Loughborough, Town Centre c.1965

Photo ref: L197096

Photo ref: L197096

Photo of Loughborough, Town Centre c.1965

More about this scene

There was even a bomb plot! The Chartists held meetings behind the Unicorn Hotel and on one occasion a crude explosive device was found there. Fortunately, it was not detonated but it shows how serious matters were. After 1848, Chartism died away but politics continued to be fuel for Loughborough's lawlessness. Despite all the disorder, Loughborough's ratepayers petitioned that the 'new' full- time police should not be stationed in Loughborough. They said it was because there was little crime and adequate watchmen but really they did not want the additional expense of the police. Consequently, the police only came to Loughborough eight years after most of the rest of Leicestershire. Custody facilities were also bad and the 'house of correction' attracted complaints of severe overcrowding. However, it took 20 years before the first police station was built, in Woodgate. The imposing entrance doors were designed so that drunken Loughburians could be pushed straight through the doors on wheeled trolleys and tipped straight into the waiting arms of the station sergeant.

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A Selection of Memories from Loughborough

For many years now, we've been inviting visitors to our website to add their own memories to share their experiences of life as it was, prompted by the photographs in our archive. Here are some from Loughborough

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Football

My father would take me to watch the Brush football team play at home matches, one of my relatives played for them; his name was Stan Hodges. The ground was behind the Queens Park, I remember a narrow foot to the entrance where it opened out, near the turnstile to get into the ground. Years later it was closed and a leisure centre was put in its place.

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Added 18 January 2014

Simpkin & James

This was a wonderful delicatessen (although it would have described itself as "general provisions" or something like that, It had huge cheeses and whole sides of smoked pork and giant hams in the window. It had a unique smell - a mixture of spices, coffee, smoked meat and cheese. NO modern deli comes anywhere near it - apart possibly from Volpetti in Testaccio, Rome.

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Added 22 December 2013

Swimming Baths

In my final year at Mountfields we were led up to the swimming baths in a long crocodile to be taught how to swim, if we couldn't already. I'd just about learnt to swim the previous summer holiday in Wales, but it felt much easier (& a lot warmer) in the swimming pool. The changing areas were quite primitive. Some of us used to go swimming here on Wednesday afternoon when I was at Loughborough Grammar School (when we worked Saturday mornings, but not Wednesday afternoons).