A thriving industrial landscape

THIS great photograph from our archive was taken exactly 68 years ago from the tower of St Mary de Castro Church, in Leicester city centre, and shows a thriving industrial scene.

The Castle Gardens and the roof of the castle hall are in the immediate foreground with the Grand Union Canal directly behind.

The large building on the other side of the canal belongs to Paton and Baldwins Ltd, later to become Pex socks and then the premises of the Land Registry.

We wonder how many readers remember the Sailor’s Return pub, opened by Everards in 1897, which was located at the entrance gates to the Paton and Baldwin/Pex factory?

After its closure in the late 1950s or early 1960s, it was taken over by Pex for office accommodation.

The buildings that front the canal, front flats and a shiny new extension including the attractive Art Deco to the Land Registry. The signal gantry style offices at the corner of West of the Great Central Railway can Bridge, have long since been demol- be seen to the right of the picture. ished to be replaced by the Water- In the distance, on the opposite side of the canal, stands the huge Bow Bridge Mills which had a very distinctive facade which is partly obscured by large trees.

The long terraces of Tudor Road and the surrounding area can be seen beyond the mills with the countryside much closer than it is today with the outward development of suburbs in this part of the city.