Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
For the people of Leicester, the 1960s was a decade of great social and economic change. It was to see a revolution in social attitudes reflected in the popular music of the time, in fashion, and in the print and broadcast media. Life changed for everyone. Railway stations closed as the motor vehicle grew in popularity. National Service ended, the pirate radio stations were scuppered, colour television became available, and the fashion garments manufactured by Leicester's giant textile companies were very different and sometimes extreme as hemlines rose dramatically. Changing attitudes led to social conflict between parents and children, teachers and pupils. Meanwhile, the teenagers danced at Il Rondo to The Who and Fleetwood Mac, and swooned to The Beatles at the De Montfort Hall. In Leicester in the 1960s, Stephen Butt charts the excitement and vibrancy of the 'Swinging Sixties' and reflects also on the economic and social problems that were just beneath the surface.
Synopsis
This was the decade when Leicester finally lost its battle with the motor car, and its reputation as a clean smart redbrick city. Fighting back, the city fathers invented the Traffic Warden to try to solve the endless traffic jams in the city centre, and also came up with a major road development scheme which was to change the face of the urban landscape for all time, wiping whole neighborhoods off the map. The Southfields underpass was ploughed through the heart of Roman Leicester, and the flyovers around the Central Ring Burleys, St Matthew s Way and Belgrave took shape.
The decade saw the change from red brick to grey concrete as the first high-rise flats and office blocks were constructed, prompting major social changes in the way people lived and worked in a city environment. Occupying the ground floor of the very first multi-storey car park was Tesco, the first supermarket in the city, and the company s first store outside the London area."