Plenty on top to in-spire us

HERE’S a fascinating panorama of our city, taken almost 70 years ago. The dominating feature in this 1952 view is the magnificent 220ft spire of Leicester Cathedral.

In the foreground, we can see the old Wembley Stadium-style towers of the former National Westminster Bank in St Martins.

This is another of Leicester’s most impressive structures, which is no longer a bank but a restaurant.

We can also see the glasstopped roof of the spectacular banking hall. This bank, designed in 1900 by the local firm of S Perkins and Pick, was described by famous architectural historian Sir Nikolaus Pevsner as “remarkably ambitious”. We are not sure whether that was meant as a compliment or not.

To the left of the cathedral tower, level with the middle section, we can see the roof and upper storey of the Foresters’ Institute, in St Nicholas Place, or St Nicholas Street, as it was then. Immediately above that is the cupola of the old Vaughan College, in Great Central Street.

To the right of the tower is the distinctive copper barrel roof of the Singer, or Coronation, Building, in High Street, both of which were designed by one of Leicester’s most versatile architects, Arthur Wakerley.

In the middle distance are the structures and tracks of the Great Central Railway – still very much alive in 1952.

Then, the houses begin and the long terrace just behind the railway lines is Tudor Road.

We believe the road winding into the central horizon is Stephenson Drive and, in the far distance, are the hills of Charnwood.