The Leicestershire Historian 51

John Nichols, Leicestershire historian and his many letters

New publications for review.

Belgrave Hall, after its acquisition by Leicester Borough Council in 1936 and conversion into a museum, the Hall and it sgardens still retained their air of mystery and intrigue, due in part to their unusual design and development.

The twentieth century saw the disappearance of large numbers of country houses, particularly during the period between the two World Wars. In Leicestershire there are a number of early examples of houses which, for various reasons, were vacated by their owners, and which subsequently disappeared

Before bridges, rivers presented significant obstacles to overland travel giving importance to locations where they could be more-or-less reliably forded. Yet, at the same time, rivers were in themselves important routeways – not least when transporting goods which were too heavy or bulky to be easily carried overland. Put these two ideas together and little surprise that places where rivers could be forded became trading places

The first 50 year history of Charnwood Street, Leicester