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Conservation Area Society (SCAS)

Newsletter December 2017 Stoneygate

SCAS Chair: David Oldershaw SCAS Website: www.stoneygateconservation.org

Newsletter: Nita Foale, Nick Knight Printed by: AVS-Print, University of Leicester

Modern Design in a Traditional Setting

The small area of North Stoneygate including Knighton Park and St Mary‟s Roads was originally laid out in the 1860s on land previously owned by ex-Mayor John Biggs. It was Stoneygate‟s first side street and its unusually wide carriageway and nearness to parkland gave it a certain elegance and grandeur. The

Stoneygate Character Appraisal approvingly mentions its `open and expansive townscape‟ and describes its surviving historic houses as among the most significant in the conservation area. It is hard to disagree. Leicester‟s best-known Victorian architects were at work here. Isaac Barradale designed and had built 10 St Mary‟s Road (left) for hosiery and glove manufacturer Charles Brown in 1880 and, at around the same time and directly opposite, The Hawthorns for landscape painter Wilmot Pilsbury, the first Headmaster of the Leicester School of Art. Two or so years later engineer-turned-architect John Breedon Everard created Woodville as his own family home next door. When work

began on the nearby Clarendon Park estate, a link road, The Avenue, was created and in 1897 the most celebrated house of all appeared on its corner with North Avenue; Ernest Gimson‟s arts and crafts White House, built for his half-brother, Arthur in a style reflecting the design ideals of his great mentor, William Morris, who had died the previous year.

More recently, following the sale of Woodville‟s rear garden, there has been a new addition to the townscape. It is strikingly modern in design with a two-storey element fronting The Avenue and a single-storey south-facing element at right angles to this which backs onto the older property and overlooks a

private garden. At ground floor level it is walled in random-laid Swithland slate. The much more visible first floor is finished in white stucco with a street-facing frontage featuring windows and walls of opaque vertical panelling made from recycled glass. Handsome iroko hardwood doors to the vehicle access and a smaller pedestrian entrance have complemented Woodville‟s red-brick boundary wall which runs the length of The Avenue and contributes greatly to its character.

The new house has been designed to be highly energy-efficient and sustainable. It has

a super insulated, air-tight shell, with heating provided by a high-efficiency condensing boiler, supplemented by a wood burning stove. As a single dwelling it has a smaller footprint than the two 4-bed semi-detached houses to which planners had given consent and will generate less intensive use and fewer vehicle movements.

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The design was influenced by several existing buildings. Gimson‟s White House which faces it across the street and to which its stucco finishes and Swithland slate walling pay polite tribute was one. The owners‟

previous family home, the arts and crafts influenced Red House in Stoneygate Avenue (featured in our April 2016 Newsletter) was another. The innovative Grade 2 listed house at 22 Avenue Road (see left) designed for Herald and Joan Goddard in 1953 by Fello Atkinson and Brenda Walker of James Cubitt & Partners which the owners have long admired, was a third.

The Red House made several subtle but important contributions. Despite its

size, space is used economically and the main family living areas are in three downstairs rooms overlooking the garden, meaning that most domestic activities are kept within a short walking distance. This was a key design principle in the new house. Other features which the owners were sufficiently fond of to want to reproduce were the arts and crafts balustrading (reflected in the brushed chrome handrails and Norman & Underwood glass panels of a feature stairwell) and the Edwardian butler‟s pantry (to which a separate larder off the open-plan kitchen gives a gentle modern nod).

With its simple geometric shape and single-storey flat-roofed buildings arranged around a garden, 22 Avenue Road was a much clearer influence. Its underfloor heating was the first to be installed in a Leicester house since Roman times and it combined technical sophistication with a modernist respect for materials and craftsmanship. Visiting in 1957, a journalist from Country Life had remarked that `the

austerity of the plan is counteracted by the richness of the fitments, which are admirably designed in different kinds of wood‟. This is also true of the new house. The open, uncluttered interior (see left) and uniform parquet flooring create a series of almost gallery-like spaces which highlight furniture and artefacts within them. The garden‟s closeness through floor-to-ceiling glass also adds calm.

Interviewed by the Sunday Telegraph magazine in 2006 shortly before his death, Herald Goddard recalled that the modern architecture and design which had enriched his visits to Scandinavia and the United

States as export manager for his family „s silver polish business had not been universally welcome in Stoneygate in 1953. `It‟s just prejudice that makes people dislike it‟, he had said of his unusual home. `Traditionally, British houses have been two stories with pitched roofs. This one isn‟t quite like that.‟

The house at 1 The Avenue isn‟t, either – and its creative difference was one of the reasons we supported it. Most sites can only be developed once in a generation and Woodville’s garden offered a unique opportunity which would have been wasted on a mediocre pastiche design. This has happened elsewhere in the conservation area and it has suffered permanently as a result. What we have instead is a family home which is in keeping with its surroundings in terms of design quality, while also being aesthetically and technically innovative. We think the Victorian architects who helped shape this part of the conservation area would have understood and applauded that aspiration.

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Christmas Events at The Guildhall To Book, call The Guildhall on 0116 253 2569

Theatre: Cinderella: A Pumpkin, a Shoe and a Fairy Godmother Saturday 9th December: 6pm, Sunday 10th: 4pm & 7.30pm and Monday 11th December: 7.30pm Herrick Theatre presents a family friendly pantomime with laughter, songs and magical moments.

Oh, Whistle: Two Ghost stories. Tuesday 12th December 7.30pm (doors open 7pm) Oh, Whistle and I’ll Come to You, My Lad – a tale of nocturnal horror on the Suffolk coast – an M.R. James’ masterpiece, complemented by The Ash Tree, a story of witchcraft and vengeance. Tickets £9.00

Christmas Wreath Making Workshop. Wednesday 13th & Thursday 14th December 7.30pm - 9.30pm Make a beautiful traditional wreath whilst enjoying mulled wine and mince pies. No experience necessary. Tickets £25 (all materials included). Bookings 0116-229-8181

The Longslade Consort. Friday 15th December 5pm - 7pm Music by Vivaldi, Handel and Bach for recorders and spinet presented by The Longslade Consort and friends Tickets £5 includes mince pie & mulled wine (drop-in concert, pay on door). For details please call 0116-270-9984.

Theatre: The Twelve Days of Christmas. Saturday 16th December 3pm – 4.30pm Get in the festive spirit with a roaring fire, mince pies and mulled wine. A great performance suitable for all ages!! Tickets: £9/£7 concession, family ticket £20.

Welcome Yule! Kingfisher Chorale. Monday 18th, Wednesday 20th & Friday 22nd December 8pm Sacred and secular carols drawn from 400 years of music, plus requests. With mulled wine & a roaring fire. Tickets £12.00/£10

Theatre: Don’t Go Into the Cellar: Ghost stories for Christmas Tuesday 19th December 7.30pm Original spine-chillers in a vintage vein with vengeful revenants by acclaimed actor Jonathan Goodwin. Tickets £10/£8.

Theatre: A Christmas Carol with Gerald Dickens Saturday 23rd December 1pm & 7.30pm Tickets £12.50/£11.50.

The Leicester Civic Society is again inviting members of the public to nominate buildings within the city for its annual architectural awards scheme. Projects must have been substantially completed during 2017 and, as usual, there are two awards; one for the restoration of a historic building and one for a new building which complements the historic built environment.

Last year‟s Restoration Award went to the City Council for their remarkable refurbishment of the Grade 2 listed Friar‟s Mill on Bath Lane, now `repurposed‟ as flexible office and workspace (see left). The New Build Award went to De Montfort University for the innovative Veejay Patel Art & Design Building (see right). An

exceptional award was also made to builders Tippetts & Brooks in recognition of their superb craftsmanship in refurbishing three Victorian town houses at 12-16 Stoneygate Road.

To enter your nomination, go to the Society‟s website www.leicestercivicsociety.org.uk (look under the `Campaigns‟ section) where there is a description of the scheme, a list of rules and details of previous winners. If you prefer, you can download a form and return it by post or join the Society and receive a copy of the form in the November issue of their journal, `Leicester Citizen‟. The deadline for nominations is February 3rd 2018 and judging will take place shortly afterwards. The awards will be presented at a ceremony dinner on Friday 13th April 2018 at the City Rooms, Hotel Street, Leicester.

Civic Society—Architectural Awards 2017

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A Point of View When we bought our house in Stoneygate, the fact that there was a school nearby didn‟t worry us at all - in fact the leafy perimeter and wide meadow-like playing field summoned up visions of distant sunny sports days of our youth; the occasional whistle and shout; sporadic applause and distant laughter.

23 years later, our existence is beleaguered by its presence. Yes, it is nice to find one truly multicultural corner of this ghetto ridden town – mornings and afternoons bring hordes of sweet primary pupils with their various adults, skipping along the pavement. But must they swing from our tree, walk along the low wall that borders our front garden and drop sweetie and crisp wrappers on the street?

There are other factors. Playtime is marked during the day by piercing screams, reminiscent of Janet Leigh in Hitchcock‟s `Psycho‟. Often, the air around us pulsates with the throbbing beat of pop music which accompanies Happy Friday and the end of terms. Most summer afternoons, a continuous barrage of deafening sergeant-major-like instructions blare out across the street from the ex-army rugby coach.

The street itself has changed to reflect the importance of the children. A few years ago, 4 strange effigies were planted next to the zebra crossing. Carefully crafted to represent a full range of distinguishing features such as hair and skin colour, these are transcultural and (topically) transsexual creatures reminiscent of the Midwich Cuckoos. Their arrival certainly necessitated counselling sessions for our traumatised dog.

Over the years we have been voyeuristically entertained behind our lace curtains by the street theatre of parental cars forced to a standstill by other such cars approaching from the other direction. There is much door slamming, hooting and general mayhem, often calmed by the zebra crossing attendant leaving his post to help rationalise a way out of the deadlock. Recently, to combat the overall speed of these vehicles as they wait impatiently for their path to clear, speed restriction notices and road bumps have been installed. Amusing though we find it, this must seem a very cruel joke for the stranded drivers.

Now we understand that the school is to be enlarged to accommodate a third more children.

“Oh, stop your grumbling”, I hear you cry. “Won‟t anybody think of the Children?” you add, borrowing a much repeated line from The Simpsons. “What would you like to see change?” Well, I reply:

1) If you play music, let it sometimes be Mozart instead of Bono. This could contribute to the cultural education of the children.

2) Rebuke children who scream so loud - it can deafen those who wear hearing-aids like myself. Tell them they should be seen and not heard.

3) Instead of Playtime, sometimes organise child working parties to clear the adjoining pavements of leaves and child-litter. This will encourage much needed civil responsibility in later life.

4) Sack the Rugby coach. 5) Encourage parents to walk their children to school and/or provide a proper dropping off area

for cars. 6) Scrap the enlargement plans - enough is enough!

Disgruntled of Clarendon Park

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Victorian Society —2018 Spring Programme

Tuesday 9th January 7.30pm The Story of the Great Exhibition David Jones Beginning with the design, construction and erection of the ‘Crystal Palace', this talk will describe the many exhibits and explore the controversies they caused before telling the story of how the wonderful building finally met its end. Using contemporary illustrations and entries from the exhibition catalogue, it aims to give a flavour of the wonders of a unique event. David Jones is a retired local government lawyer and a trained social historian, specialising in the history of policing, crime and punishment and the less reputable aspects of our ancestors' lives.

Tuesday 6th February 7.30pm (following the AGM) Thurnby Court: The Story of an Extravagant but Short-Lived Leicestershire Mansion Brian Screaton Thurnby Court was a lavish and ostentatious mansion built for a wealthy American, James Alexander Jackson, in the east Leicestershire village of Thurnby. Completed in 1870, it boasted its own gas works, underground stables and indoor bathing pool but lasted a mere 46 years before being demolished by dynamite in 1916. The talk traces the history of the house and of the Jackson family.

Tuesday 6th March 7.30pm Cathedrals, Rooftops & More: The Restoration of Old Buildings Dr Jonathan Castleman Norman and Underwood Ltd is one of Leicester's oldest family businesses and has carried out work on some of the finest buildings in both the UK and the world. Dr Castleman was the seventh generation of the family to run the company and, looking back over 35 years’ experience, he will be talking about a variety of projects he has worked on, from Leicester Town Hall to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem

All talks take place in the Bishop Street Methodist Church in Town Hall Square at 7.30 pm.

Non-members are welcome but we ask all attendees to register in order to comply with Fire Regulations and to make a contribution of £2.50 per person towards the

costs of room hire and other expenses.

Leicester Carol Concert 2017 by Rainbows Hospice for Children & Young People

At: St James the Greater Church, London Road Wednesday 13 December 2017 7—9pm

Get in the festive spirit and enjoy performances from popular adult and school choirs, with the chance for you to sing your favourite carols.

Festive refreshments and Rainbows merchandise on sale.

Tickets: £1-£5

A concern has been raised with us that contractors are converting the ex-Montessori Grammar School in

Stoneygate Road into student accommodation. The estate agent‟s board indicates the property is `under offer‟ and we are not aware of any planning application with regard to change of use and/or any building alterations. We have asked planning officers for clarification and have copied in local (Knighton) councillors.

One to Look Out For…..

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Planning Matters (September to December 2017)

Built in 1844 for Joseph Cripps, a draper and auditor to the new Midland Railway, Eastfield Hall in Stanley Road has been a domestic science college, a university hall of residence and, most recently, a private care home. In 2004 it was listed Grade 2 by English Heritage. Neighbours reported construction activity earlier in the year and we were shocked when new owners sought retrospective consent for work that had already been completed. The house had been divided into two parts; a 4-bed family home and 12 1-bed short-stay residential units. Details were very sparse and, worryingly, there was no information relating to interior features such as fireplaces and a staircase specifically identified by the listing. The short-stay units were already receiving paying customers through booking.com.

The purpose of listing a property is to allow conservation experts to screen development proposals in advance and provide guidance that will safeguard features of special historical and architectural interest. Sidestepping this process and presenting work as a fait accompli is both irresponsible and risky. Details were finally provided and showed that the proposals to create the family home were sensitive so that application was approved. However, the other application has been refused. The owner seems to have a genuine desire to give this lovely old house a sustainable future and there is nothing wrong with making heritage buildings contribute towards their own upkeep. But avoiding transparency, keeping other residents in the dark and treating planning as a rubber-stamping exercise is not the way to do it.

An application for a front extension to 23 Knighton Road has been refused on the grounds of its poor design and adverse impact on the conservation area. A uPVC front porch had been added without

consent by previous owners and we were pleased that further loss of character was avoided. The decision recognised the group value of Nos 5-23, most of which were built, along with nearby Birkdale Avenue, in the late 1930s on the estate of two demolished Victorian houses. Aimed at forward-thinking professionals and business people, they are excellent examples of high-quality inter-war suburban design. Several have unusual and interesting features reflecting an increasingly `continental‟ (i.e. European) outlook while many (including No23) have highly distinctive decorative

brickwork. Stoneygate is best known as a Victorian and Edwardian suburb but it also contains some outstanding houses from the `20s and `30s. We are delighted that planners are actively safeguarding them.

Neighbours of 33-37 Springfield Road have, over the years, become wearily accustomed to dealing with a variety of issues. Where these have related to the physical appearance of the properties, SCAS has always offered support and we have had some successes. In 2011 our lobbying helped reverse unauthorised changes to the leaded timber front windows and we have also helped bring about the reinstatement (more than once) of vandalised front boundary fences. Some perennial concerns are more difficult to resolve. The treatment of bins and household rubbish ultimately depends on the self-respect and good neighbourliness of the tenants. Exterior maintenance depends on the diligence of the landlord. One that we can act on is the unauthorised installation of satellite receivers and in late July, following a complaint from residents, we alerted the Compliance & Monitoring Team to the numerous dishes covering the facade. Guidance leaflets, letters and even a Planning Contravention Notice went unanswered but by the end of October, they had finally been removed. We are grateful to the Team Leader and his colleagues for their courteous responses to our e-mails - and their persistence.

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The latest example of unauthorised work at 26 Southernhay

Road has been the installation of two air conditioning units which discharge onto the neighbours‟ patio and are within earshot of main bedroom windows. Planning officers have acted promptly and asked for the units to be removed or for a retrospective application to be made. This sorry situation does not seem likely to encourage mutual respect. Or the co-operation needed to allow external cladding to be fitted to a new annexe on the property boundary and the reinstatement of the existing fence; both conditions attached to the planning consent.

The Co-op convenience store and `Flexistay’ hotel at the old Gables Hotel on London Road both opened their doors in October. We were delighted (and relieved) that our misgivings about the Co-op‟s Servicing and Delivery Management Plan and its risks to public safety have been acted on. Following work by its own risk assessors, the Co-op made two important changes. Firstly, access and egress were reversed so that vehicles now enter via Stoughton Road and leave via London Road. This has meant that, in both cases, they no longer need to turn across lines of oncoming traffic and the crossroads operates as it always has done, with no interruption to traffic filtering right into Stoughton Road. The Co-op also agreed to replace 13.4m and 12m long delivery vehicles with shorter 8m vehicles. This has meant that there is no longer a need to cone off 6 parking places prior to arrival. Taken together, we are in no doubt that the changes have reduced the risks to safety and we are grateful to the Co-op for listening. Depressingly, there have been reports of inattentive or lazy drivers ignoring the `No entry‟ signs and entering the site from London Road. We hope this will not persist but if it does, a combination of CCTV and financial penalties may be the answer.

Between the Mayfield roundabout and St Mary’s Road is a row of eleven villas overlooking Victoria Park. Some are very grand indeed and it is often said that if they were in London or Cambridge, their location would command a premium. It is a reflection of our times that they have now all been converted

into multiple occupancy but what is most depressing is the continuing replacement of their once elegant green frontages with hard-landscaped forecourts; plant-free zones reserved for bins and car standing. Planners encouraged this when they allowed the last remaining family home to be converted into 5 flats and its pretty garden (left) to be covered with block paving. Today it is a dismal sight (right) and it has clearly encouraged the next-door neighbour to replace his own front garden with a layer of tarmac – although this time without seeking

the necessary planning consent.

In Brief: 17 Stoneygate Rd 1-storey rear extension, alterations to porch, relocation of side door PENDING 4 Knighton Dr CofU of former coach house to dwelling house (1x 2-bed); alterations to add side and rear dormers; fencing and hardsurfacing PENDING 15 Stoneygate Rd paving at front; landscaping; 1.2m high wall at sides PENDING Brookfield, 266 London Rd Demolition of part of existing building; 1- and 3-storey extensions at sides; pedestrian access; associated landscaping PENDING 289 London Rd Works to 17 trees TREE PRESERVATION ORDER

St John the Baptist School, East Ave 3x single-storey classroom extensions; alterations; associated external works CONDITIONALLY APPROVED 6 Springfield Rd Alterations to Grade II listed building CONDITIONALLY APPROVED

Nick Knight

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I/we enclose a cheque for £6 for 1 year’s SCAS Membership as from April 1st 2018

Name:……………………………………………………………………………………………..............

Address:.………………………………………………………….................Postcode…………………

Contact Phone: ....................................................... email.........................................................................

Send to: Nita Foale, Membership Secretary, 2 Clarendon Park Road, Leicester, LE2 3AD

Phone: 2448438 email: nita.foale@btinternet.com

Merry Brexmas

to all our Members

and a

Strong & Stable New Year

Standing Orders

From the SCAS committee

Membership News The committee is working on a couple of new things for members in 2018. We are planning a mid-winter get-together (perhaps in February) to show our appreciation of our Newsletter deliverers and to allow prospective committee members to meet the existing team. We are also hoping to invite you all to a summer event which will be announced in our April Newsletter. There has been an excellent response to the reminder letter which went out in August and to Nita‟s follow-up e-mail and we are delighted to report that we end 2017 with 229 paid up member households. Again, this is a small increase on the previous year. Thank you all.

Why not set up a standing order for £6 from 1st April 2018 to automatically pay future subscriptions annually? It‟ll give you one less thing to remember AND fix the cost of your SCAS membership. Just complete the form accompanying this Newsletter, send the top section to your bank or building society and the bottom section to our membership secretary (or if you prefer, notify her by e-mail). You can, of course, also set up the SO online or by „phone but if you do that, please remember to let Nita know.

A Christmas History - The City of Leicester Singers (COLS)

Saturday December 16th at 7pm at St James the Greater, Leicester COLS present an evening of music, prose & poems reflecting the story of Christmas through the ages. It will start with the 14th century and finish in the present day. Many of the carols will be familiar and there be opportunities for our audience to join in the singing.

Tickets: £10 (Phone: 299 4444)