Walking. Gossip. Travel.

Tag: Leicester

  • BrewDog in Leicester

    BrewDog in Leicester

    BrewDog

    Address: Brewdog, 8 Friar Lane, Leicester

    Local Council: Leicester

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • Brick And Beam in Leicester

    Brick And Beam in Leicester

    Brick And Beam

    Address: Lewcos House, 12 Queen Street, Leicester

    Local Council: Leicester

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • 2Funky Music Cafe in Leicester

    2Funky Music Cafe in Leicester

    2Funky Music Cafe

    Address: 23A New Park Street, Leicester

    Local Council: Leicester

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • 2Funky Street Kitchen in Leicester

    2Funky Street Kitchen in Leicester

    2Funky Street Kitchen

    Address: 23A New Park Street, Leicester

    Local Council: Leicester

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • 3 Kilns in Leicester

    3 Kilns in Leicester

    3 Kilns

    Address: Three Kilns, 69 Nicklaus Road, Leicester

    Local Council: Leicester

    I haven’t yet visited this pub, but maybe sometime soon….. When I do, this text will disappear and my ‘fascinating’ comments about the pub will appear instead.

    For the moment, here’s my list of Good Beer Guide pubs visited. And for anyone interested, which I accept isn’t likely to be many people, my favourite pub so far is the Hop and Vine in Hull. Untappd is a handy place to see where I’ve been recently (and feel free to add me, the more the merrier).

    I also don’t have an interview with anyone from this pub, but if they want to take part then please do contact me. It’ll also be an effort to update this database with pub closures and updates, but I’ll change the details of anywhere that I’m contacted about. I’m updating on a regular basis new pubs and also removing venues which are clearly more restaurants than pubs. And the pub that I’m saddest about closing is Goose Island in London which shut its doors in late 2022…..

    This project is I accept entirely unachievable, namely trying to visit not only every Good Beer Guide pub in the country but having a fair crack of trying to visit as many pubs as I can. But, I have to start somewhere and here is where we’re starting. The image in the photo is from the Phantom Brewery Tap in Reading.

  • Leicester – Travelodge Leicester Central

    Leicester – Travelodge Leicester Central

    Not to be confused with the nearby, new and what I consider to be the inadequate Travelodge Leicester City Centre, this hotel is older and I think that it’s much more functional and welcoming. Some of the public areas need something of a refurbishment (particularly the carpets in the corridors), but the staff were friendly and helpful.

    The view from my room, perhaps not the most exotic and decadent. However, the window opened and there was a fan in the room, which is all that I need to control the temperature to suit my needs.

    The room, all to brand standard. Perhaps not entirely spotless, but clean enough. They’re using sheets on the bed rather than duvets, although the duvet is in a bag in the corner.

    One of the older style Travelodges which still has a bath rather than just a shower. I liked this hotel and it’s moderately well reviewed, although there are a fair few comments about the rooms needing modernisation. Some people don’t like the lack of air conditioning, but I’m not sure that that will ever be the preserve of the budget hotel, it can’t be a cheap thing to implement and maintain in every room. I didn’t encounter any noise issues internally, and I rather liked hearing the city itself when opening the windows, I don’t really like being hermetically sealed into a room. Apparently there’s sometimes a nightclub open nearby, which I can’t imagine is ideal for some guests, although it wouldn’t annoy me.

    I noted the review that said:

    “The reception didn’t let me in, and the two ladies at the reception was very rude to me. So she rang the police, and the police had arrived and I had been escorted out, and the police brought back my items from the room.”

    I’d very much like to hear the other side of that story, it sounds intriguing. Unfortunately, Travelodge have got bored of replying to reviews over the last couple of years (although before then they were generic responses which added little value anyway), so there’s not much that can be ascertained here.

    Anyway, this was a reasonably priced night and I’d stay here again, especially as it’s usually the cheaper of the two Travelodges in the city.

  • Leicester – Travelodge Leicester City Centre

    Leicester – Travelodge Leicester City Centre

    This is from my stay in early September 2021, the nearly new Leicester City Centre Travelodge. I’ve been deeply impressed this year by much of what Travelodge are doing, but as far as I could see this hotel was ineptly managed. Firstly, it took me the best part of half an hour to get in, as there is no working intercom at the front door. The shopping centre entrance was closed when I visited, so the only way in was via the car park entrance. That required me to press the buzzer to the car park, which is privately operated, who let me in so that I could walk around to the hotel.

    I got to reception and there were no staff, just a queue of other annoyed guests. The staff member seemed perplexed that the buzzer wasn’t working, although it transpired it had been broken for some days, it hadn’t occurred to them to put a sign up. The staff member mentioned I could have phoned the local number on the sign at reception, but I wasn’t entirely sure how she thought I was going to have seen that, and the phone number in the booking was a premium rate one. The reason I must admit to being annoyed at the management is that guests the next day still couldn’t get in, so I wasn’t convinced they were in the slightest bit interested.

    The hotel was clean and organised, although I was already pre-annoyed at the whole set-up by this point.

    This whole set-up is odd, the exit is on the ground floor, but can only be accessed via the first floor. Anyone with disabilities needs to use stair lifts to get from the entrance to the first floor lift, or use the shopping centre when it’s open. This isn’t Travelodge being awkward, it’s a former office block being converted into hotel use, but it means a clunky set-up to get in. It all felt slightly too unsafe for my liking, especially given the indifference of the management here.

    The conversion from an office block has meant that the rooms are larger than usual size and they look really quite barren. I don’t use the television in hotel rooms, but it looked a little ridiculous that tiny thing on the wall. The windows are sealed and the air quality in the room is poor, with loud and clunky air conditioning. The whole arrangement was way too sterile for me, although the hotel room was very clean, perhaps inevitable given how new everything was.

    I wouldn’t stay at this hotel again, partly because I wouldn’t be comfortable that I could actually get in, but also because of the sterile rooms and the poor air quality. There is another Travelodge in the centre of Leicester, more on which shortly, which was older but which I much preferred. This hotel was very reasonably priced, but perhaps this whole set-up would have been better turned into residential accommodation.

  • Leicester – Cavendish House

    Leicester – Cavendish House

    Located on the Leicester Abbey site are the remains of Cavendish House. This property was constructed in the late sixteenth century from the stone taken from the abbey, which had been closed down as part of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. The above photo is taken from what was once inside the property and it’s also the location of where the Abbey’s main gatehouse would have been located.

    And from outside of the grand house, which had been purchased by William Cavendish (1593-1676), the first Earl of Cavendish, in 1613. In 1634, Cavendish spent £15,000 entertaining King Charles I, which would have been an enormous sum at that time. He must have been considerably annoyed when he wasn’t rewarded with any important job or role. He remained loyal though to the King and during the English Civil War, this property was the headquarters of Charles I before the Battle of Naseby in 1645. That battle was lost by the Royalists and Parliamentarians soon destroyed and set fire to Cavendish’s property.

    And it has remained in this burnt out state since 1645. At the Restoration in 1660, Cavendish got most of his assets back, but this property was never rebuilt.

    There are still blackened areas around the windows, evidence of the fire. Abbey House was constructed at the beginning of the nineteenth century to the side of this burnt out structure, but this section was never incorporated in. In the last few years there have been a few concerns about the stability of these ruins, but some money has been spent on ensuring that they’re protected.

  • Leicester – Newarke Gateway

    Leicester – Newarke Gateway

    This is the Newarke Gateway in Leicester, also known as the Magazine Gateway. It was first built in around 1400 and it was designed to be a fancy first impression for visitors to the College of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, as there was no city walls or the like attached to it. Horses and later vehicles could use the big gate and there’s a smaller pedestrian gate as well, with ground floor rooms for the porter. The College was demolished after it fell victim to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, but the structure of the gateway survived. During the late sixteenth century, it was used to house Catholics at a time when they deemed to be a threat to the nation state.

    This is the inside of the gateway and it’s known as the Magazine Gateway at it was used to store arms and munitions during the English Civil War.

    The interior of the three-storey gateway is unfortunately closed and only accessible on Heritage Day weekends and the like. I’m not sure what the rooms above the gateway are now used for, but this would make a very nice pub…

    It’s something of a miracle that this structure has survived, as its demolition has been suggested on more than a few occasions. Purchased by the County Justices in 1888, it was mentioned at the beginning of the twentieth century that a decision to keep the gateway had been made and it was noted that the street level had risen several feet over the centuries which made the gateway look somewhat less impressive in terms of its size. It appears that this problem has today been fixed, as it’s evident in the above photograph that the level of the floor is now below that of the road.

    The structure was repaired in 1922, with Leicester County Council saying that they hoped it would survive for many decades to come. By then the stonework had been damaged and the renovation work seems to have been considerably overdue. In 1964, police rushed to the scene as two students had climbed the structure and were throwing flour, toilet rolls and streamers at those below. The police weren’t impressed and the matter went to court, with each student being fined £10.

    More recently, the council had a great idea that they’d build a roundabout and underpass around the gateway, making it difficult to reach and isolating it away. At least they decided not to demolish it….. The building was at this point used as a regimental museum, although this was moved in 1996 to the impressive Newarke Houses Museum which is just a short walk away. In 2007, the council accepted that a mistake had been made by their planners, with the underpass being filled in and the gateway now made accessible once again. The appalling decision made in the 1960s can be seen at the photos on this web-site https://www.dmu.ac.uk/about-dmu/news/2021/april/the-covers-are-off-200000-works-on-15th-century-magazine-gateway-at-top-of-dmu-campus-are-completed-by-city-council.aspx. What a way to treat an historic building….

  • Leicester – Head of Steam

    Leicester – Head of Steam

    On 5 April 2018, what I consider to be one of the best pub chains in the country opened a grand new pub on Market Street in Leicester, a craft beer delight. Plenty of money was spent on the interior to give it an on-trend and cutting edge feel to it. It lasted for just nine months when the owners Camerons turned into The Sanctuary, a different brand they also operated, which in turn survived for just a few weeks.

    I asked a few people this week what happened to the Head of Steam and why it closed. There was universal acceptance that this was a great pub, but that it was ahead of its time and simply the wrong building for the brand and in the wrong part of the city. It seems that the pub was well managed, it got positive reviews and looking through their beer list, they were doing a marvellous job. Unfortunately, the customers just didn’t come and even the launch party was heavily under-attended.

    The premises became used by a steakhouse which only lasted a few months, but after a couple of years of remaining empty, Olivia’s Townhouse have now moved in. This one looks destined to fail as things stand, they’ve been hit with a series of negative reviews and I suspect that they might struggle as well to make this site work. They’re aiming at a very different demographic to me, namely 18-21 year old women judging from the marketing with no real ale or craft beer available.

    Perhaps if Head of Steam had opened a smaller outlet, more similar in size to their Hull premises, then it might have survived and prospered. Sadly, this transpired to be an expensive mistake from the chain and I can imagine that the losses here were significant. Hopefully one day the Head of Steam will return to Leicester, but perhaps in a more manageable location.