P is for Pharmacist

A-Z Challenge.

Random Sightings No 16.

Slight cheat today – apologies for that – as I've posted a picture of this before. It was a long time ago though. The sun is out and I should have been out with my camera taking pictures for the challenge but prior commitments have kept me indoors I'm afraid. Very frustrating.

So here's one from my travels round Leicester last year. It consists of a glazed tiled advertisement for 'headache drink Sea Breeze' with a depiction of a medieval alchemist above. It was part of a shop premises built for TE Butler, Son and Co., Chemists; dating from 1903 (although the business was established in 1840). The shop is situated on the corner of High Street and Cart's Lane. The building is Grade II listed.

I've a brief explanation of the listing of buildings here:

http://breaking-cover.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/listed.html

F is for Four Winds

A-Z Challenge.

Random Sightings No 6.

Last year when I was doing the A-Z Challenge I tried to get a good shot of this clock but it's high up above the pavement in the otherwise nondescript Charles Street in Leicester and all my attempts suffered from huge lens distortion. Recently though I just happened to be on the top floor of a nearby multi-storey car park and suddenly through a gap in the surrounding buildings there it was looking back me.



It's called the Four Winds Clock and I suspect it goes largely unnoticed by the passers by below, though it measure a fairly hefty 3.62 metres by 3.24 metres. It’s situated on the central tower of Halford House which was built for the Leicester Temperance Building Society by Pick Everard Keay and Gimson between 1955 and 1959. The sculptor was Albert Pountney and it is carved in Portland Stone.

A typical view of Charles Street. The clock is way up out of view on the building on the left.

D is for Day and Night

Day four of the A-Z Challenge and some Random Sightings in Leicester by day and night.

Leicester's New Walk by day…

…and by night.

The former Victoria Coffee House in Leicester's Granby Street.

Vintage shopping by day…

…window shopping by night.

For more pictures of New Walk see: http://breaking-cover.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/promenade.html

For more on Leicester’s nineteenth century coffee house movement see: http://breaking-cover.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/eastgates.html

C is for Cardinal

Day three of my Random Sightings. This time it’s Cardinal Wolsey randomly caught on camera in Leicester.

Cardinal Wolsey (1473-1530) rose from modest beginnings to become HenryVIII’s Lord Chancellor. A shrewd political operator, he eventually came to wield immense power. However his inability to secure the annulment of Henry’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon led to his ultimate fall from grace. Whilst in Yorkshire, Wolsey was ordered to London to answer a charge of treason but fell ill on the journey and died at Leicester Abbey.

This relief portrait in faience of Cardinal Wolsey (c.1923) is situated over the entrance to the former Wolsey Ltd warehouse on Abbey Park Street, Leicester. The artist is unknown.

The Wolsey knitwear company was founded in Leicester in 1755 and by the 1880’s was the largest hosiery manufacturer in the city. It is still in existence today. More information about the company’s history can be found here: http://www.wolsey.com/Static/History_1755

A nice cup of tea and a biscuit

In a moment of madness I decided to do the A-Z Challenge again this year. So I'm sitting down with a nice cup of tea and biscuit and reviewing my blog.

The challenge involves posting every day (except Sundays) throughout April, thematically from A-Z. Last year I took my camera around my home town of Leicester and posted the results.

Being new to blogging the challenge really helped get me going. It also gave me an excuse to take my new camera out, as well as getting to see the City of Leicester in a fresh light. It was lovely when people commented about how nice the place looked (though I sometimes worried I was making it look too good!).

So what to do this year? That is the question.

I'd like to do something similar but will I find enough things? We shall see. Although I struggled once or twice last year it was an enjoyable process and I learned a lot. In particular that less is more.

Good luck to any other A-Z challengers looking in, especially if it's your first time.

The spire of St Mary de Castro, Leicester, back in the summer and
as it is now looking pagoda-like as it's dismantled.

A while back I posted some pictures of historic Leicester taken close to the remains of Leicester Castle. Sadly the spire of the nearby church of St Mary de Castro has become unsafe and is currently being dismantled. The spire is something of a landmark and it'll be strange when it's gone. However they hope to reassemble it sometime in the future if they can raise sufficient funds.

St Mary de Castro (St Mary's by the Castle) was founded in the early 12th century by Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester. The spire was added in the 14th century. There's a possible literary connection as it's been said that Geoffrey Chaucer married Philippa de Roet here sometime around 1366.

http://breaking-cover.blogspot.co.uk/2013/07/a-quiet-corner.html

Bad Hair Day and other random things

Welcome to the first blog of 2014 and a belated Happy New Year.

Yes I know it's a bit late but I've been a bit preoccupied with editing my Work in Progress and haven't been going out with the camera much. However I spotted this in Leicester the other day on the side of a barber's shop. In case there's any one left on the planet who doesn't know, the remains of Richard III were found beneath a car park in Leicester back in 2012 and he's been making his presence felt round the city ever since.

I acquired Adobe Lightroom just before Christmas as part of a photography course I was doing and managed to get sidetracked sorting and cataloguing all my photographs (yet another reason why I'm behind with the blog). It was surprising how many I'd forgotten about, such as this one. Am I being paranoid or was this building watching me?

And while I'm on the subject of things with faces, how about this wheelie bin? Do we really need CCTV?

Open at last

The Silver Arcade in the centre of Leicester has at last reopened after a major renovation and it looks fabulous.

It’s a Grade II listed Victorian shopping arcade dating from 1899, the only surviving four storey arcade in the country. For a long time it was home to many small independent shops but has stood empty for the last 13 years. Although it still retains most of the original features it now has a new glass roof and a new glass lift as well as various other sympathetic improvements.

The Silver Arcade was designed by Amos Hall who was in practice at the Leicester based architecture firm of Isaac Barradale (see: http://breaking-cover.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/retail.html).

Promenade

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 16.

New Walk is an elegant tree lined promenade that stretches south for about a kilometre from Welford Place to Victoria Park. Quite a contrast to the rest of the city centre. In the late-Georgian period Leicester was rapidly developing and the main impetus for laying out New Walk in 1785 was to control building on common land to the south. It soon attracted a better sort of housing development and now there are many fine buildings along the walk.

I’ve decided against commenting on the individual buildings though many are listed and information is available. Instead I think I’ll let New Walk speak for itself.

Mermaids

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 13.

Leicestershire is a land-locked county but as my work in progress has a merboy in it I thought I’d keep an eye out for some merfolk. Amazingly I found these gems hidden away beside the river.

These terracotta mermaid reliefs where designed by William James Neatby and made by Royal Doulton Lambeth Potteries in 1900.

The Art-Nouveau style reliefs once formed the entrance to the Leicester Wholesale Fish, Fruit and Vegetable Market in Halford Street which was demolished in 1972. In 1980 after languishing in storage they were mounted on a 20-foot-high free-standing ornamental wall next to West Bridge.

King

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 11.

“Piteously slain fighting manfully in the thickest press of his enemies.”
Bronze statue of Richard III in Castle Gardens by James Walter Butler, 1980.

Richard III, the last Plantagenet king, was killed at the battle of Bosworth in 1485 by the forces of Henry Tudor. His body was taken to nearby Leicester and buried in the church of the Grey Friars. Over time the grave was lost. 

For many years there was a popular story that Richard’s remains were disinterred after the dissolution of the monasteries and tossed into the River Soar from Bow Bridge, the bridge he’d passed over when he rode out to battle. A variant of this tale claimed his remains were secretly fished out of the water and reburied beside the bridge.

On 4th February 2013 the University of Leicester confirmed that human remains excavated from beneath a car park on the site of the former Grey Friars church were those of King Richard and the 500 year old mystery was finally solved.

Richard III’s memorial stone in Leicester Cathedral where he will be reinterred next year.

If you are interested in the history and archaeology behind the discovery go to: http://www.le.ac.uk/richardiii/ They’re the experts. I just want to give you a glimpse of the effect King Richard has had on modern Leicester.

As soon as the announcement was made crowds came to see the Richard III exhibition in the Guildhall (see letter G), patiently queuing despite the cold weather. I’m afraid I waited till the initial rush had died down but I couldn’t resist taking some pictures of the waiting hordes. The exhibition is quite small but worth a look and includes a model of Richard’s skull.

Here are a few of the recent sightings of the king around Leicester:

This one remains my all time favourite:

Haymarket

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 8.

The Clock Tower with the former Eastgates Coffee House (see letter E) in the background.

Anyone who lives in Leicester will know the Clock Tower or to give it its full title The Haymarket Memorial Clock Tower. It’s the place where you arrange to meet your mates, where street preachers proclaim the word and where they put the festive tree at Christmas. As I was taking some photographs of it – with no particular intention of posting them on my blog – it suddenly struck me as a very curious structure so I had to find out more.

In the nineteenth century Leicester like so many British cities was rapidly expanding and although it brought prosperity, it also brought over crowding and traffic congestion on the streets. The Clock Tower stands on the site of the old Assembly Rooms which by 1801 were no longer required for their original purpose and fell to other uses including a hay and straw market.

Half a century later things had only got worse. Increasingly run down and congested with traffic, local traders attempted to get the area improved and in 1862 the Corporation began clearing the site. In 1867 the hay and straw market was moved to neighbouring Humberstone Gate. Despite this, discontent continued to rise. The traffic, a chaotic mix of horse drawn vehicles and pedestrians, had reached crisis point.

In 1867 a rumour began to spread that there were plans to erect an illuminated clock on the London Road and a campaign was begun to have it erected in East Gates as a safe refuge for people trying to cross the road. Soon the Haymarket Structure Committee was formed to collect subscriptions.

The design of the structure was thrown open to competition and the commission was awarded to Joseph Goddard (see letter B). By the beginning of 1869 the Clock Tower was complete.

So there you have it, the Clock Tower is no more than an ornamental traffic island. That is to say it was, the area has been pedestrianised and now it’s just the place where you meet your mates.

Details of the stonework, with sculptures by Samuel Barfield.

The four figures on the corners of of the Clock Tower are starting top left and going clockwise:

Simon De Montfort (c1208-65) – brother-in-law to Henry III, he was made Earl of Leicester in 1239. De Montfort is credited with summoning what is now regarded as the first parliament in 1265 but apart from his title had little if anything to do with Leicester.

Alderman Gabriel Newton (1683-1762) – a wool comber, later landlord of the Horse and Trumpet Inn near the High Cross, he acquired most of his wealth through his three marriages. He was Mayor of Leicester in 1732 and founded a school for 35 boys of ‘indigent necessitous parents’.

William Wyggeston or William of Wigston (1456-1536) – a wool merchant, he was Mayor of Leicester in 1499 and 1500, and MP for Leicester in 1504. He is chiefly remembered for his charitable works, notably the Wyggeston’s Hospital which housed 12 poor men and 12 poor women.

Sir Thomas White (1492-1567) – Lord Mayor of London and founder of St John’s College, Oxford. He inaugurated an interest-free loan scheme in 1551 which was made available to certain midland towns (including Leicester) in rotation to assist young men in setting themselves up in business.

Guildhall

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 7.

Today we go back to the fourteenth century and take a look at the Guildhall. This small but perfectly formed corner is about as far as you can get from hustle and bustle of the city centre although it’s just a short step away.

Built around 1390 for the Guild of Corpus Christi, a small but powerful group of businessmen and gentry, the Guildhall is one of the finest timber framed halls in the country. Between about 1495 and 1875 it served as the Town Hall and in 1632 the Town Library was set up in the East Wing. It was opened as a museum in 1926.

It currently houses a small temporary exhibition about the discovery of Richard III’s remains which were excavated near by.

The courtyard clock is a recreation of the automaton clock on All Saints Church, Highcross Street which I featured in a previous blog. (see here)

The statuette is a bronze figure of Ethelfloeda, Queen of Mercians, daughter of Alfred the Great who repelled the Danes from Leicester in 918 AD. In fact it is a replica of one that surmounted a drinking fountain in Victoria Park which was stolen in 1978.

The Great Hall was also used as a court house and there are cells underneath where you can see a gibbet. Gibbeting was was the practice of publicly displaying the bodies of executed criminals inside a cage as a warning to others.

The gibbet.

Free-thinkers

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 6.

Not all acts of philanthropy in Victorian Leicester were motivated by religious faith. By the mid nineteenth century a Secular movement had emerged out of political, social and religious radicalism. Leicester had rapidly expanded from a market town to a major industrial city and had a strong reputation for radicalism. 

The chief advocate of secularism in Leicester was the industrialist Josiah Gimson (1818-83). Together with his brother Benjamin he was the owner of a successful engineering firm in the city. Gimson and Company was one of the largest employers in the city and prided itself on being a model employer. In 1877 Josiah was elected as a Liberal councillor in the ward of West St Mary’s.

During the 1850s the Gimsons began attending meetings of the Secular Society in Leicester. However as time went on it became increasingly difficult for the society to hire rooms. They were often attached to churches. Rooms in pubs also became impossible as the clerical authorities were able to put pressure on landlords by refusing to renew their licences. In 1873 Josiah Gimson proposed that the Secular Society build their own hall.

The Secular Hall in Humberstone Gate, “… for revolt against priestly pretensions, and for endeavours after a happier social environment.” Josiah Gimson.

The hall was designed by the architect W. Larner Sugden, of Leek in Staffordshire who was a friend of the artist and designer William Morris. Opened on the 6 March, 1881, it is situated in Humberstone Gate. After Gimson’s death in 1883 the family remained closely involved with the movement. His fourth son Ernest, became a designer and architect and was a significant figure in the Arts and Craft movement.

Along the façade of the building set in aedicules above the ground floor are five terracotta busts depicting notable free-thinkers, designed by Ambroise Louis Vago. Starting at the top left hand corner and going clockwise they are:

Robert Owen (1771-1858), Montgomeryshire born socialist and philanthropist. Was instrumental in bringing about the 1812 Factory act and founding the co-operative movement.

Thomas Paine (1737-1809), a Quaker and political writer, he supported the revolutionary cause in America. Author of ‘The Rights of Man’.

Voltaire (1694-1778), French philosopher and writer whose ideas prepared the way for the French Revolution.

Jesus Christ, included for his principles of charity, sincerity and humility rather than a belief in his divine nature. When the hall opened, the inclusion of Christ was very controversial and was widely condemned from the pulpit and in the press.

Socrates (496-399 BC), Greek philosopher. Regarded as one of the founders of Western Philosophy.

Eastgates

A to Z Challenge – travels round Leicester with my camera No 5.

The centre of modern Leicester has plenty of cafés and coffee shops and it’s easy to take them for granted they’re so ubiquitous. During the nineteenth century there was also a coffee house culture, albeit one tied to the temperance movement. In 1877 the Leicester Coffee and Cocoa House Company was formed with the aim of providing a comfortable, alcohol free environment which could be frequented by both men and women. The coffee houses had a room for ladies and customers could enjoy a game of billiards free of charge. They remained popular until after the Great War.

The East Gates (or Eastgates) Coffee House on the corner of East Gate and Church Gate was built for the company in 1885 in a Tudor style and was designed by the architect Edward Burgess who’s brother was the company’s solicitor. Burgess designed several coffee houses for the company in a variety of styles. 

The building was renovated by the then owners JD Sports in 2011 and given Grade II listing but is currently unoccupied.

The Victoria Coffee House (1888) in Granby Street was another of Burgess’s creations, built this time in a French Renaissance style. Also Grade II listed, now a restaurant.

The Victoria Coffee House

Burgess designed the Highcross Coffee House in High Street for the company in 1895. Also Grade II listed. It is now (sound of temperance campaigners turning in their graves) a pub.

The High Cross Coffee House

Finally, the Albert Coffee House in Belgrave Gate, not listed.

Albert Coffee House