tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post1560175540539189520..comments2024-03-25T15:10:13.792+00:00Comments on English Buildings: LeicesterPhilip Wilkinsonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-43276991977220949972012-04-23T07:44:40.903+01:002012-04-23T07:44:40.903+01:00It looks like something from the Ottoman Empire. T...It looks like something from the Ottoman Empire. The name is apt.P. M. Doolanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16673509230835222713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-59887459474822068442012-04-19T20:47:15.298+01:002012-04-19T20:47:15.298+01:00Thank you all for your comments. The Turkey Café h...Thank you all for your comments. The Turkey Café has many fans – and rightly so.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-36957968498320580222012-04-19T20:46:29.408+01:002012-04-19T20:46:29.408+01:00Charlieman: The only guide I have seen is the para...Charlieman: The only guide I have seen is the paragraph in Nikolaus Pevsner's Buildings of England volume on <i>Leicestershire and Rutland</i> (Granby Street is covered on page 233 of the 1984 revised edition). Pevsner says that the NatWest dates to 1869-72 and was designed by William Millican; the large Midland is from the same period and is by Joseph Goddard, a prolific Leicester architect. I may do a post on the Midland.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-18874791681844449912012-04-19T19:29:06.814+01:002012-04-19T19:29:06.814+01:00Is there a guide to that stretch of Granby Street ...Is there a guide to that stretch of Granby Street anywhere?<br /><br />If you walk immediately past the Turkey Cafe, you don't appreciate it. But if you see it from the other side of the street (which is now very quiet of cars), it really stands out.<br /><br />To the top of Granby Street in the direction of the Clock Tower, the two banks are worth a look. The NatWest is still open and you can imagine how the interior would have looked 100 years ago. You would have been going into a building that inspired confidence in the bank.<br /><br />Looking across the road from the pound shop, there is some ghost signage on the buildings opposite.Charliemanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13964488383299624526noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-61396039034012200792012-04-18T20:29:46.880+01:002012-04-18T20:29:46.880+01:00Worm: Today some latter-day postmodernist would pr...Worm: Today some latter-day postmodernist would probably come up with a building shaped like a vast turkey (like those North American buildings that take the shape of ducks and the like). But I don't think it would be easy to beat this façade.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-47677605926922185152012-04-18T20:28:23.260+01:002012-04-18T20:28:23.260+01:00Wartime Housewife: It's worth a look if you ar...Wartime Housewife: It's worth a look if you are in or near Leicester. And there are other joys in the city if you keep looking up - but I guess I don't need to tell you that!Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-80029248693505340092012-04-18T20:27:25.735+01:002012-04-18T20:27:25.735+01:00Thud: Very nice gate piers! Pleased that some of m...Thud: Very nice gate piers! Pleased that some of my stuff provides inspiration!Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-22344612747475295522012-04-18T16:30:45.852+01:002012-04-18T16:30:45.852+01:00Love it! What a lovely building, especially the ce...Love it! What a lovely building, especially the ceramic turkeys. I wonder what today's architects would make of a brief to design a building inspired by turkeys!wormhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02802335627720182532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-7146936030924007382012-04-17T22:40:55.186+01:002012-04-17T22:40:55.186+01:00Beautiful architecture, it's amazing what you ...Beautiful architecture, it's amazing what you can see when you're actually looking for it in everyday towns and cities.Alsecco Facadeshttp://www.alsecco.co.uk/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-64517508572479178472012-04-17T13:17:39.739+01:002012-04-17T13:17:39.739+01:00I can't match that Turkey but we have some dec...I can't match that Turkey but we have some decent stonework on the go if you want to take a look, after all its some of the stuff you show that provides inspiration.Thudhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18320037763190473684noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-36390864641168512042012-04-17T08:40:02.855+01:002012-04-17T08:40:02.855+01:00Hels: I've not seen any photographs of the ori...Hels: I've not seen any photographs of the original interiors. I expect there may be images in archives in Leicester.<br /><br />I remember as a child being shown the famous film Night Mail (music by Britten, words by Auden) and hearing about 'a friendly tea beside the band at Cranston's'. Much later of course I read about the Willow Tea Rooms and later still visited them. Kate Cranston was a great patron of architecture and design.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-6362268699599042062012-04-17T00:31:36.439+01:002012-04-17T00:31:36.439+01:00I always thought that safe, clean, cheapish cafes ...I always thought that safe, clean, cheapish cafes for women were a brilliant idea, once women could travel out of their homes alone and meet the girls for afternoon tea. But until you see Miss Cranston's tea rooms in Glasgow, it is difficult to remember how glamorous they could be.<br /><br />The Turkey Café in Leicester looks from the outside to have been very glamorous. Do any photos survive from the original interiors?Helshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02849907428208235392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-12234675877702679662012-04-16T23:00:06.532+01:002012-04-16T23:00:06.532+01:00Gorgeous. I shall seek it out.Gorgeous. I shall seek it out.Wartime Housewifehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13337425530017564079noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-66441096294053587842012-04-16T21:59:51.782+01:002012-04-16T21:59:51.782+01:00Always one of my favourite buildings!Always one of my favourite buildings!Sue Haytonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04256335290147001633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50657425841495295592012-04-16T20:17:27.270+01:002012-04-16T20:17:27.270+01:00It's a gem from the outside, although the inte...It's a gem from the outside, although the interior has been modernized, alas. By the way, some of tile-master Neatby's interior work survives in the food hall's in Harrod's in London.Philip Wilkinsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04893714514416441572noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4228081722487474323.post-50317037505508109462012-04-16T18:02:53.478+01:002012-04-16T18:02:53.478+01:00I do like commercial applications of British Art N...I do like commercial applications of British Art Nouveau, I almost feel the need to go to Leicester to see this one:)Miss Raynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10188242351879989242noreply@blogger.com