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| Copyright © Dennis Calow |
Butt Close Lane is still there and is home to The Salmon, one of the city's finest pubs.
These buildings on the corner of East Bond Street, however, have long gone. They were photographed in 1965.
Vanished Leicester: Butt Close Lane
Butt Close Lane is still there and is home to The Salmon, one of the city's finest pubs.
These buildings on the corner of East Bond Street, however, have long gone. They were photographed in 1965.
Work begins on bridging the gap at Loughborough
Last summer I wrote about the project to bridge the gap at Loughborough that separates the Great Central Railway and the Great Central Railway - Nottingham.
There is good news on the latter's website:
One of the biggest projects in railway preservation is about to get underway. A new bridge will be built in Loughborough to carry the tracks of the award winning heritage line, the Great Central Railway over the Midland Main Line. The new bridge is part of a chain of infrastructure which will ultimately allow two halves of the Great Central Railway to reconnect, creating an eighteen mile heritage line between Leicester and Nottingham.
After three years of planning and fundraising, contractors will start on site in mid-February. A traditional Victorian style 'turning of the first sod' ceremony (which took place at the start of the many railway construction projects) will take place on Friday the 12th of February at 1pm. The ceremony will be carried out by the Nicky Morgan who is MP for Loughborough.
"This is a very exciting moment," said Bill Ford, Managing Director of the Great Central Railway. "We have cherished this vision for decades, so to finally make a start on the ground is very important for us. So many people around the world and in the local community have donated money which has given the project life. Today’s start of work is a tribute to their faith. We know they'll be watching as the work progresses!"I look forward to the gap being bridged - the photo above shows its southern edge. At present the Great Central Railway - Nottingham is a bit of a mystery to those of us in Leicestershire. Rather like the Eastern Roman Empire.
A peacock for Lady Jane Grey
Lady Jane Grey was executed on this day, 12 February, in 1554 after a reign of nine days as Queen of England.
She was born and spent most of her life at Bradgate, her family's estate in Leicestershire.
Today the ruins of the house can be found in Bradgate Park. The estate was privately purchased from the Grey family and given to the people of Leicestershire by Charles Bennion in 1928.
Here, in her honour, is a peacock climbing on those ruins.
The Croxley Green branch today
Last month I publish a video of Watford West in its final days.
This one from Londonist shows that station and the whole branch as they are today, awaiting revival as part of the Metropolitan line.
