AN OUTDOOR heritage trail that helps to bring Leicester’s 2,000 years of history to life has reached a new milestone, with 350 colourful information panels now installed on the city’s streets.
Since 2014, when City Mayor Peter Soulsby launched his idea for a series of on-street heritage panels, hundreds of Leicester stories have been researched, written up and reproduced on panels in neighbourhood and city centre locations, helping people to learn more about the history that’s all around them.
Charting the city’s development from Roman times to the present day and commemorating the people, places and events that have helped to shape the modern city of Leicester, the heritage panels are now an established part of the city’s streetscape.
“These panels take people on a journey through 2,000 years of local history, guiding them from the site of the city’s Roman Forum to the narrow streets of Medieval Leicester, and from the shoe factories of the city’s manufacturing heyday to the modern city we know today,” said the City Mayor.
“They highlight the men and women who influenced life in Leicester and beyond, show how new communities brought a new dimension to life in the city, and tell the stories behind the historic buildings that line our streets.
“Leicester’s history is undoubtedly one of its strengths, and as we mark the milestone of our 350th heritage panel, I hope that these easy-to-read information boards will continue to encourage people to find out more about our city’s extraordinary past.”
The most recent panels to be installed include the story of Laurel Aitken, the ‘Godfather of Ska’ who moved to Leicester in 1970, a panel commemorating Donald Watson, the man who coined the term ‘veganism’ and formed the Vegan Society in Leicester in 1944, a panel remembering the 19th century artist John Flower, and a reminder of the Belgrave flyover (pictured), which was constructed from pre-cast concrete in 1973-74 and demolished in 2014.
There is also a new panel on Melbourne Road in Highfields, celebrating the Hip Hop scene in Leicester in the early 1980s and remembering local breakdancing crews such as the Skywalkers, the Electronauts and the Break Force Crew.
More information about all of the panels on Leicester’s heritage trail – believed to be the largest of its kind in the UK – can be found on the Story of Leicester website.
The Leicester Heritage Trail, a souvenir brochure listing the city’s first 300 heritage panels, is available to buy from Visit Leicester inside the King Richard III Visitor Centre on St Martins. Information about all 350 panels is available to download free of charge from the Story of Leicester website.