A good deed and exploring Leicester

Yesterday, a bat, today a bee - huddled on the windowsill looking cold and miserable - so I put out some water and honey, and within five minutes it buzzed and flew away! 

Then we decided to go to Leicester for one or two essentials, and combine it with a visit to Abbey Park. We first discovered the park at the end of April, though we walked a long way round to reach it, via the Great Central Station and cafe, the medieval Trinity Hospital, and Jewry Wall Roman Baths.

 We spent some time sitting drawing - I did a few sketches of this drake.

River Soar

We wandered over to the cafe, only to find it had just closed.

This time we took a more direct route, and reached the cafe in good time. The ice-cream was excellent, and the rain and wind that had appeared on cue as we ate a sandwich earlier stayed away.

The canal on the way to the park

The cardinal looks distinctly odd as he stands guard outside Peppercorn Cafe. 

He died in Leicester - maybe it was a better bet than facing the wrath of Henry VIII. 

Close to the cafe are two gardens, the Lavender Garden and the Cloister Garden.

Wonderful artichokes

The reconstructed wall plan of the abbey is just beyond, and the ruined gatehouse a little further still. It was an enormous place before being destroyed.

 The remains of the gatehouse are a little further on.

It's remarkable how much there is to discover in places we think we know.

More Leicester oddments

Very literal old sign

The Leicestershire Butchers Hide Skin & Fat Company building on Queen Street is now a car park. The sign still remains above the entrance. The company appears to have been formed in 1867 and transferred business operations to Somerset and is now dissolved. Info from empedia

Leicester going continental

I imagine this is a self-confident Victorian building

One of the ground floor windows

Some info on Faire Brothers and CO.  It seems they still manufacture paper.

The magnificent entrance to what is now residential flats

Leicester covered market - always worth a visit

Autumn colours hanging in there

Verdigris on the turret

Modern reflections

John Biggs - another Leicester man

We were walking between Highcross Shopping Centre and Newarke Street car park by the direct route, rather than the circuitous one we tried earlier - Leicester played its old trick of shifting in space when we weren't concentrating.

There on Welford Place is a statue of John Biggs (1801 - 1871).  I'm always curious about these characters. No photograph by me, but this link has one.  The information below comes from a blog.
John was the eldest son of a hosiery manufacturer, and a Unitarian. He was a social reformer, respected by the Chartists as a model employer, and he became mayor of Leicester in 1840, 1847, and 1856 and borough magistrate from 1840.  He campaigned for the improvement of conditions at work for children, and the abolition of the practice of renting frames to framework knitters - a way of charging workers almost as much as they earned. 

Portrait of the British School, unknown artist. In Leicester Town Hall

He was a Leicester MP from 1856 to 1862.  However his business failed around the same time, as trade had become very sluggish, and expenses high. He died with less than £1000 in his estate.
The original statue was the work of G.F.Lawson in granite. It was later replaced by a bronze cast.

For more information, see the blog referred to above. There is also a lengthier examination of the Biggs family. 

Leicester snippets

Early Christmas shopping excursion. I should add this was last year, before Christmas 2014!  Just catching up with some unposted stuff!

Agnes Archer Evans

from the Leicester Lit and Phil Society web page.

This plaque is at 6, St Martins, where Agnes Archer Evans lived for some time after her marriage.

Born in 1851,  Agnes Archer Kilgour became headmistress of the Belmont House School on New Walk in Leicester in 1882. As well as being a founder member of the Women's Suffrage Society, she was active in the School Board and helped establish kindergartens.

She was also involved in the Leicester branch of the National Union of Women Workers, and became president of the Health Society, aiming to reduce infant mortality in the town, by educating mothers. 

She died in 1924.

Thanks to Ned Newitt's The Who's Who of Radical Leicester for the above information.

She was also the first woman president of Leicester Literary and Philosophical Society . She was born in Tasmania, and was the first of thirteen children born to Susan Anne Archer and Dr John Stewart Kilgour, a Scottish physician working on the island.  The family returned to Britain in about 1860.

Agnes married William Evans in 1895.

Fanny Fullagar

Since we were in tourist mode on Wednesday,  I snapped a couple of Leicester's blue plaques and decided to find a out a bit about the people honoured in this way.

This plaque is on the wall of the former Registry Office in Pocklingtons Walk. It celebrates Fanny Fullagar.

For my information I am indebted to this article in the Western Park Gazette online and to a short article in The Who's Who of Radical Leicester compiled by Ned Newitt.

There is a photograph of her in the Western Park Gazette article.

Fanny Fullagar was a doctor's daughter, born in 1847 in Leicester, and she made a huge contribution to  society, in a very Victorian way.  

She campaigned for better training for midwives, and helped create the Bond Street Maternity Hospital.

She stood for election for Poor Law Guardian in the All Saints/Newton Ward in 1889 and was elected every year until 1904, when she lost by one vote. 

She was a member of the local Women's Suffrage Society, a founder member of Leicester NSPCC, and also worked for St John Ambulance and the RSPCA.
She never married though she was reputed to be engaged for seven years.

She died in 1918 - the year when women over 30 got the right to vote in the UK.

Leicester Cathedral - a glimpse

I didn't know there was a cathedral in Leicester until a couple of years ago.  No reason for me to know - I don't go to church, and to me Leicester has just been a place to go to the shops when absolutely necessary,  and a good excuse to wander around and explore the coffee shops, and soak up a dose of city atmosphere.  

The cathedral is not a grand edifice like Lincoln, Salisbury or Winchester.  It's full title is the Cathedral Church of St Martin, and it became a cathedral in 1927, after the diocese of Leicester was recreated in 1926.

Most of what we see today is the result of a Victorian renovation.  From the outside it looks like a very large church, and the grounds are not extensive, though there is a garden in front.  

from the Guildhall window

My first view of it in 2011 was the back entrance next to the Guildhall, with enough place for two small cars and a notice - "Parking for the Bishop". 

I think it's become much better known as a result of the King in the Car Park stories.

The spire seen through the windows of the Guildhall

The Vaughan Porch - at the main entrance on the south side.

The interior is light and airy - no pews, but chairs, which can be moved as needed.
Two particular points of interest inside the cathedral are the Richard III memorial stone, and the Herrick chapel.  The Herricks were the family of the poet Robert Herrick, of "Fair Daffodils" fame, a prosperous and well regarded family.

Leicester Guildhall

The Guildhall

It is a fine example of a timber-framed building, and dates back six centuries. 
It was originally built in 1390 as a meeting place for the Guild of Corpus Christi, but soon became the meeting place of Leicester Corporation, who bought the building in 1548 for £25 15s 4d.

This room contains a library of old books, chests, chairs and a desk as well as the long table.

Mirrors are always tempting.

The Bible - you can look but you'd better not touch!

By 1563 Assizes Courts were held in the Guildhall and the Recorder of Leicester was authorised to hear various cases.

In 1580 this room was fitted up as a bedroom.  The furniture is not original, but is of the sort used in the 16th and 17th centuries.

The Great Hall - used as a courtroom, for theatrical performances, civic events and banquets.

After a new Town Hall was opened in 1876 the Guildhall fell into disrepair. It was restored and renovated, and opened as a museum in 1926.

At present the Guildhall is used for performances, and is also a museum open to the public.