Buses can be identified precisely by their ads
I WAS interested to see the photograph which you included in the Leicester Mercury on April 22, although another reader has already pointed out that your reference to Wharf Street should have instead referred to Church Gate (“A geography lesson for our caption writer”, Mailbox, April 27).
I am fortunate to have seen an original print of this image recently which has a date stamp for August 20, 1965 on the reverse and so I have already done a bit of research.
The cleared area was about to be built upon to provide the city with a Littlewoods store.
The premises featured in Haymarket were:
■ No. 2: Timothy Whites & Taylors Limited, chemists;
■ No. 6: Jay’s Furnishing Stores Limited, house furnishers;
■ No. 8: Foster Brothers Clothing Co. Limited;
■ Nos. 10-12: Broadmead Wireless Co. Limited, television and radio supplies;
■ No. 14: Ross Group Limited, fishmongers;
■ No. 16: Greasley & Sons Limited, pastrycooks;
■ No. 18: The Oriental Chinese Restaurant.
At first glance it would seem impossible to be able to identify the three Leicester City Transport buses in the picture.
However, we are able to do so because of the advertisements which they carried at the time.
Our vast Leicester City Transport archive includes several lists from the mid-1950s and mid-1960s detailing the offside, nearside and rear adverts displayed on the individual buses.
The bus in the foreground was a Leyland Titan PD2/1 and there were two examples in the fleet which carried a nearside Rediffusion advert (fleet numbers 100 and 143).
However, 143 had appeared in the new cream livery from December 15, 1964 so we can be sure that in 1965 it was 100 (in the old maroon livery) which appeared in the photograph (performing a 00 Extra duty).
Outside Jay’s premises at the 42 Melton Road central barrier was an East Lancashire bodied Leyland Titan PD3A/1, but only one example carried an offside advert for Youngs Cameras (number 205).
Outside the restaurant at the 40 Belgrave barrier stood a Park Royal-bodied Leyland Titan PD3A/1, but only one example (261) carried an offside advert stating “Car Credit costs less on the Capital plan.”
In the foreground was the smaller of the two premises belonging to W A Lea & Sons, drapers.
Back in the 1880s, William Adams Lea was a sole trader in charge of a drapery store at 26a Humberstone Gate and this was gradually expanded into neighbouring premises over the years (and rebuilt when Charles Street was extended and widened in the early 1930s).
By 1904, he had added 8 Humberstone Gate to his property portfolio (the premises featured in the photograph) and by 1908 the business had become a family partnership, hence the probable later addition to the signage at the top of the building of the large comma after the surname, coupled with the tiny lettering “& Sons”.
From the mid-1890s until the mid1930s, William Lea lived at Lea Hurst, Stoneygate Road, a grand three-storey house, still standing, which was allocated number 15 during the 1930s.
You would assume that William had named the house himself in recognition of his surname, but I was intrigued to discover that Lea Hurst had previously been occupied (in 1894) by a Mrs M Marks and before that by the Rev J Page Hopps, going back at least to 1884.
It therefore begs the question as to how long William may have been searching for a house with “Lea” in its name or whether it was just a happy coincidence for him that he came upon that residence.
Chris Jinks, director and secretary, Leicester Transport Heritage Trust
Limited