in a good way at all.

 

-----

 

Oh, and I disagree that Leicester's a shit hole. 

Quite agree. I lived in Donnie for a while and Silver Street is like a small version of Nottingham.

[whoareyaaa]

any idea why that Walkers closed down they used to do some great food