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davieG

City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

By davieG, in General Chat

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davieG

davieG

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https://player.bfi.org.uk/free/film/watch-workforce-leaving-cartwright-warner-hosiery-works-loughborough-1900-1900-online?fbclid=IwAR0e80DywWzxXoIiKlxlw-Zkt3SBA2cn8HU68nrfvoz8EISH8Tvgfug7HYg

 

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There are some strikingly well-dressed women - and a fine array of jackets - among these Loughborough textile workers; the men behind them are not always so smartly turned out. Some 2,000 people worked at this factory in 1900, often enduring long hours and very modest pay. Cartwright and Warner’s went out of business in 1929 and parts of the original building have since been converted into flats.

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davieG

davieG

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Did you know that Currys started out making bikes here in Leicester?

Currys was founded in 1884 by Henry Curry (born in Leicester in 1850), when he started to build bicycles full-time at 421 Jump Street, Leicester. He opened his first shop in 1888 at 271 Belgrave Gate, Leicester. In 1890 he moved to larger premises at 296 Belgrave Gate, then in 1900 to 285-287 Belgrave Gate, pictured here in 1903.

The company was put on a proper financial footing in 1897 when Curry formed a partnership with his sons, calling the company C. Curry & Sons. The business floated on the stock exchange in 1927 and by this time the shops sold a wide variety of goods including bicycles, toys, radios and gramophones.

Currys pulled out of cycle manufacturing in 1932 when they closed their Leicester factory. They continued to retail bikes (badged as Currys) until the 1960s, when they became a major retailer of household electrical items.

 

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The Fox Covert

The Fox Covert

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Stoneywell. I think many people from outside the county would guess my picture is somewhere in the Lake District or in Cornwall, as it is built from granite. However it is actually at Ulverscroft, near Markfield.
It was built at the end of the nineteenth century as a summer residence for Ernest Gimson and his family. Gimson was owner of a engineering company in Leicester and he employed his brother Sydney to design and build this delightful house from local materials an an idiom influenced by the Arts and Crafts movement.
Today it is open to the public and has been restored internally to how it appeared when occupied by the Gimson family in the 1950s.
I have painted it as I think it was originally intended to be by the Gimsons, not as a historical artefact, but as a summer home for their family. Children are playing hide-and seek among the shrubby heathers and bushes at the front of the house.

Stoneywell FB1.jpg

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davieG

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Only the corner entrance section of the original building remains, with the portrait in relief of Cardinal Wolsey at the top, incorporated into the facade of the modern apartment block. The business had been established in 1755 by Henry Wood and was continued after his death in 1768 by his widow, Ann. It subsequently became Ann Wood & Sons and from the 1840s it was Robert Walker & Sons with a factory in Rutland Street. During the mid 1880s Walkers established mills at Abbey Meadows and in 1897 formally adopted the trademark brand of Wolsey wear. New Abbey Park Mills were built in 1910 and the business changed to trade under the name Wolsey Ltd. The building in the picture was constructed in 1922-23, originally as a warehouse to give more storage space for completed products. The architect was apparently William H. Riley (1875-1958) of Leicester who subsequently worked in partnership with his younger brother Herbert George Riley with whom he designed a number of suburban cinemas in Leicester.

 

 

It was originally called the Abbey Park Mills and was built in 1923 for the Wolsey company, then the region’s largest hosiery firm. The company took its name from Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor to Henry VIII, who was buried at Leicester Abbey in 1530. At his death, the Cardinal was said to be wearing a woollen undergarment knitted by the canons of the Abbey, thus providing a knitwear link. A large image of Cardinal Wolsey can still be seen on the corner of the building.
The former works, now owned by Asra Housing Group, have been converted to
apartments for independent living.
 
 
Image credit: Wolsey Archives
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davieG

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The Wharf Street Telephone Exchange, as it was known, was formally opened on 10th December 1960 by the Assistant Postmaster-General and MP for the Melton Division Miss Mervyn Pike.  The Lord Mayor of Leicester, Councillor Dorothy Russell, afterwards inaugurated the new automatic subscriber trunk dialling (STD) system by making a call to the Flamborough Head lighthouse on the Yorkshire coast.  The new dialling system was known as GRACE which stood for Group Routing and Charging Equipment and reduced the number of human operators needed.  The trunk mechanisation and ventilation plant was housed in the basement which formed a 24-inch thick reinforced concrete box for the protection of it and a portion of the ground floor which contained the air conditioning plant was also enclosed with large steel doors weighing many tons sealing it off.  The upper floors of the building are of steel framed construction and were clad with reconstructed materials, rather than stone or slate, to reduce costs.  The building’s curve towards Lee Street is only on the ground floor and the upper floors form a regular rectangle.  The building was designed by John Heald, Chief Architect of the government’s Ministry of Works and the main contractors were William Moss & Sons who were based at Loughborough and London.  The first drive-in post office in Britain, which was situated under the central archway of the new Telephone Exchange building, had been opened by the Lord Mayor, Alderman Bertram Powell on 11th December 1959.  The first customer was the Assistant Postmaster General Miss Mervyn Pike.  However, the idea of a drive-in post office proved unsuccessful and customer numbers dwindled during the next few years.   From 1969 the nationalised Post Office Corporation ran telecommunications until British Telecom was established as a separate corporation in 1981.  British Telecom was subsequently privatised in 1984.

 

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The Lee Circle Telephone Exchange Building in 1971.
Image credit: BT Heritage & Archives
Before privatisation in 1980, Britain’s telephone and postal services were run by the General Post Office or ‘GPO’ as it was more popularly known. After World War
II, Britain’s telephone system was still largely dependent on 19th century exchanges and so new ones were constructed. Several were built in Leicester, including the Lee Circle Telephone Exchange which opened in 1959. Its design followed the curve of Lee Circle and incorporated a new innovation – a drive-in post office. 
The private road used by the post office ran through the building from Lee Circle to Wharf Street, near the line of the earlier Lee Street where Joseph Merrick, also known
as the ‘Elephant Man’ was born in 1862.
#StoryofLeicester #Leicester

 

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davieG

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On 29/03/2022 at 13:40, davieG said:

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This summer enjoy a free guided tour and find out about the history of Belgrave Hall and the fascinating families who lived there. https://leicestermuseums.org/event-details/...

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Church Road with Belgrave Hall on the left, circa 1900s.
Apart from the Victorian clothing, much of this view remains unchanged from over a century ago.

Belgrave Hall opens its doors this weekend for the first time this season.
Enjoy two acres of tranquil walled gardens and explore the plants, trees and statues introduced by the Hall’s many owners. They include four Italian statues collected by the Vann family in the late 1700s, plus yew trees and wisteria planted by the Ellis family in the mid-1800s.

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davieG

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https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicester-named-one-uks-most-6895978

 

Leicester named one of the UK's most vibrant cities in new study
Bustling bars, funky restaurants, quirky indie shops - what's not to like


ByDave Owen
14:00, 2 APR 2022

Leicester has been named one of the most vibrant cities in the UK in a new study. Its bustling bars, funky restaurants and quirky indie shops and cafes earnt it fourth place in a newly-published report - putting it ahead of the likes of Bristol, Edinburgh, Leeds and even London.

Researchers from CGA, which specialises in analysing the eating and drinking out market, combined sales and the number of logins from guest Wi-Fi spots to track the performance of Britain's big cities over a year. The resulting Top Cities: Vibrancy Rankings to offer the most accurate picture yet of how lively each of the UK's cities is.

The top three, just ahead of Leicester, were Glasgow in first place, Birmingham second and Manchester third. The report indicates that the hospitality sector in Leicester is picking up with the easing and then recent ending of Covid-19 restrictions.

 

Gabrielle Miller, of Cool as Leicester, is a champion for the city and publisher of Leicestershire’s largest online magazine. Speaking to De Montfort University (DMU), she said: "It's been great to see Leicester come back to life post-Covid.

"What I noticed during the lockdown period was a strong commitment to support local independent businesses, and this seems to have continued as shops and venues have reopened. It's also been wonderful to see the number of new businesses opening up, despite such a long period of uncertainty. It really demonstrates how much appetite there is to enjoy what we have on offer in the city."


DMU graduate Jason Nesbitt is a founder of the LoyalFree app, which promotes offers at local shops and venues. It also hosts interactive trails to help visitors explore the city. "Many recent reports are highlighting how incredible the city of Leicester is as a place to live and work," he told the university. Jason cited the city's Curve theatre, independent shopping precints such as St Martin's and public events such as the recent Light Up Leicester as being among the city's big draws.

 

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davieG

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May be a black-and-white image of 2 people, street, road, brick wall and text that says "Leicester Storyofleicester.info"

A view of Waterloo Street in 1972, with Leicester's Town Museum (now Leicester Museum & Art Gallery) on the left.
The street is now the dual carriage Waterloo Way, which runs under the New Walk promenade.

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davieG

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On this day - 6 April 1961, Leicester became the first city outside London to have Traffic Wardens...

 

MY sister was a Traffic Warden in Wigston but got asked to resign for not giving out enough tickets as she used to go and find the drivers in the local shops. lol

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Parafox

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4 hours ago, davieG said:

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On this day - 6 April 1961, Leicester became the first city outside London to have Traffic Wardens...

 

MY sister was a Traffic Warden in Wigston but got asked to resign for not giving out enough tickets as she used to go and find the drivers in the local shops. lol

3rd bloke in line looks like a real jobsworth lol

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davieG

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The Leicester Infirmary's new Children's Hospital, c1880.
Image credit: The Collection of University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust.
In the late 1880s the Infirmary managed to raise funds it required to build a new Children's Hospital. The new wing was opened by was opened by HRH Princess Louise, Queen Victoria’s daughter.
As with the adult patients, children were encouraged to take as much fresh air as they could, and were often taken out in to the grounds and on to the balcony during their stay. The waste land around the wing was planted with flower beds and lawns by Leicester Borough Council’s Parks Department. At the back of the building there was a terrace where the children could play. Members of the public donated money for cots, toys and slippers.
Read more history of the Royal Infirmary on our website:
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