Fairwell to the Wheatcroft Collection at Donington Park

Leicestershire has many claims to fame. One; it has the world’s largest private collection of grand prix cars. Two; it has the world’s largest private collection of WW2 military vehicles. Both have been on show at Donington Park in north west Leicestershire for many, many years. Alas, time moves on.…

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“A perfect tornado of furious sound”: Breaking the Hindenburg Line with the 46th

  Riqueval Bridge looks inconspicuous enough, but the goosebumps climbing my legs, arms and neck know otherwise. A hundred years ago it was here the men of the Midlands broke through the Hindenburg Line. Spanning high above the narrow San Quentin canal, the bridge was witness to one of the…

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Off to France for the centenary of 1918 with the BBC

  It was the first day of the German spring offensive. The date was March 21, 1918 and the Kaiser’s boys were launching Operation Michael, an audacious bid to puncture Allied lines and seize the Channel ports that lay beyond. If they achieved that aim, Britain would be bracing itself…

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The Belgians are here! Head of Steam opens in Leicester

On the edge of Leicester’s newest bar you’ll find a pink elephant, a gnome and two Trappists from Belgium. This unusual quartet is among 150 UK and international beers at Head of Steam in Market Street. The elephant, AKA Delirium Red, is a silky smooth cherry brew, the gnome is…

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Western Park Beer Festival is coming next month

It’s Western Park Beer Festival on September 15 and 16. It’ll be ace. This year we’ll be spreading the love for Loros, the local hospice, and saluting the 50th anniversary of the Summer of Love. Drinks-wise it means 16 cask, six keg, four ciders and liver-shaped swimming pools of gin…

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Leicestershire’s surprising rock credentials

If you flick through the pages of rock’s vast and sticky encyclopaedia, it won’t be long before you come across a Leicester or Leicestershire-related entry. Here, I’ve done some of the leg-work for you. So prepare to be pleasantly surprised by three blokes called Jo[h]n.   1. Disarming rock lunatic…

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Passchendaele, 100 years on

A hundred years ago WW1’s second most notorious bloodbath was churning up souls in Flanders. Here, I spare a few words on Leicestershire’s involvement at Passchendaele.   The three Leicestershire Regiment officers stared at the map, looked hard at the surrounding mud and then, with incredulity, at each other. The…

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Tigers at Passchendaele 100 years on

It’s that time of year again when passports and European health insurance cards get squirrelled away into luggage containing two-pin adaptors and phone chargers. Tomorrow (Monday, May 8) we are taking the EuroStar across the channel and heading for Belgium. Our visit this year coincides with the impending anniversary of…

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Around the world in 80 Plates: Day two, Portugal

Portugal was founded in the 14th century by a Leicester woman. Seven centuries later and Portugal is being founded (okay, it’s a liberty) in Leicester. Our table for six was at the Madeira a Vista in Woodgate on a drizzly Friday night. The restaurant is sandwiched between Celebrity Pizza and…

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The Walcote murder and the hanging of William Henry Palmer

Yonks back there was a series in the Mercury on the men hung and buried inside the steep walls of Leicester Prison. William Henry Palmer was among them…and he didn’t go quietly.   They’re supposed to do it with weary resignation; a sniff, a sorrowful glance, sometimes even with a…

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Recent images of Leicester and Leicestershire

Ulverscroft Priory, just minding its own business, 13th century. Aylestone Meadows on Sunday, January 22. Poplar skeletons at Western Park on Wednesday, January 25th. Twin Lakes in Melton, back in December. Imagine saying house to that. Twin Lakes. Nothing says Christmas like meerkats shivering under a heat lamp. National Space…

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Around the World in 80 Plates. Day one. Cyprus/Greece.

The suggestion came at the end of a terrifyingly large Greek meal. “We should do this again, but somewhere new,” said Emma. “…there’s Madeira a Vista in Woodgate,” I respond. At that moment it was settled. Our group of four had probably eaten enough after the second of five courses…

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Framework Brewery – Leicester city centre’s first craft brewery

  Framework Brewery is a name you’re going to be hearing good things from in 2017. Leicester city centre’s first craft brewery started taking shape in the summer and their first brew, a hoppy American Pale Ale, only sloshed into a pint glass as recently as December 6. Since then,…

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“Presently both sides were out of their trenches, shaking hands and exchanged tobacco for cigarettes and chocolate. Four of us went over and were met by six Germans.”

On Christmas Eve, more than a century ago, a brave officer from the 1st Leicestershire Regiment climbed out of his trench and walked steadily towards No Man’s Land. Major Archibald Buchanan-Dunlop, who was serving on the frontline at Ypres in Belgium, hadn’t lost his mind. And he hadn’t gone accidentally…

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When it’s actually okay to get yourself arrested

It’s a tough question. Marlene Yeo looks skyward and then slides her eyes to the left in the hope of tweaking out the answer from a corner of her brain. The grey-haired 74-year-old looks defeated – she can’t remember how many times she’s been arrested. “I should keep a tally,”…

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The mud was scraped away and one word could be seen…Leicester

  It was February and raining when they found him, covered in a century-old cloak of earth and chalk. In the dirt near his bones, attached to a shred of uniform, they found a brass shoulder title, green with age and a little twisted. One word could be seen clearly…Leicester.…

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When St John’s lads carried swords

In classical parlance I am ‘knackered’. In recent days there’s been a double funeral in France, a christening in South Wigston, an orchestral concert and film on the Somme at Leicester Cathedral, and an archaeological dig at Castle Hill Country Park. Which is why I am sat in my comfies,…

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You’ll never look at Simon de Montfort the same way again

Simon de Montfort drew his last exhausted breath on a bloody Worcestershire battlefield. Outnumbered four to one, the powerful sixth Earl of Leicester had refused pleas to escape to safety as the Royalists continued their charge forward. “Our bodies are theirs, our souls are God’s,” he boomed as a hit-squad…

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Filth and more filth: The Leicesters at Vimy 1916

  The 4th Leicesters had sat in trenches overlooked by the Boche on the Messines Ridge and at Hill 60. And now at Vimy the enemy were at the top of the ridge again thanks to those responsible for our shortage in guns and munitions. If you had wished to…

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I read the news today…oh boy

We are doomed. I love my cousins in France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Italy, Spain, Portugal, eastern Europe – all of them. Many EU policies embrace better environmental legislation, better laws regarding employment and family, and many have better attitudes towards equality. Sat here this morning, mournful at the…

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Kilworth House – a little cakey kiss from heaven

Leicestershire, through agriculture and industry, has always had fairly deep pockets. Which means we have quite a number of lovely homes nestled within the gentle gold and green of our shire’s undulating countryside. Kilworth House (Hotel and theatre) is one such place. Former home of genuinely lovely Black Sabbath guitarist…

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\,,/(*_*)\,,/ It’s Download time \,,/(*_*)\,,/ \,,/(*_*)\,,/ \,,/(*_*)\,,/

It’s that Paganistic time of year when 120,000 tattooed, long-haired, skinny jeanists come to worship upon the sacred fields of north west Leicestershire. Roll ups? Check. Leather boots? Check. The ability to lose one’s mind/wallet/friends? Check. This weekend, Download festival is serenading Donington Park. Rock’s General Synod first hooked up…

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Leicester city on Leicester City today

  Some clever artist from London came up and sprayed this all over a wall off King Richard’s Road. It’s a corker. Just after taking this pic this morning, I called into Dayman’s DIY store “If you’re going to do it, do it with Dayman’s” – which is a stone’s…

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Crisps, beer and a doughnut box…Leicester City on eBay

Leicester City are holding on at the top of the Premiership with four games to go. Meanwhile, on eBay, the action is also hotting up…   What’s not to like? Claudio has probably already got his. “Latest design for Leicester City fans, quality ring spun cotton. Be quick as stock…

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Recent pix of Leicester, a couple of Manchester and a few of Jodrell Bank

      Yes, quite. Taken on the walk home from town yesterday. A billboard in King Richard’s Road, just after West Bridge.   One of my favourite places in Leicester for lunch. Excellent pies washed down with Swithland spring water. The staff are lovely too. Also a great place…

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The Wheatcroft Collection

With the annual French/Belgian battlefield experience rapidly approaching and Download rock festival soon after, my thoughts are currently turning towards Donington, which combines military on one hand and music on the Devil-horned other.   Cue an article from 2012…                                                          Kevin Wheatcroft next to a German half-track   Some people…

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Recent photos of Leicester and Leicestershire

What says Mothering Sunday more than dressing as one of Simon de Montfort’s knights at the Battle of Evesham (August 4, 1265)? Exactly. We were back at Jewry Wall Museum on Sunday to join in the 50th birthday celebrations. There were demonstrations, from Leicester’s many different periods, my daughter had…

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The Fashion Gallery at Snibston Discovery Park. Part 1 of a Snibby series.

The clothes you see below have recently been put into storage. The exhibition has been dismantled. Packed into boxes and put in a loft at Beaumanor Hall. To see them now you require a special appointment. Snibston Discovery Park in Coalville – and I’m going to stick my neck on…

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I never spoke out until I was 40. It was taboo. Men aren’t victims of abuse

Tony Magee is searching for the right words as he absently taps his fingers on the table in an airless conference room at Mercury headquarters. “What do you call it when something is like something else?” asks the grey haired 55 year old, his accent a disarming patter of Midlands-softened…

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The future of Leicester Central

It’s one of Leicestershire’s unofficial tourist destinations. Tucked away down a side street, removed from the bustle of the city centre. “I get plenty of visitors,” nods Mukhtar Shah, who has a car workshop in Great Central Street. “Sometimes 10, 15 people come a month, a lot of people who…

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Images from LE1 and elsewhere

Currently on display in Dover Street, Leicester. Just excellent.   Walkers. Best pies. No contest. Leicester Market vinyl stall.   Leicester Fridge do Naked Comedy at Manhattan 34. Dave’s Leicester Comedy Festival on Friday, February 5. Leicestershire love god drops by the Mercury offices and visits the newsfloor. Pre-Eurovision. Nicely…

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46 interesting facts about Leicestershire…

    Leicester City FC won the league in 2015/16. But what do you know about the city and county which spawned them?   1. Leicestershire is the Spiritual Home of Rock Music. It started back in 1980 with the first Monsters of Rock at Donington Park. It continues today…

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