City of Leicester & Leicestershire - The Good and Historical Stuff

[davieG]

 

History of Leicestershire in Images

Market Street, Leicester. Wet, windy, cold and still pretty. iPhone 13pro rear facing camera

[davieG]

 

 

History of Leicestershire in Images
Charlotte Victoria Hubbard  · 
  · 
The same view about 80 years apart.

 

 

 

[davieG]

Story of Leicester

  · 

Workers in the sorting room of the Wheatsheaf Works on Knighton Lane East, c1897.

Image: Leicester & Leicestershire Record Office.

The Wheatsheaf Works was built by the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1891. It claimed to be the largest shoe factory in the British Empire and cemented Leicester’s position as the UK’s largest centre of footwear manufacture.

The factory supplied boots and shoes to Britain’s Cooperative shops. It aimed to combine the latest production technology with good employment conditions for its workers. The new methods demanded much larger factories, built principally on one floor so the different processes of shoe making could be mechanised.

By 1907 the Co-operative Wholesale Society accounted for 59% of the total UK output of shoes!

#StoryofLeicester #Leicester

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester

1972 looking down onto the plaza that formed part of the Newarke pedestrian subway system. A very unique place that's now buried underneath

[davieG]

1976 king Richards School

[davieG]

Good News for Students

 

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/warehouse-near-leicester-tesco-could-7850357

 

Warehouse near Leicester Tesco could be demolished to make way for 646-bed student accommodation

 

 

A knitwear warehouse could be demolished to make way for a huge student development. Developers Corvette Capital and Crown Student Living announced in July they were eyeing up Leicester’s Little Holme Street, off Braunstone Gate, for their next big student accommodation project.

A planning application submitted to Leicester City Council has now revealed the Gill Knitwear warehouse, opposite Tesco in New Park Street, is their intended site. The two-storey building could be knocked down and replaced with 646 student rooms.

The Leicester manufacturing firm has been operating for over 40 years. The developers said they chose the site as it is within walking distance of both De Montfort University and the University of Leicester.

 

The massive project would be 11 storeys at its highest point, documents show. This central tower could be flanked by two seven-storey elements, connected by a six-storey “spine”. A second building could also be created on the site, also planned at seven storeys.

Some 333 rooms would be studios, five of which would be accessible, documents show. But there would also be a mix of cluster flats – where students have their own rooms but share a kitchen – ranging from five to 11 bedrooms in size.

The developers have also said there would be outside seating areas for the students, with decking, planters and game areas. There would also be a gym and communal areas on the ground floor.

Previous versions of the plan had proposed the building could be 13 storeys at its highest point, with nine-storey elements as well. However, city planning officers raised concerns the building would be too tall and dominate views across the city.

[Stadt]

Wow 11 storeys! So huge! wowowow! 

 

It'll be revised down to 9 anyway, so the height is more befitting of a *checks notes* inner city area.

Edited 23 November 2022 by Stadt

[davieG]

 

Born and Raised in Leicester
 
Corah & Sons - St Margaret's Works
A family business Corahs was established by Nathaniel Corah, who began buying hosiery in Leicester to sell in Birmingham in 1815.  He was born in Barlestone, 
Leicestershire in 1777 and trained as a frame-smith to produce garments on a knitting frame.  Every Saturday morning Nathaniel would meet in The Globe with stockingers who had goods to sell. He would examine the goods, make bids for what he wanted, and sell the stockings elsewhere.
 In its early years the company relied on domestic outworkers but by the 1820s Nathaniel Corah had begun to introduce the factory system, purchasing premises in both Leicester and Birmingham.  In 1830 his sons John, William and Thomas become partners in the company of N. Corah and Sons Ltd.
Nathaniel died a year later but, with the sons at the helm, the company continued to prosper and expanded its premises in Leicester and Birmingham.  In 1851 the company exhibited an ‘extensive assortment of hose, wool vests and drawers, fancy wool cuffs and sleeves, hoods, hats and bonnets, and ladies' wool paletots (jackets)’ at the Great Exhibition at Crystal Palace. By the late1850s the company had purchased Hine and Mundella’s steam-powered circular knitting machines from Nottingham to undercut other makers such as John Biggs of Leicester and began a programme of rapid expansion. 
St Margaret’s Works
In 1865 Nathaniel’s grandson, Edwin Corah, laid the foundation stone for the St Margaret’s Works. It was designed by Leicester architect William Jackson and built on a four acre site in the shadow of St Margaret’s Church (between what is now Vaughan Way and the River Soar) At the time it was the largest factory of its kind in Leicester.  It had a vast range of north lit workshops running down to an engine house, with a 145 foot chimney, near the river. 
The following year Edwin’s sister, Jennie, started the large 50 horsepower beam engine which powered the 50 rotary machines, 47 circulars and 77 sewing machines in the St Margaret’s Works.  Twenty eight hand frames were also still in use for high quality work.  The beam engine was made by Messrs. Joseph Ryde and Gimson & Co. of Leicester. The company commemorated the opening of the St Margaret’s Works with an Inaugural Fete in 1866 for employees and friends.
The ‘St Margaret’ trademark
During the 1870s the company expanded the range of products it produced; new additions included bathing wear and football jerseys.  All products carried Corah’s ‘St Margaret’ trademark, which took its name from the neighbouring church.  This trademark was one of the first to be registered for knitted goods.  By the time it was registered in 1876, it had represented the goods of Corah’s of Leicester for ten years.  
Corah celebrates its success with its employees
By the 1880s the company needed more space.  The first extension was in 1882, when the company was the first in Leicester to introduce electric lighting to a factory.  Once again, the developments were celebrated as employees and their wives joined influential citizens for supper and entertainment at the St Margaret’s Works.  The following day the company provided a tea and entertainment for over 1000 local elderly poor people. 
 By the time of the third extension in 1886 the company had extended the celebrations to three events.  This was during the time when the company traded as ‘Cooper, Corah and Sons Limited’.  The company continued to prosper and nine more extensions were completed by 1914, by which time the firm was again known as ‘N. Corah and Sons’.
Corah and the Great War
During the First World War over 330 male staff joined the Forces.  This was about half of the male staff of the company.  However, St Margaret’s Works still produced over ten million knitted items for the government during the four years of war.  These ranged from face cloths to football jerseys and woollen helmets to woollen stockings.  Unfortunately, 39 employees and a member of the Corah family lost their lives in the First World War.   A memorial plaque containing all their names was placed at the front of the factory and the directors established an aid fund in their memory, known as the Leslie Corah Memorial Fund. 
St Margaret’s Works and its famous visitors
The St Margaret’s Works received many visitors over the years which included international sports teams and members of the Royal Family.  King George V and Queen Mary visited in 1919 and Queen Elizabeth II visited in 1958.  In 1926 Mr Israel Seiff of Marks and Spencer visited to establish a unique relationship between the two companies.  Mr Seiff was looking for a manufacturer with a well-known trademark to supply Marks and Spencer with knitted items, which Corah did for nearly 80 years.
Although difficult years for the hosiery industry, the relationship with Marks and Spencer meant that the 1930s were a period of expansion of Corah.  Between the two World Wars more than ten further extensions were built to the St Margaret’s Works.  Warehouses in other cities were closed and production and distribution of goods were centralised in Leicester.
Corah supports the war effort
At the outbreak of World War II Corah had 4,500 employees but over half of that number left to join the Services or undertake war work.  Regardless of the reduced workforce the company produced 26 million knitted items for the government and processed around 250 million clothing coupons.  The engineering department was also extended to allow for the production of 80,000 gun parts and 30,000 parts for tank landing craft.  In addition, there were changes to the physical space at St Margaret’s Works with a third of the space being used by the Admiralty Victualing Stores, Standard Telephone and Cables Ltd and other hosiery firms.  Marks and Spencer even moved some of their offices and staff to the site.  The St Margaret’s Works fire brigade was extended, an ambulance brigade was formed and a platoon of the Local Defence Volunteers was established, known as ‘Corah’s LDVs’.  Of the 850 male and female staff that joined the Services, sadly 33 of them lost their lives, including family member, Peter Corah.  A second memorial plaque was erected at the front of the factory.
Employee welfare at the heart of the company
Corah was a major employer in Leicester, with over 2,000 employees in 1919 rising, at its height, to 6,800 by 1969.  It was predominantly a family run business and employees were well provided for.  As early as the 1890s they enjoyed paid holidays and in 1920 the company purchased four acres of land for the St Margaret’s Works Sports Association.  The company had always encouraged the sporting interests of employees and first held an annual sports event in the 1870s. One member of the ‘Cooper Corah’ cricket team played in the England team which toured Australia in 1904/5 and in the 1960s and 70s the firm’s football team was prominent in the Leicester City Football League.  Progress on all the sports activities was reported, with other news and information, in the quarterly staff magazine, ‘Encore’.  In 1936 the first fully equipped works canteen in Leicester opened at St Margaret’s Works and in the same year the company established a staff pension scheme.  By 1946 the on-site ambulance room was upgraded to a fully equipped surgery.
Quality control
Product quality was very important to Corah.  In 1939 the company opened a testing and analytical department.   In response to the post-war labour shortage the company established an on-site training centre in 1944, which dramatically reduced the amount of time staff spent learning processes.  In 1946 a quality control department was opened, followed a few years later by the introduction of work study. 
St Margaret’s Works today
Despite all the innovation, good working practices, quality products and special relationship with Marks and Spencer, Corah was acquired by Coats Viyella in 1994.  The company was soon broken up and the St Margaret’s Works site closed within a decade. Lasting well over a hundred and fifty years, Corah was a family firm and for most of its history had been dependent largely on female labour.
Some parts of the site have severe fire damage and much of it remains derelict.

[The Fox Covert]

On 23/11/2022 at 09:06, davieG said:

Story of Leicester

  · 

Workers in the sorting room of the Wheatsheaf Works on Knighton Lane East, c1897.

Image: Leicester & Leicestershire Record Office.

The Wheatsheaf Works was built by the Co-operative Wholesale Society in 1891. It claimed to be the largest shoe factory in the British Empire and cemented Leicester’s position as the UK’s largest centre of footwear manufacture.

The factory supplied boots and shoes to Britain’s Cooperative shops. It aimed to combine the latest production technology with good employment conditions for its workers. The new methods demanded much larger factories, built principally on one floor so the different processes of shoe making could be mechanised.

By 1907 the Co-operative Wholesale Society accounted for 59% of the total UK output of shoes!

#StoryofLeicester #Leicester

Whoops! I think this is the building on the north side of Knighton Fields Road East. I was a bit puzzled as Knighton Lane East was built up between the wars, council housing on one side and fairly standard three bed semis and Lancaster and Johnny North schools on the other. If this is the building I think it is it is now converted to apartments which look as though they are a really impressive size, with plenty of light inside and nice well-proportioned rooms. I love these posts.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/life-leicester-30-years-ago-7851371

 

Life in Leicester from 30 years ago in 20 Mercury archive snaps from 1992

 

 

[Rain King]

2 minutes ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/life-leicester-30-years-ago-7851371

 

Life in Leicester from 30 years ago in 20 Mercury archive snaps from 1992

 

 

Had never felt the need to comment on a Mercury article before but did on this one. The photo against Derby was our 1-2 defeat in February rather than the 3-2 win in August.

[Parafox]

2 hours ago, davieG said:

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/history/gallery/life-leicester-30-years-ago-7851371

 

Life in Leicester from 30 years ago in 20 Mercury archive snaps from 1992

 

 

 

 

How many of these have since "accidentally caught fire"?

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester

Here’s a happy sunny picture of Leicester’s Charles Street, taken in 1960. The view is to the south-east, from the corner of Rutland Street. There’s no doubt about the location, but there are quite a few differences. The most striking of course, is the lack of the giant blue tower block at the end of the street.

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/11-million-fleet-electric-double-7879109

 

An £11 million fleet of electric double-decker buses to be unveiled in Leicester
Arriva buses has said that the vehicles will be 'zero emission' and will be much quieter than diesel-run buses

BySam Moorhouse
04:00, 1 DEC 2022

 

An £11 million fleet of 'zero emission' electric double-decker buses is to introduced in Leicester for the first time. The 22 zero emission vehicles will go into service in October next year after Leicester City Council and bus firm Arriva secured Government money to pay for them.

The new ‘Streetdeck Electroliners’ will be the first buses in Leicester that are not fuelled by diesel and are the first Arriva electric double-deckers to be used outside London. As well being greener than vehicles which run on fossil fuels, Arriva said they were much quieter too.

Councillor Adam Clarke, Deputy Mayor said: “This investment is another great step forward with the Leicester Buses Partnership. By the end of next year half of Leicester's bus travel will be on quiet, electric, high-quality vehicles.

 

“These will be complemented by more bus lanes, shelters and information displays, together with contactless 'best value' fare capping. A congestion-busting green travel solution, accessible to everyone.

The news comes after the city council announced it would not be introducing the workplace parking levy, which was originally introduced to gain funding to improve public transport in the city. Coun Clarke said at the time that the consequences of scrapping the levy would mean the council “won’t have the funding needed to radically improve public transport for so many of our residents, which would in turn help to tackle the climate emergency.”

The council has taken further steps to try to make Leicester’s public transport more sustainable in recent months. £2.1 million was invested into the Orbital electric bus service in October, which seeks to remove 177 tonnes of C02 emissions from the city every year, and further £9 million has been spent by Arriva to add 36 new ultra low emission buses to Leicester Streets.

Arriva's commercial director Andrew Godley said: “We’re delighted to be able to make such a strong investment into the Leicester bus network. We're the largest bus operator in Leicester and are proud to be part of the Leicester Buses Partnership.

 

[davieG]

History of Leicestershire in Images
Jan Smith  · 
Leicester, the Castle Gateway with St Mary de Castro Church in the background. Photo taken in December 1910.

 

Picture postcard version todayish.

 

 

[Parafox]

9 hours ago, davieG said:

History of Leicestershire in Images
Jan Smith  · 
Leicester, the Castle Gateway with St Mary de Castro Church in the background. Photo taken in December 1910.

 

Picture postcard version todayish.

 

 

 

I went to the Gateway Grammar school back in the day and this along with the Newarke Museum with the special section on Daniel Lambert and the street scenes with the old weaving machines, was my favourite place to be.

 

[davieG]

 

Born and Raised in Leicester

This is how Vaughan Way, Leicester, looked in 1965. St Margaret's Baths being built on the right.

[davieG]

 

The Friends of Braunstone Hall
Braunstone - The junction of Narborough Road, Hallam Crescent and Fullhurst Avenue, altered for traffic in 1963. The Roxy Cinema is on the right. 
© Leicester Mercury.

 

Nice early warning sign 

[davieG]

Leicester Past & Present ~ A walk down Memory Lane.

LEICESTER: This vast open space in Leicester, stretching as far as the eye can see, is now occupied by Fullhurst College. The photograph was taken in 1930 from Imperial Avenue, close to where it crosses Fosse Road South, and to the photographer's right, just out of the picture, is Holy Apostles Church. Fullhurst College was originally built as the Newarke Girl's Grammar School, which moved to the new building from its premises in the Newarke in 1938/9.

[Free Falling Foxes]

On 22/11/2022 at 09:28, davieG said:

 

History of Leicestershire in Images

Market Street, Leicester. Wet, windy, cold and still pretty. iPhone 13pro rear facing camera

Just spotted an identical photograph from 1949.

[davieG]

Story of Leicester

An interesting photo to share with you today of what was then St Nicholas Street, now St Nicholas Place / Jubilee Square where the ice skating rink is open at the moment.
Seen here in November 1963, the buildings were being cleared to make way for the new ring road and St Nicholas Circle. Do you remember any shops that used to be around here? Maybe on Thornton Lane or Red Cross Street, which are now gone? 
#StoryOfLeicester #Leicester

[davieG]

Born and Raised in Leicester

King Richards Road. Leicester.

[davieG]

Story of Leicester

Do you recognise The Jetty from this 1972 photo?
The passage runs between Hotel Street and New Market Square, between what is now The Market Tavern and the Knight & Garter pubs. 
Or maybe you still think of them as Yates's and the Saracens Head?

[davieG]

Leicester Past & Present ~ A walk down Memory Lane.

LEICESTER PAST: The County Rooms, Hotel Street, 1941.

[davieG]

 

Rail Thing - REAL Trainspotting (1945-1968)  · 

Patrick Clay  · 

Two views of the former Great Northern station at Belgrave Road, Leicester. The first from the late 1950s shows a J6 0-6-0 while the second from August 1961, the last year of the station’s use, shows a B1 4-6-0 61163 which has arrived with a holiday excursion from Mablethorpe. Photos John F. Clay.