Colin Crosby Heritage Tours

Historical Talk on Leicester`s Former Slums

The Vaughan Historical and Archaeological Society held another fascinating talk on Leicester`s past recently at the city`s Vaughan College.

I attended this talk, having an interest of course in Leicester history.

The speaker was former councillor Ned Newitt, and his title was "Home Sweet Home?" The question mark is apposite, as he was actually talking about conditions in Leicester`s notorious slums, which were all swept away in the first half of the 20th century.

Ned has written a best selling book entitled "The Slums of Leicester", and he was able to illustrate the talk with slides that he had found during his researches.

Everybody was very glad that conditions have improved out of all recognition.

Ned would not have experienced this sort of thing as a child. Like me, he comes from Southend, where different social circumstances applied.

The talk was excellent, and his book looks like one which should be on Christmas lists!

Posted by colin on Tuesday 8th December, 2009 at 9:01am