Three Provi
dence Pl
ace Lei
cester
Lei
cester i
s a ci
ty i
n the mi
ddl
e of Engl
and that i
s famous for Garry Li
neker,
Bel
grave road, [the curry mi
l
e] known by that name because every other shop
i
s an I
ndi
an curry restaurant. Al
so, the Lei
cester Crazy gang, Wal
ker’
s cri
sps
that has bui
l
t a great bi
g factory on the ol
d Ci
ty farms, my ol
d hunti
ng ground Cardi
nal
Wol
sel
ey who i
s buri
ed i
n the Abbey Park and the bi
rth pl
ace of Thomas Cook, the
travel agents.
I
van Marks, the coarse fi
sherman and a gentl
eman now deceased was from there.
I thi
nk St. Peter was havi
ng a hard ti
me catchi
ng fi
sh and needed some hel
p. Not
forgetti
ng Ri
chard the Thi
rd, who was defeated and ki
l
l
ed at the battl
e of Bosworth
and they say hi
s body was thrown i
n to the ri
ver Soar off West Bri
dge i
n Lei
cester.
The area of Provi
dence Pl
ace was known as Wharf Street, whi
ch was wel
l known
for the bi
rth of the ‘
El
ephant Man, John Meri
ck,
’ Hi
l
l
er’
s the butcher shop, and Sue
T ownsend the author of the Secret Di
ary of Adri
an Mol
e. And not forgetti
ng l
ady Jane
Grey who was the Queen of Engl
and before bei
ng beheaded i
n the Tower of London
aged 17 years. She l
i
ved i
n what i
s now Bradgate Park i
n Lei
cestershi
re and was the
shortest rei
gni
ng queen of Engl
and whi
ch was for, I thi
nk, si
x days.
Nearl
y al
l the streets were made of cobbl
estones and the street l
i
ghts were powered
by gas. Al
l the streets l
ooked the same and they ran i
n di
fferent di
recti
ons wi
th rows
of terraced houses runni
ng al
l the way down one si
de of the street and back up the
other. There was an entry to the backyards every ten houses or so. Those yards were
very much al
i
ke wi
th a coupl
e of col
d water taps for those who wi
shed to shower.
We had a Mr. Wri
ght i
n our yard. He woul
d shower i
n the col
dest of weather.
I recal
l he was a bi
g man wi
th bi
g muscl
es. My dad tol
d me he was a consci
enti
ous
obj
ector and al
l the men i
n our yard hated hi
m. Any di
sputes i
n thi
s area were settl
ed
i
n the street. The men woul
d take thei
r shi
rts off and fi
ght i
t out, and then shake hands;
foul l
anguage was the norm and thi
s was one tough pl
ace to be brought up.
There was one ti
me when the Wi
thers’ had a fal
l out wi
th another fami
l
y.
Thi
s was settl
ed on the street. The headl
i
ne i
n the Mercury, our l
ocal paper, that ni
ght
was, ‘
The Battl
e of Provi
dence Pl
ace.
’ The counci
l duri
ng the war had a l
etter si
gned
to say thanks to Hi
tl
er i
f he ever happened to drop any bombs around there. But I
l
i
ked i
t. I
t was home and better than nothi
ng.
However, one thi
ng that di
d al
ways sti
ck out i
n my mi
nd was the thi
ck bl
ack
smoke comi
ng out of the chi
mneys when i
t was col
d. I remember my mum burni
ng
ol
d shoes. I
t l
ooked horri
bl
e even to me and the area was a haven for rats, fl
eas, and
bed bugs.
Nearl
y al
l the
streets were
made of
cobbl
estones
and the street
l
i
ghts were
powered
by gas.