Stephen Butt - Böcker

Leicester is built upon the work of the innovators, entrepreneurs and pioneers of past centuries. Henry Walker looked for a meat substitute during rationing after the Second World War and created the world-famous potato crisp brand. Another local man, Henry Curry, used metalworking skills acquired maintaining steam engines to construct bicycles, and his business would later become Curry’s PC World.In this book, author Stephen Butt celebrates the heritage, culture and identity of the city. Leicester is the home of the UK’s first mainland local radio station. It’s where Gary Lineker first kicked a ball, and Thomas Cook envisaged worldwide holidays. It’s where composer Sir Michael Tippett decided upon a musical career and Sir David Attenborough found his calling as a naturalist.The city’s universities are at the forefront of research. Dr Alec Jeffries pioneered DNA fingerprinting in the 1980s, and many technologies combined to verify the remains of Richard III, discovered under one of the city’s car parks. The National Space Centre is at the heart of the brand-new Leicester Space Park, which will be home to the Leicester Institute for Space and Earth Observation.From Roman engineering to space travel, there is much to celebrate in Leicester’s two-thousand-year history.Illustrated throughout, this engaging and informative book will be of interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the city.

Leicester’s history can be traced back to an Iron Age settlement by the River Soar and a subsequent Roman town where the Fosse Way crossed the river. Mediaeval Leicester flourished around its Norman castle, merchants and religious houses but was also subject to plagues and civil war. Industrialisation and coal mining brought wealth into Leicester in the nineteenth century but also prepared the ground for welfare movements and radical politics in the city. Today’s Leicester is a bustling city with a diverse economy – the largest in the East Midlands.Illustrated throughout, this accessible historical portrait of the transformation that Leicester has undergone through the ages will be of great interest to residents, visitors and all those with links to the area.

The history of Kibworth Beauchamp, Kibworth Harcourt and Smeeton Westerby is well-documented. These three villages in south Leicestershire share a long and often dramatic past in which their inhabitants have faced the horror ofthe Black Death, have struggled through times of poverty and hardship, and have witnessed the growth of industry following the building of the canals and the railways. In more recent times, the ever-changing landscape of the villages has been recorded diligently by a number of fine local photographers, in particular Alonzo Freeland, Walter Bale and Charles Cooper; three men who made sure that a permanent record was made of the people, the buildings and the events that change communities. Their work is the foundation for this contemporary visual record of the Kibworth villages.

Tourism was born in Market Harborough in 1841 when Thomas Cook, a local cabinetmaker, set off towards Leicester and had his dream of worldwide working-class travel. The town was born to serve travellers. Centuries before, the town had been built to provide a market place for trades-people near to the 'new' highway connecting Northampton and Leicester. Eight hundred years later, the market is still busy, though now indoors, and the original Square is still bustling with shoppers. As a boy on the playing fields of the local school, former England team captain Martin Johnson discovered his finesse in Rugby. In the nineteenth century, William Symington and his family put Market Harborough on the manufacturing map by creating pea flour and a range of tempting sauces. In the last century the town could claim to be a 'crisp capital' of England, being the home of Golden Wonder crisps.

Loughborough is more than a market town, although the market is still held, twice-weekly, in the heart of the town, and is over seven hundred years old. The town's university is a world leader in sport with many of the most celebrated names in sport having studied here, including Sebastian Coe, Paula Radcliffe and Steve Backley. Loughborough was the destination of the world's first railway excursion, organised by Thomas Cook, and steam trains still bring tourists here on the Great Central Railway. Many locomotives from steam to Eurostar power cars have been built in the town, but its greatest export is undoubtedly bells. John Taylor's bell foundry is the largest in the world and is where Great Paul in St Paul's Cathedral, the bells in York Minster, and even the bell heard on the Australian rock band AC/DC's song, 'Hells Bells', were cast. This unique selection of old and new images and informative captions is a must read for anyone who knows and loves this town.

For the people of Leicester, the 1960s was a decade of great social and economic change. It was to see a revolution in social attitudes reflected in the popular music of the time, in fashion, and in the print and broadcast media.Life changed for everyone. Railway stations closed as the motor vehicle grew in popularity. National Service ended, the pirate radio stations were scuppered, colour television became available, and the fashion garments manufactured by Leicester’s giant textile companies were very different and sometimes extreme as hemlines rose dramatically. Changing attitudes led to social conflict between parents and children, teachers and pupils.Meanwhile, the teenagers danced at Il Rondo to The Who and Fleetwood Mac, and swooned to The Beatles at the De Montfort Hall. In Leicester in the 1960s, Stephen Butt charts the excitement and vibrancy of the ‘Swinging Sixties’ and reflects also on the economic and social problems that were just beneath the surface.

The 1970s was a decade of change. Supermarkets began to take over from traditional stores, high-rise office blocks appeared on the skyline, and Leicester’s first shopping centre replaced familiar Victorian shops and hotels. It was a time of industrial unrest. The lights went out as coal stocks diminished. Pay packets were depleted as Leicester’s workers faced a three-day week, prices in the shops began to soar, and we all shivered during the ‘winter of discontent’.It was a turning point in the way we viewed ourselves and the world. Social attitudes to mental health, homosexuality and feminism were still rooted in the past, but the world was changing. People took to Leicester’s streets to support anti-racism, and we began to clean up our environment.In Leicester in the 1950s Stephen Butt remembers what made the decade so special for so many, but also the events which were to change significantly the course of Leicester’s future.

Until the railways arrived, Weston-super-Mare was a town without a history. Weston grew into a major seaside resort from a little fishing village with just a handful of houses in under one hundred years. After a period of decline, it has sucessfully recreated itself as a holiday destination for the twenty-first century and as one of Somerset’s major towns.Iron-Age settlers, Romans, seventeenth-century smugglers, John Cleese (television comedian and top-selling writer of Monty Python fame), actors and even the wireless pioneer Gugliemo Marconi play a part in the story of Weston’s past. A walk along the town’s seafront demonstrates the amazing diversity of the town, encompassing Victorian enterprise, Edwardian splendour, the commercial endeavour of the new-Elizabethans and the remarkable flood defences of the twenty-first century. This edition of Weston-super-Mare Through Time is fully updated.

Leicester’s pubs have always been more than mere watering holes. They are where businesses were created, battle plans drawn up and where murderers once faced up to their crimes.Richard III spent his final night in Leicester at the Blue Boar in Highcross Street. Nathaniel Corah began his textile manufacturing empire, which employed thousands of Leicester people, at the Globe on Silver Street in 1815. Condemned prisoners on the way to the gallows at Red Hill were allowed a final drink at the Talbot Inn in Belgrave where there are still ghostly sightings, and at the Belper Arms in Newton Burgoland ‘Five to four Fred’ makes his presence felt precisely at that time.Other local taverns are frequented for specific purposes, such as those near the Leicester Royal Infirmary’s Maternity Unit where fathers-to-be and new fathers steady their nerves or celebrate the arrival of their offspring. Now, in the Stoneygate suburb, there’s even a Real Ale Classroom complete with blackboard and school bells where customers can be educated about beer.Leicester Pubs is a ‘pub tour with culture’, reflecting Leicester’s history through the colourful stories of its inns and taverns.

Leicester History Tour is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this East Midlands city. Local author Stephen Butt guides us through the streets and alleyways, showing how its famous landmarks used to look and how they’ve changed over the years, as well as exploring its lesser-known places and hidden corners. With the help of a handy location map, readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and discover for themselves the changing face of Leicester.

Leicester is proud of its industrial heritage. The eighteenth and nineteenth centuries saw the city’s population grow rapidly with the construction of the Grand Union Canal and the arrival of the railway, which not only provided a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries but also linked the town to the national network. These developments encouraged and accompanied a process of industrialisation that intensified throughout the Victorian era; hosiery, textiles, and footwear became the major industrial employers.Leicester at Work explores the life of the East Midlands’ largest city and its people, from pre-industrial beginnings through to the present day. In a fascinating series of contemporary photographs and illustrations it takes readers through the city’s dramatic industrial growth, the steady decline in Leicester’s traditional manufacturing industries during the post-war years and their replacement by new jobs in the service sector, particularly in retail. It takes us into the technologically advanced world of today, showing how Leicester has reinvented itself as a major distribution centre and how the city has managed to attract new service and manufacturing businesses through its academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University and nearby Loughborough University.

Weston-super-Mare History Touris a unique insight into the illustrious history of this famous old seaside resort and shows just how much it has changed during the course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Readers are invited to follow author Stephen Butt as he guides them through its streets and alleyways, pointing out the well-known and lesser-known landmarks along the way.

This illustrated history portrays one of England’s finest major cities and some of its county towns and villages. It provides a nostalgic look at Leicester’s past and highlights the special character of some of its most important historic sites. The photographs are taken from the Historic England Archive, a unique collection of over 12 million photographs, drawings, plans and documents covering England’s archaeology, architecture, social and local history. Pictures date from the earliest days of photography to the present and cover subjects from Bronze Age burials and medieval churches to cinemas and seaside resorts.Historic England: Leicester shows the city as it once was, from its churches, parks, streets and alleyways to its Victorian mills and textile factories. Leicester has been at the very heart of the country’s political and economic development for over two millennia. Evidence of Roman occupation remains at the Jewry Wall, Cardinal Wolsey lies buried in Leicester Abbey and, in 2012, the skeleton of Richard III was discovered lying beneath a car park. The city grew rapidly in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries with the construction of the Grand Union Canal and the arrival of the railway. These developments encouraged and accompanied a process of industrialisation which intensified throughout the Victorian era; hosiery, textiles, and footwear became the major industrial employers. Today, Leicester is a major distribution centre and has attracted new service and manufacturing businesses through its academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University and nearby Loughborough University. Leicester remains one of the country’s most important cities and this book will help you discover its colourful and fascinating history.

Leicester Through Time is a unique insight into the illustrious history of this part of the country. Reproduced in full colour, this is an exciting examination of Leicester, the famous streets and the famous faces, and what they meant to the people of Leicester throughout the 19th and into the 20th Century. Looking beyond the exquisite exterior of these well-kept photos, readers can see the historical context in which they are set. Through the author's factual captions for every picture, and carefully-selected choice of images, the reader can achieve a reliable view of the city's history. Readers are invited to follow a timeline of events and watch the changing face of Leicester, as the author guides us through the city's streets. There is something for everyone here, whether they have lived in Leicester all their lives, or whether they are just visiting this vibrant city. It also shows how photography has continually evolved to keep up with an ever changing society.