Anstey History

On Wednesday 18th April 2018, Anstey Local History Society hosted a WW2 Community Sharing Day, where we welcomed the whole community to take part and share memories, reunite with old friends and talk to experts about artefacts they had brought in from home. A big...

Why is one of the roads on the Jelson Estate off Cropston Road named Nothill Way? Nothill was the name of one of the common or open fields, which existed before the Enclosure Act of 1762, when the land was awarded to Richard Hurd, the Rector of Thurcaston, in lieu of...

Article by Sharon Grey and Michael Tedd Loughborough Library Volunteers were told by a visitor to their stand, at the Century of Stories Event Day at Anstey Library on 25th January 2017, a family story about an ancestor, John Heggs who spoke about a lady he knew who...

Receipts from the 1930s – from wireless sets to physician’s invoices Our thanks go to Diane Green for loaning Anstey Archivist Brian Kibble this wonderful set of old receipts and invoices – which we have now been able to scan for both the archive and our online...

The song ‘Bradgate Park’ was published in 1930, not long after Charles Bennion had given the park to the people of Leicestershire. The words of the song were written by Joe Smith and the music by Harry Payne, both Anstey residents. Born in 1875, Harry was a popular...

Explore some of the witty, charming, and informative advertising from Anstey in the 1960s, generously provided courtesy of Brian Kibble and the Anstey Millennium Collection. Click any image to view a larger version in our lightbox, or click here to view more vintage...

Explore some of the witty, charming, and informative advertising from Anstey in the 1960s, generously provided courtesy of Brian Kibble and the Anstey Millennium Collection. Click any image to view a larger version in our lightbox, or click here to view more vintage...

Some years ago our team was contacted by a family who are descendants of Thomas Sketchley, the architect commissioned by George Grey, the 5th Earl of Stamford, in 1784, to build the well known Leicestershire landmark – the mock ruin known as Old John. We were able to...

The two founders of the Marwins were Ernie Hopwell and Derek Robinson – they both worked for the well known Wadkins woodworking and cutting tool machinery company on Leicester’s Green Lane and old Mr Wadkin had been hoping they would take over after his retirement....

The Savoy Service Station and Garage, on Cropston Road, opened in the 1960s on the site of The Savoy Cinema and remained a village focal point until it closed in 1988. The Savoy Cinema was originally called The Coronet and the building of the cinema was completed in...

Prior to the National Health Service being established in 1948, hospitals depended on funding and donations from the general public. In Leicestershire, the parishes, including Anstey, played an important part in providing money and equipment. As well as events such as...

The photograph is looking down Bradgate Road to The Nook.In the distance, on the left is the Methodist Church that was demolished in 1973.The ‘roundabout’ in The Nook has a fence around it and is not completely round as today.There are a few cars parked near the...

In 1958, Albert Selby, the landlord at The Coach and Horses public house, suggested to a group of friends that a wheelbarrow race around Anstey might be fun, raise Anstey’s profile and raise money for charity at the same time. It was decided to hold the first race on...

One day, in the early 1900s, two men, Frederick Pollard and Fred Wain, were both locked out of the shoe factory where they both worked for being a few minutes late. They vowed it would never happen again and decided to establish their own company in Latimer Street...

The children in the photo are half timers. Although the 1878 Factory Act prohibited children under 10 to work in factories, it stated that 10- to 13-year-olds could work as long as they attended school for 1 session a day. This meant that children could either attend...

The Nook originally joined Anstey’s two main roads; Main Street, now Bradgate Road, and Cropstone Road, now Cropston Road. The 1761 enclosure map of Anstey shows a small structure marked in the centre of the Nook and labelled “Stamford”, where the roundabout is today....

In 1910 Maurice Reeson introduced the first full- sized motor bus to Leicester from Anstey, which was given the nickname ‘John Bull’. The vehicle was an old London bus. On its first journey to Leicester, John Bull stalled on one of the hills and the passengers had to...