Back In Leicester Again Part 5 — Black And White
Following on from my route around to take photos of interesting buildings at night on Friday night, I was up and out of the hotel by 8am on the Sunday morning to go around and take the same buildings in the daylight, but in black and white.
Being at the Holiday Inn, I started the loop at a different place and the first few were taken in a different order from the loop I did on Friday night, and there was no long wander along Bath Lane and All Saints Road this time.
The final photo from the Friday night was the first of the day, and the first of the five city centre medieval churches — St Nicholas.
And just around the other side of it, Shaftesbury House.
And from there I turned into Great Central Street and past the former Leicester Central Station.
I continued down Great Central Street and to All Saints Church.
I cut through the back of the church yard and out to Vaughan Way and then back down to Sanvey Gate, not the most direct route, but picking up one of the few streets I didn’t wander around on the Saturday, and made my way around to the third of the Medieval churches — St Margaret’s church.
I was now on my route from the Friday night and I headed up Church Gate and got the Art Deco Langton’s
If I thought Church Gate was dead on the Friday Night, it is a little strewn wasteland on a Sunday morning. I come out into East Gates and get a photo of the old Irish Menswear building.
There isn’t the buzz in East Gates as there was on the Friday night. There aren’t the throngs of Uber Eats, Deliveroo, and Just Eats delivery bikers and their electric bikes, just the odd one. I stop to get a nice unhealthy Maccy D’s breakfast and sit in the window looking out over the pedestrianised area. The beggars are out early, approaching any of the few passersby to ask for money. It is funny to note that the affected limp disappears after someone gives one of them some money, as after the mark has gone, the beggar puts a sprint in to tell their mates and wave the note he has been given around in a ‘look what I got’ display of joy. Three of them wander off, presumably to spend their new ‘fortune’.
Once breakfast has been devoured there are three quick shots close by, The Clock Tower,
Lewis’s Tower
And the tri-sports statue.
Then I head up Gallowtree Gate, enjoying the lack of people around as it is long before the shops open. At the other end there is a shot of the Market arch with the Corn Exchange behind.
And on the corner of Granby Street is the NatWest building.
I walk up Granby Street and get the Turkey Café.
Before one of the Grand Hotel.
After which I turned around and headed back towards the Town Hall Square. I had said that none of the shops were open this early on a Sunday morning. However Ladbrokes was and there were people going in, which seems even more incongruent with Sunday trading than any of the other shops that will open later. A lot of the churches are closed apart from services, but never mind, you can always put a bet on.
In the town hall square it was more photos in quick succession. The Wesleyan chapel.
The fountain
The Town Hall clock
And the front of the Town Hall itself.
In between black and white photos I was taking the quiet time to get all the information boards just to be sure. It was back to black and white by the time I got to Belvoir Street and the Belvoir Street chapel (or pork pie chapel as I’ve always known it).
Followed by the old Fenwick’s building
The corner building at the King Street / Wellington Street split,
And the Phoenix Assurance building
Then John Biggs’ statue.
Walking down Pocklington’s Walk, the busiest place from Friday evening is now deserted as no one is on the pavement outside Duffy’s. I head around to Hotel Street and the Assembly Rooms.
Then the Saracen’s Head (yes, I know it’s the Knight and Garter, but I’m as likely to call it that as I ever was to call it Molly O’Gradys when it was that) opposite it.
From there it is down to the corner of St Martin’s and the former NatWest building on the corner.
Then along to the statue of Richard III.
In trying for a decent shot of the Cathedral I find that where I was stood on Friday night to try and take one is now blocked off with even more corrugated steel fencing, and I go around to the other side to get a photo without and fencing in the way.
I found I wasn’t the only one out early to take photos without people getting in the way. I exchanged pleasantries with an older American couple who were doing the same thing. We avoided getting in each other’s photos and I got the next on the list — The Guildhall.
Across Jubilee Square there is the Alfred Lenton shop.
In the square are several council street cleaners, who have a task on their hands with the large number of imbeciles we have in this country who couldn’t find a bin even if they were stuffed in it. They were chatting and psyching themselves up before starting on masses of litter. I took a photo of Wygston’s House, and was happy to see the same group of people weren’t still sat outside drinking.
Then it was along Applegate and to the De Montfort University campus for a whole flurry of photos in quick succession, starting with the Magazine Gateway
Then the Newarke Houses
And the Hawthorn Building
Trinity Hospital
Turret Gateway
St Mary de Castro (not open, but remember, the bookies was).
The Castle Hall
And Castle House
From both sides.
And then this time it was straight back to the hotel I could see from the last location, and crossing St Nicholas Circle at this time on a Sunday morning is a lot less hazardous than it has been.
All the other pieces relating to my 2024 Leicester trip are in this library.
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