Community

Mr Alex Acheson came to live in Highfields in 1938.
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I was very active in Wycliffe Ward Labour Party. We had some terrific struggles there, losing and winning council elections and that sort of thing. I met all sorts of people in Highfields because as you know, the St George's area and the Highfields' area being near to the railway, there were a lot of railway workers there who could walk to work on the early shifts in a very short time so we stayed there until 1953, when we moved up to Knighton.

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when I came back, I dived into Labour Party work. I covered the Wycliffe Ward which covered the St George's area and some of Highfields up to Spinney Hill. It was a tiny Ward. During the war, the Labour Party had had the political truce, so there was no organisation. Most of the men were either working hard on munitions or things like that. In the army the membership card of the Labour Party in Wycliffe was between thirty and forty and there were only perhaps half a dozen of us who attended meetings.

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In those days, the Labour Party subscription was six shillings a year, we went round every month collecting sixpence a month and entering it on the card. We kept in touch with the grass roots. Now, in many areas that has all gone as the subscription is centralised at Walworth Road. Many people now have a bank account so it's paid by standing order, even the local people are tending to lose touch with the grass roots.

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Now Len Hurst lived in Upper Kent Street and he was a window cleaner. He had been in the Royal Navy as a regular. I was honoured to give the eulogy, or account of his life when he died last year. He was a live wire, he fought very hard but the difficulty with him was that there was only a payment of something like ten shillings if you attended a committee meeting during the day, but that was no good to Len because if he didn't clean his windows on a regular basis, ten shillings didn't compensate for the loss of customers.

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I kept in touch with events when I had left Wycliffe Ward in 1953, but from 1947 when I came back from college I tramped the streets of Wycliffe Ward and Spinney, (we helped in Spinney Hill Ward). There was a sense of community then, where it had been going downhill before the war because of the housing shortage, there was a very respectable working class in Highfields. I can only remember one West Indian family living in the Wycliffe Ward area at that time and there were no Asians at all. It was a mixed population and there were quite a number of Tory owner occupiers up near the Medway Street area and we had quite a number of Tories who were councillors for that Ward

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Mr Bakhsish Singh Attwal came to Highfields in 1957.
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Only a few people were racist. Majority were nice people and would talk and have a chat.

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The Asian population was very low so there were no festivals celebrated in public such as Eid or Divali. We now celebrate at Spinneyhill Park.

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Roger Cave came to live in Highfields in 1940, the year he was born.
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Can you tell me about bonfire night?

Yes, well bonfire night used to be quite a thing because they hadn't got the restrictions that they have now. Every street in the area would have at least two bonfires at either end of the street even though they were perhaps dangerously close to buildings. A street like Twycross Street which crosses Melbourne Road could probably have as many as four bonfires in the one street, so to anybody standing at a distance it would look like the whole area was ablaze!

So a lot of people used to come out from the street and just join in?

Yes, they did then, I think there was probably more community atmosphere than there would be now in most areas

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We used to get the odd policeman come walking by, they used to carry a lot of authority and everybody would be afraid of the policeman. People had a lot of respect for the law. Infact, my grandfather on my mother's side was in the Police Force from 1905 to about 1930. He used to have a board up outside his house saying that he was the police constable so he would be virtually on-call twenty-four hours a day, so if they were in any trouble they could knock on his door at any time.

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I suppose there must have been burglaries but nothing to the extent that there is now, you know you could walk out and leave you doors unlocked and you could be quite safe. You could trust your neighbours. They would have probably lived there for years, there wasn't the movement of people in the area. People stayed put, they weren't buying and selling houses all the while so you knew the people in the locality.

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Can you remember the riots that took place a couple of years ago in Highfields?

Yes, I remember them. Being in the Fire Service I can remember them although I was on holiday when that took place. I know from what the other firemen said it was quite frightening really, they had to adopt a certain procedure in case they got attacked because they had been called to the fire. They had to be careful that they didn't drive into a 'situation'. They had to reverse into the area and then use the local water supply, but by reversing in they could easily and quickly drive out and protect themselves like that. When they were dealing with the fire they would run the hose out to the fire engine from the street hydrant.

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Was there quite a different community in the earlier years like the Polish or Jewish community?

Well I suppose a good indication of that is when I was at school, particularly when I went to Melbourne Road Dale School. When I went to Dale there was more of a cross section of children in the area and I can remember there was one or two Jewish lads. So this would be going back to what, about 1951. I think there was one West Indian lad in the school, I think then in the next year there was an Indian lad but that was about all, you know there wasn't many at the school.

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the 1950s, I think we gradually began to get that influx. First, I would say we got the Irish people and then probably the Polish people arrived after that. Then you started to get West Indians and then Indian people. When I went to Dale in 1951 it was mainly the original white people who'd lived in the area for years

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got to the age of fifteen they would go to work anyway. Their energies would be taken up with that. I don't remember there being many people unemployed then. I think you would probably be a bit of a problem child to be unemployed. There were always jobs in the factories really, so it was quite peaceful in the area.

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Helen Edwards interviewing Sandy Coleman for Highfields Remembered.
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I've always liked elderly people and I've always done elderly people's shopping, I enjoy doing it. When I think now, you know, that at 12 years old, I used to regularly wash people's hair, I mean I'd never trust a 12 year old to wash my hair!

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for the coronation we had our own little street party, we didn't join in Biddulph Street, we had our own in the avenue.

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I always look back and think that it was a multicultural area in the early 1950s. I went to school with all sorts of different nationalities. I can remember the Chinese friends that I had, I can remember the Chinese laundries, we had Italians, we had Jewish people, so I think even in those days it had got nationalities all getting on together.

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Mr Boleslaw Dobski came to Highfields in 1947/48.
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Mr Dobski, do you mind starting off by telling me your name and your age and where you were born.

I was born in Poland, near Gdansk of course, that was 1920. I just passed 75 two days ago so I am rather an old chap! I came to England through the Polish forces from Italy, and we settled here in 1946. We landed in Scotland and from there we have been slowly preparing for the Polish civil life through the Polish Resettlement Corps, we couldn't go back to Poland where we left some 5,6,7 years ago. So we had been stranded, we had no option. We had to start some civilian life and that was it.
I was stationed several miles from Leicester. Leicester was a focal point and there was plenty of work so we settled here in Leicester. Me and about a thousand Polish families settle here at that time in 1947/1948/1949. But of course, I say families, there were only perhaps a hundred families, and the rest were just single fellows. I was single then.

Yes. Did you speak English?

Well, only a few rudimentary words and so on. I was working for the quartermaster in the army, and we had to go to depots, so we had more or less been forced to learn some English in connection with the job. But in general, there were a few of us who mastered English, or had some knowledge of English before. English was not very popular in Poland before the war.

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So you left the army and you moved into Leicester to find work. Where did you work first?

At the Imperial Typewriter Company, do you remember it?

On East Park Road?

Yes. It was quite prosperous mind you. It was one of the best typewriter companys in England, in that era. At that time it was developing and expanding and at that time, I think there was about 150 Poles working for the Imperial. It was very low paid, they didn't pay very much, but then it was a good a job as any other.

Tell me what you did, and how much you were paid and for how many hours you worked?

Ah, it was what 48 hours, wasn't it? It was a 48 hour week and then it was reduced to 44, 42 and so on, but from the beginning it was 48. I was a machine operator there. I was with them for about 15 years and then I changed to Rank.

Do you mean Rank on Stoughton Street?

No, in Gipsy Lane. They specialised in instrument building and I was good enough to pick up a job there. I was with them for about two or three years, then there was a vacancy at the University and I got a job there. I was quite happy then because I got a job in the position of superintendent and it was quite alright then. However, you never master it, but good enough to do a job. And well, I knew the trade and I was quite happy at the University because you meet young people, you meet educated people, and it was uplifting from the factory to a different place, yeah. So it wasn't too bad then.

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Yeah, let's go back, you've left the army, you've got a job at Imperial Typewriters.

Where did you live?

My first address was Melbourne Road, opposite the Polish church. You see, it is an old peoples' home now, but they were big terraced houses, three or four storeys, that's where I started. That was Melbourne Road, number 98 or something. Every second or third house was Polish at that time.

Did you have a whole house?

No, no we moved into digs because I was poor, when I was demobbed. Then I married of course and my wife was poor because she escaped from Poland. She was chased by the KGB! She just managed to escape from Poland through Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy and to England. When we met here in England, we married. At that time she was a restaurant cook in Brighton. We met in the camp because she came to visit her brother. Her brother escaped from Poland in 1939/40 during the winter and went through Czechoslovakia, Hungary to Greece, from Greece to Turkey, from Turkey to Egypt and joined the Polish forces there. And so he came to England and then I got in contact with him and that's where I met my wife. That was a day! We got married and then we settled here in Leicester. There were two single army beds believe it or not on four bricks each, so if we wanted to make love, well that was funny I can tell you! We were young though, just imagine, an army bed on four bricks because there are no legs to it. Oh, my God!

There were eighteen people in the house! There were one, two, three families with children, three single fellows and three miners, three Irish men were miners. The house was full of people. Everybody was working. We would come home at night at six o'clock, all the women in the kitchen and we had been doing something else, making the fires and that. Of course we were very young at that time it didn't matter.

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Can you describe the families, the groups of people in the house? Tell me more about them.

On the ground floor there was the house owner and his wife and daughter, aged about ten.

What was his name, do you remember?

Reruper. He emigrated to Canada. As far as I know he is still alive in Canada because he was more or less my age. The other family who were on the ground floor are still living in Leicester. They had three children, little ones, there were already four children on the first floor. On the second floor it was my brother-in-law and his wife and his little baby and of course, me and my wife occupying the other room. On the third floor there were three Polish fellows, I think they were young men who worked in the tannery, and the three miners and a single girl. I think I counted once it was eighteen or nineteen people in the house. Well, that was a very hard start and to get any other accommodation was out of question in Leicester. There was plenty of work here but little accommodation. If you got two rooms, or use of kitchen or your own kitchen, Oh God that was something, that was heaven!

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We had been living together in one house and then we got together, three or four of us. We bought another house. With fifty pounds deposit you could buy a house in those days. So that's how we moved out, then perhaps after six months we saved enough for the two families to move along. And so we spread all over Highfields in that way. In the beginning there was perhaps sixteen, eighteen people in one house. We were all Poles together. So it was eighteen people at the start, next week, next six months it was four people and then perhaps two people in the house and then we got married and children arrived and so on. That's how we started.

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Was there a lot of empty housing in the area then?

No, no but houses for sale were immediately bought, yeah. We had been buying and that's how we bought our church there you see. We bought the church with cash.

Was the church empty when you bought it?

Yes it was. It was owned by the Baptists. That church, (you probably will not remember) was built where the present railway station is 120-130 years ago. It was transferred to Melbourne Road brick by brick then we bought it for fifteen thousand pounds. It didn't have a roof and was very neglected. It was leaking all over the place. We got some money together and bought it and that's why there was a sort of Polish ghetto there at that time in the Highfields area.

What year are we taking about?

1956

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But, that was alright until the 1960s. We started moving out when we got a bit richer and the younger got better jobs, and so they began moving out. We had been selling the houses there and moving out and there is hardly anybody now, nobody living of the Polish community. One or two families perhaps, but that is all. My family was the last Polish family who moved out of Highfields. I moved out thirteen years ago. I stuck it out but I couldn't stand it anymore. The noise, the dirt, the prostitution and so on. My wife didn't want to move, but I say, alright you stay, I go!

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Let's go back to that time when you first moved into your house. Where did you shop? Did you still want Polish food?

At that time there were very little of Polish foods, we just shopped around the corner. Mind you, we become a member of the Co-op. We had been buying in the Co-op. £1.00 per week for groceries, it was enough you see in the olden days. Well we didn't have contact at that time with Poland at all, so we didn't get any of those sort of sausages and delicacies you get now in the continental shops, we had been relying on what we got next door and besides, everything was rationed. You wouldn't remember? We got a Polish butcher. He started a shop in Churchill Street and so all the Poles were going to Mr Morawiec because he was a Pole and he really was a proper butcher and then we enjoyed the Polish sausage. Max his name was. He was the first one in Leicester to start up a Polish delicatessen.

I was earning about £4 or £5 a week for 48 hours. Mind you £4 was something different to the £4 today of course! But that was the general rate of pay. You tried to make a little overtime or a little bonus and so on. If anybody was earning £6 that was regarded as having a good job. We started working (more or less) in factories.

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That was our beginning. It was very hard. Mind you, if we sometimes sit together with a beer and talk about the good old days and say "Well yes, it was good, but remember, how many socks did you have?!" You washed the socks so they were ready by tomorrow morning. The beginning was very hard but I should say that in the late Fifties, Sixties we felt we were getting somewhere. We did not ask for anything, we didn't get any grants, we didn't get any help from nobody and yet we managed to stabilise and we are quite alright now.

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Did it hold together as a community?

Yes. It was basically because we had all been ex-servicemen, and some of the women too, so that organisation stuck us together and the church kept us together too. As we have been here in a Protestant country and we are Catholics, we stuck together. We had to stick together otherwise we wouldn't have any churches. And of course, as we had children, we started the school and then we started other various organisations like the Boy Scouts, Girl Guides and so on, and dancing troops and so on. But that was all in the late Fifties and Sixties.

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Cultural activities, yes. Well the school. Well we started the first school around 1950 or 1952.

We got children together to learn the Polish language, the Polish culture. We introduced them to national dancing and theatre. We had a very prosperous theatre and choir and so we started growing as a community. But always we stuck together. Now all the younger generation is spreading into the English community, including myself. I don't go a Polish church anymore. I go to St Thomas Moore because it is nearer, you see.

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So the school started. From the beginning it was in the Dominicans, when we had parents and children. When we had 50, 60 children, we used the local school in Highfields next to our church. With one school there wouldn't have been enough room. There were some of us who had little political differencesbetween one faction and another. You see from the beginning we were all together, but once we had grown let's say, a little bit wiser, or God knows what, then we started quarrelling about politics. Some people accepted the situation in Poland, the communists. But there was another faction, like myself, we didn't agree to it. I have never been to Poland. We have grown into two factions politically and that way we split the school finally. Unfortunate I say, but there you are. That's what happened. And at that time we used to have up to 150 children in Saturday school.

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Slowly the Polish shops started up here in the Sixties. One was in Mere Road. Next door to a Polish church there was a grocery shop, that was owned by Colonel Dadrowski. His Christian name was Anthony. Yeah, he was the commanding officer of one of the Panzer units in Italy. He lives with his friends. But that was one of the first shops. There was others as well but it was next to the church, so when we went to the church on Sunday, the next thing it was to go to Dadrowski for Polish sausages. It was very new but everybody was happy to live together. So that was Highfields in those days.

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I was earning four to five pounds a week. Ten shillings went to the collection every Sunday to buy the church. But the younger generations if it came down from Heaven it would be alright. But to put a little money in it, well, that's something different. You see they have got a different spirit. Perhaps they are more practical!

Does the younger generation actually use the Polish Church?

Oh yes, yes occasionally.

So there is still a sense of community?

Oh yes, still. The children still go to church, perhaps not as frequently as we used to because I had to go to church every Sunday. Without it I would be unhappy. But the younger generation, they go there when there is an occasion. Like everywhere else. It is the same with any young people. When I was young perhaps I was just the same. So they are still using it for their weddings, for their baptisms and so on, and for various functions, but perhaps when they grow a bit older and wiser they will use it a bit more.
The problem is with parking. You see, we used to walk and the younger people will not walk so far. They must have a car and there is no parking space. So there is some difficulties for the younger generation, but then again, you have survived it so far and we hope that the church will serve us for many years to come. For now there is already a question mark hanging around it because when we built the church we counted oh, eight hundred people to accommodate. We had three services on Sundays and today we have two and the church is empty because, well the younger generation don't visit the church as we do and the older generation is dying out.

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Do you still have a lunch club there for the elderly people?

No, no they don't. They have it now at the day centre on a Thursday. I am the chairman of the Polish ex-servicemen's association, and I opened a restaurant here. We have about twenty five, thirty people coming here for Sunday lunches in this room. Of course we have to convert it to a dining room. It is a big job but it is almost done and so, many people come in for their drink and their talk and they have their lunch and at three o'clock everybody goes home.

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So everything changed and Highfields changed as well. Not much for the better, that's the problem you see, because it is still overcrowded. Too many people live in that area. No parking space, cars parking on the pavement and so on. It's too noisy now and different people live there. Different habits, different culture and so on.

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OK, let's change the subject. When you came here, did you feel you integrated well in to the local community?

No, unfortunately not. First it was a lack of language you see. That was one thing. Secondly, which was perhaps the worst of it, the anti-Polish and anti-image propaganda, propaganda by Warsaw, by the government there in Poland. They call us racists, they call us anything. And of course, the British leftwing press picked it up and when ever we went to work, "Why don't you go back home?" They were reading the Daily Worker. And then, when you were looking for a job you saw, "Poles don't need to apply" that happened quite frequently in Leicester. That's why we stuck together. A lack of language and an anti-Polish feeling and various things. The British Press wasn't very helpful because they had been in love with Stalin and that system. "Why don't you go home? Look how they live." There was plenty of jobs around the corner, you didn't have to worry about that because there was plenty of work.

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In the beginning it was very hard, it took a long time to integrate and so probably that's why we stuck together. We had to have our own clubs, our own restaurants, our own church.

Yes, so if you went out for leisure purposes, or a dance or anything you largely went with Polish people did you?

Yes. We had so many dances at De Montfort Hall. We had the coronation celebrations of the Queen in Granby Halls. That floor in Granby Halls was made of asphalt. Have you seen it? We had been dancing all night, and then we came home and started undressing and my wife says to me, "I've got black legs, what's happened?" I pulled my things up. "Yeah, my legs are black too!" The ladies couldn't afford long dresses but we were dancing on the tarmac, and the dust went everywhere!

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Dr Stuart Fraser lived in Highfields from 1946 the year he was born.
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I really didn't go out a lot into the area because I was shall we say from a different group of people from the people that were living in the area at the time. I suppose it is partly the penalty of being the doctors son.

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I really only had one close, or one friend nearby who was of my own age and that was my neighbours', and my neighbours were Polish, they were displaced persons from the World War Two and I think he had been a Colonel in the Polish army and he was there with his family and he had a son of my age and I used to frequently play with him. However, he had very little English and I had no Polish, but we seemed to get along quite well,

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I certainly didn't have any friends who came down into this area, and in fact it was one thing that I used to have as a bit of a problem as a school child and I used to say, "why can't we live where my school friends live?" They were all obviously professional and upper class people and I was told "this is where the people are, this is where the work is, this is where we have to live". And so I accepted that.

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well it was a working class area but an upper class working area. There were people around who were skilled people, shopkeepers, they did a variety of things, it was by no means a rough area at all. If you wanted to get into rough areas, my mother warned me never to cross into the Humberstone Road and get into the Wharf Street area, that was bandit territory, that was bad news, that was a rough area down there.

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Dr Stuart Fraser has lived in Highfields from 1946, the year he was born.
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This is a tape made by Dr Stuart Fraser, General Practitioner, working from 56 Highfields Street, Highfields, Leicester. Made primarily for the purposes of the 'Highfields Oral History' project being organised by the Leicestershire and Leicester Councils' Library Services.

I have made an earlier tape with regard to my own personal experiences as a child living in Highfields. This tape has been made from a combination of sources of my own experiences of living in Highfields, my experience of working in Highfields as a General Practitioner from January 1972, and from my study of medical history nationally, and local medical history issues.

I haven't got any reference books or points in front of me, this is entirely made from memory. For the purposes of this, I have identified the Highfields area as that area lying to the east of the city of Leicester, marked out by the Midland Railway line to the west, the London Road to the south west, the Humberstone Road to the north, and Mere Road running from Humberstone Road through to London Road; Mere Road being, of course, the old parish boundary of -
St Margaret's Parish. Spinney Hill Park, Park Vale Road and the other areas, all being the northern part of the old Parish of Evington, based on the moated site, formally in Moat Road.

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tangible evidence of health provision in the Highfields area would of course be seen in the Workhouse – the Union Workhouse which was built in about 1844. This was the union of all Leicestershire – the Leicester City parishes – twelve in all I think – and provided provision for all those poor, able bodies and sick people from that date. It must have been quite a daunting reminder to the people of the locality seeing this large building surrounded by brick walls, and knowing that if they fell upon hard times through no misfortune of their own maybe, or through ill-health, that that was where they would end up. The sick were provided for, the sick poor were provided for in this building until 1903 and entry of course had many implications for people, and many families were brought up with the threat of the workhouse hanging over them.

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From 1911 to 1946. There was now provision for the poorer working class men, where they received medical attention if their income was below a certain level. However, there was no provision for their wives, for maternity care or for their children and this is where the Provident Dispensary came into its own. Members could continue to pay money into these organisations, and that would provide medical cover for them. In Leicester, the Provident Dispensary turned itself into the Public Medical Service, and with the other sick clubs in Leicester provided something like cover for a third of the population of the city.

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The Poor Law, in the form of Hillcrest of the Union Workhouse of course, the sick provision was handed over to the local authority in the 1920s, the Crown Hills Infirmary became the General Hospital, and the workhouse then provided care for those frailer and often elderly sick people.

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Hillcrest, as it was known, was used up until the 1970s as a hospital when it was eventually closed and demolished, and is now the site of the Moat Boys' School. I think there could be many memories of Hillcrest and the Union Workhouse hidden in some older peoples' memories and thoughts, but of course I think they may stay locked there due to the implications of the poor law and all its provisions.

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With the coming of the NHS in 1946, a system of primary care was instituted covering all people. Provision of district nurses, midwives, the pattern of care in the Highfields area would have been that the doctors' surgeries were based on the old 19th century buildings which they occupied. The PMS system, the dispensary system was closed down and the sites were obviously sold off. Nurses covering the area would again have lived in their own houses and certainly midwives covered sort of localities. During the 1960s there was development and re-siting of some surgeries, as the older properties in Charnwood and St Peter's Estate were knocked down, and the doctors' surgeries had to be re-sited. And this was the era of the health centres being built of which there were two in the locality. Here the doctors moved into buildings provided for by the Health Authority to provide health care.

These health centres would also act as centres for district nurses and health visitors. Midwives continued to be based in the big hospitals such as the General Hospital and the Royal Infirmary.

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I would say that they tended to escape from any major epidemic illnesses as it was on a high area, free from the crowded medieval site of the city and the frequent flooding from the Soar and the Mausey, as I believe the brook was called down on East Park Road. It would have been well known amongst people of the city to avoid buying houses in that sort of an area as they tended to be damp accommodation and subject to frequent flooding.

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After the second world war, I would have thought that the Highfields area would have suffered in as many areas from having a population of people in boarding accommodation and lodgings, displaced people from Europe settling there. Some of the illnesses like Tuberculosis might have been more common.

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During the 1960s, Highfields became a very cosmopolitan area, with arrivals from the Caribbean and then subsequently Africa, Bangladesh and India, so that the imported diseases like Malaria and the tropical diseases would become more frequently seen, although they were not a major problem. But it became a very heavily populated area with many young families and a somewhat mobile population so that the social issues of this very mixed population would present additional challenges to the health provision of the city.

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Mr Tirthram Hansrani came to live in Highfields in the late 1940s.
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I knew English so I did not find things that difficult. The people were very helpful then. A person did not feel silly asking for some help. The people were ever so helpful. They could not do enough for one another.

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The Police were very helpful. People were confident then, they had faith in the Police. The Police did their duty well. We used to leave the money on the doorstep for the milkman, etc. We did not need social security because we could get jobs.

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There was no racism, people were not bothered about colour. People did not celebrate Eid and Vasakhi. After 1970 people started to celebrate in their homes. Now people celebrate in public, eg. Spinneyhill Park.

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Conduit Street has been demolished. The shopping areas have been changed. There are more buses now. In Highfields there was no danger, you could walk alone at night, at any time. You could wear jewellery safely but now it's not safe. Anybody can get robbed.

The old Highfields was a safe, residential area. Highfields was a mixed area. There were working class people and middle class people. There were no Asian shops on Melbourne Road. Before, people walked or used the buses. People are more selfish now. If I had to live at Highfields I would feel frightened as it's not safe anymore. There is unemployment there.

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Mr Abdul Haq came to live in Highfields in 1963.
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When did you come to Leicester?

I came to this city when I was 20. But everything has changed – no one keeps their culture, or dress. My son is married to a Japanese girl.

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When you lived in Highfields could you easily buy Asian groceries?

No, nothing, hardly any at all. After 1955 more Asians lived here. More came in 1972, when Idi Amin threw them out of Uganda. A lot of people in this area came from Kenya too

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There's more Asian shops now, meat, clothing, fancy goods, spices. The park was beautiful, many people used to go summer time in nice weather. Very few Asian families in 1963. Only about three or four.

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Mrs Hazel Jacques came to Highfields in 1942.
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Were there many Asians in Highfields?

Well, we were beginning to get a few families down Saxby Street, not as many as there are now, of course. But they were beginning to come. When I went to work at Lee's shop in Leicester they used to come in there, everything became quiet if you saw a black man. I think it's terrible these days that children should can't say, "Baa Baa Black Sheep", and things like that. I mean, it's getting the racist thing now. At school we used to have different religions, and if you were of a different religion you could leave the hall while they had the assembly.

Were there many Jewish children in Highfields that you knew of?

Yes, there was. I didn't know many myself, if any. I can't really think of anybody. But the Synagogue was on the Mill Hill Lane then. When we went on the swings once, we saw the
S.ynagogue over the walls and that's how we knew there was a Jewish community. We didn't know anything about Jews.

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Mr Amarjit Singh Johl came to Highfields in 1964.
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Highfields was mostly inhabited by English and white people. The indigenous population was very helpful and sympathetic. If you had any difficulty, there was somebody to help you. It was a good time when you came from India everything looked nice and systematic. It was not overpopulated as it is now. It did not have a bad name either. Everything was peaceful.

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Did you face any difficulties as far as language and communication was concerned?

I was a graduate, so I was familiar with English, I could speak and write good English. There was some difficulty with pronunciation, sometimes I could not understand properly. I was wondering about uneducated people who came from India, they must have faced many difficulties. If there is no communication and a language barrier, you feel they must be very brave to settle themselves in spite of the difficulty.

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We were very limited as a community, we used to dress and clothe as the English did. We used to go to town for clothes. The standard of shops was much higher than India. I used to like to dress properly. I liked good fashionable clothes. We used to buy groceries in the neighbourhood.

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How long did you stay without family?

My wife joined me after a year and half. But it was a strange feeling being without them, because I came from a large extended family. Here we were all male adults who only had to do the work. Most of them were illiterate and uneducated. I had very little in common with them. We had a different level of mental and psychological thinking, we used to live together and go out together. There were no means of entertainment. I used to keep busy at work.

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Would you tell me about your daily life in those days. What sort of work you were doing and how many hours?

It was manual and factory work. It was degrading and hard work for me. I was not prepared for this kind of work. We were given only this type of work and employment. It was hard work and low paid. We used to do twelve hours a day and also Saturday morning. We used to earn twelve to thirteen pounds a week. I never dreamt of this kind of work, I did not want to go back because of pride and dignity. Then my wife joined me and we used to share our feelings and daily experience. This was a source of relief and comfort, life went on in a routine.

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What was your first job in England?

My first job was in a factory on Gwendolen Road, then as a bus conductor in the Leicester City Transport. In the factory, working conditions were very poor, it was an engineering factory. They were producing spare parts for diesel engines. The work was hard and I was young and strong. I did not mind hard work but the racial discrimination was very painful and hurtful. Many immigrants did not understand the taunts, it was a different kind of discrimination in those days. It is different nowadays.

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How do you see the change where you used to live?

It is beyond recognition, everything has changed. There were lots of small corner shops in the area. There were no Indian shops. All the shops were owned by English people. The shops used to cater for all the needs in the area, there were a milk dairy on 254 Mere Road, which has been converted into Leicester Family Housing Association. There is a vast change in the area. There was an electric shops opposite the dairy. A meat shop on the next corner and grocery shop. It was a very community based system. People in the area knew each other and shops had regular customers. The service was very good, it has changed altogether. It is very commercialised.

Extract
The Highfields area was no different from other good areas. It was not overpopulated as it is now. It was a well respected area, children were well behaved and any type of vandalism or hooliganism was not special in this area. People greeted each other in those days. The children were really well mannered. Now the streets are overpopulated.

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Where there any places of religious worship?

There was no established places. People of different faiths used to hire a school building on Sundays. Things have changed. Hindus have temples, Sikhs have Gurdwaras and Moslems have Mosques. I could not think of such a change. Some people used to think we must have a place of worship, many used to go to India to perform a religious ceremony. Still many did not bother about religion at all. Everybody thinks individually. Anyway it was a great act to establish your own religious places.

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What did you think of the general public? Were they honest?

People were very honest. It has disappeared now. We used to leave the money outside for the milkman, nowadays it is like a dream.

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Were there any Asian organisations on any associations in Highfields?

Indian Workers' Association was the first organisation in this area. It has been doing a lot of good work for the people there is a Highfields library which has a large stock of Asian books (not before). Before, there were no Asian books in Asian languages.

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Miss Alma Knight was born in Highfields in 1923.
Extract
we had evacuees here.

Oh, they actually sent people to Leicester?

Yes, and there was a lot of Jewish people came up from London, from Clapton especially, they were bombed very badly there.

Oh. And that was actually in Highfields?

Yes, yes. And then another very interesting thing was, I think it was 1940, the fall of France, the troops were all evacuated you know, and they were brought up to the Midlands to be billeted here. So we had 5 in the house, and we had 3 soldiers with nowhere for them sleep.

Oh goodness!

So the billeting officer brought them and said, "Oh, if you've got a spare room, or a spare quilt or pillows they'll sleep on the floor."

So you had 3 strange men in your house?

Yes, they were absolutely lovely. They looked so desperately tired, some had just got plimsolls on, and a singlet with the battle top. A few had got their haversacks, and one or two had got little bits of rations they just brought across, they'd come over the Channel you see, landed at Dover or wherever and come up to the Midlands.

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But you've lost things like Charnwood Street.

Oh, yes! When we had the survey for the improvements, a lot of us put, "Wish Charnwood Street would come back."

I see!

And strangely enough, that year I mentioned, the last year I was at the firm, which was a very happy year, there were about 6 or 7 gentlemen and a girl, well she'd be in her late twenties, she was West Indian, she was awfully nice to work with, she might perhaps have been 30, she remembered Charnwood, her mother taking her! So you see, she was a real Caribbean girl, and she loved what we loved. The families who've settled here, that came in the Fifties, really don't know much different from us, the family atmosphere has gone on. When the West Indians came mind you, you never felt threatened, it was just the music. That was their way of life you see. I will say that as far as I can remember there was no crime.

Extract
The families who've settled here, that came in the Fifties, really don't know much different from us, the family atmosphere has gone on. When the West Indians came mind you, you never felt threatened, it was just the music. That was their way of life you see. I will say that as far as I can remember there was no crime. And strangely enough, now the house next to me is for sale, it's been student lodgings for years, I'm very sorry it's being sold, because I've thoroughly enjoyed the students being there. Some of the girls have come from quite good homes. Perhaps, it's been a real experience to come somewhere like this. One girl actually cried when she went back!

Extract
now the house next to me is for sale, it's been student lodgings for years, I'm very sorry it's being sold, because I've thoroughly enjoyed the students being there. Some of the girls have come from quite good homes. Perhaps, it's been a real experience to come somewhere like this. One girl actually cried when she went back! There was this place in Gopsall Street called Jim's Place at the time, and they used to have these parties. I don't think there was anything much you know. They used to have drinks and the music going and she thought it was fantastic. Her mother said to us, "Oh, she used to write and tell us about parties at Jim's Place!" They really enjoyed it. We did have some who were a little bit much one year, but they weren't university students. I feel a bit sorry really because they were always very nice, and my parents enjoyed them being here, they always made them feel at home. We looked after the bins for them, or the post. Some have kept in touch. I do think there's a big need for accommodation for young people like that.

Yes, I feel sorry for the people who need somewhere to live, but there's an awful lot of them who go in and wreck the homes. They have these irresponsible young people in and they just wreck it. I mean I've seen it with my own eyes. They ought to have a probationary period where they see if the house is all right. I suppose it'll get sorted out in time, that's the problem of today.

There seem to be less businesses and factories in the area, is that right?

Yes. I think there's a little Asian business in Oxenden Street, there were two firms there. I think there was a piano tuner there once, and a French Polisher. Nelsons, yes, they were there. Then on the other side of Oxenden Street there were one or two sweet shops, I can't remember them very well and I don't think they did an awful lot of trade.

Oh!

So your feeling is that really things haven't changed all that much?

No, it's different, I do feel it's such a pity it gets downgraded so much.

Yes.

I know the new housing on Sparkenhoe Street, that's recently been done but the other housing was very substandard, that wouldn't give Highfields a good image. I believe they wanted to make it into a housing scheme for private flats and things like that and I don't think anybody would take it on.

Yes..

So it was the council run scheme, you see, with the prefab things made no doubt it was done with good intent, but it didn't work.

I'm sure it was meant well, you know. Put like that I do think a lot of these schemes get cried down a lot, but often they're done with very good intentions. I suppose there's always some who don't want them to work, it's in their interests to put it like that, you know! That's something you have to watch today, very much, I think. But, as I say if we've had trouble with tenants, which is an universal thing, all over the country and I mean other parts of Leicester and the county.

But, we found that the office at Highfields Street was very good, they worked with the police and did what they could, nobody could do any more, they're all understaffed aren't they? So, I mean we value very much what they did, and you don't like to think anybody's deprived of a house, do you? But when you think how they just come in and you know just smash them to pieces, absolutely like pigsties. And yet, the time my parents bought the house even in the Fifties you see a lot of the West Indians and Asians, they had jobs here and they bought the property. I mean it took some saving up then, and they valued them very much.

Your parents bought the house?

Yes. But St Peters Road was rented. No doubt because of the health thing. I was just about old enough to remember what it was like.
Because of course after the war you had the Health Service?

Yes, that was in 1948 or 1949, but up until then, there was various little private insurance things, you went to your doctor and they gave you a form which you sent to the insurance and they would pay it for you out of what you'd paid in. Or if you weren't in. I mean there were some very poor people in those days. I hadn't started school, I was only about 3. The front room downstairs was a waiting room and these poor dear people used to come in with their coughs and colds, of course there was a lot of fog in those days. They used to sit there with the little card like that for the prescription. But of course my mother and my grandma, they had to look after it you see. They were up at the crack of dawn, cleaning the floor and cleaning everywhere out, and of course it was all under lock and key.

Extract
the first time it was a very frightening experience, and there again the police were so good, you know, and so were my neighbours who are Asian people, they were really good samaritans you know, I wasn't on the phone at the time, and I managed to stagger across to them and they got the police, they were really so kind.

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Mr Aidan Maguire came to Highfields in 1962.
Extract
Of course, everyone remembered the place at the top of Sherratt Road and St Saviours Road. It was the Black Boy. I think it stood out for a lot of people because it was a local public house.

Did a lot of people go there?

I think they did, it was quite a meeting place. People went on the Saturday night and some of them took the children and some of them didn't.

Were the children allowed in?

I think they were allowed if I remember rightly. I remember a chap I worked with, Joe Randall, he told me that he used to go sometimes with his father into the 'Snug'. His dad would take him on Saturday nights and they would have a sing song. It was one of those things in them days.

Extract
We had a teacher there called Mr Foot. I remember him because he had a bird and I was quite good at art. I am still not too bad, but I used to do a lot of drawings. I was quite popular at school I think. There were lots of other people there – West Indian people and Asian people. I remember one of my mates, his name was Rashid, he was a Pakistani kid and one of my best friends.

Extract
it was mixed. The kids who actually went to the catholic classes would probably be of Irish background or Polish. If I remember, the Benjamins were a West Indian family, they also went to the catholic classes.

Extract
You don't realise it until you get a bit older but that to move from one environment to another was like being thrown into a crazy world. There were so many people around, you know, different people as I said. People I had never seen around before, black people and kids in classes with turbans on. It was quite a change to have all them in one year.

Extract
On Berners Street, there was a delicatessen. I remember this because there was such a variety of shops on Berners Street. In fact, I remember the shops had an unbelievable variety! Even back in the sixties when we were really young, there was a Delicatessen on the corner which was run by a Polish guy. The Polish people came from all over and they were doing things like Salamis and different types of bread and cooked bread, gherkins, and things like that which you wouldn't get in lots of other shops. There were cold meats, I would say it was a delicatessen now, but we just knew it as a Polish shop where you went for bread that tasted slightly different.

Extract
It was an interesting school to go to because although the majority (70%) were white, most of them would have been the first generation from another country; Poland, Ukraine, Ireland, West Indies and of course the large Goanese community. As you know, there was always a large Asian population there but the Goanese always classed themselves as Portuguese for some reason. We always knew them as the Portuguese people, it wasn't until later that I found that Goa was a Portuguese colony in India but everyone just called them the Portuguese and they all spoke really good English.

Extract
in my mid teens, I spent a lot of time in a boy's club, a lot of us from Highfields used to go down to St Matthew's Boys' Club. We would play football at the St Matthew's Community Centre and that would take us all over the city. We used to go Eyres Monsell, Northfields and play football.

Extract
We used to have a large bonfire every 5th of November. I always used to go down there and let fireworks off and things like that. There was a lot of Irish families there. I can't remember ever being any hassle between people whoever they were. It isn't until people get older that they start rivalries, it is just a pity that it happens, but I think it happens in every community you know.

Extract
when I was fifteen, sixteen, there had been the big marches through Highfields, the big anti-racist marches. I remember when I was at Cherubs, I got to know a lot of people, there was a quite mix, there was a woman in there who used to be an old cleaning woman, she was an old Italian woman who was ever so nice. There was another women who worked in the room, she was a real racist, she hated everyone and I remember one day she said, "By God," she said, "Bleeding foreigners are taking over here," she said. I said "Well, I am a foreigner as well!" She said, "I thought you were." I said, "I'm from Ireland." After that, I don't think she liked me very much! She turned out to be a member of the National Front and she went to their marches.

Extract
They had a big march on what is now called Nelson Mandela Park. They were supposed to march through Highfields but they didn't. People came from all over the country to march through Highfields but we wouldn't let them in, everyone had a big meeting up on Spinney Hill Park.

Extract
I remember lot of my Asian neighbours. We used to live two doors from what was called Khan's Supermarket, and all the people worked in there we were all friends. Mr Khan was from Pakistan, his wife was from Italy so there was a bit of a mix there. The people who served in the shop were very friendly, it was like a large community.

Extract
On Duffield Street once, a prostitute was killed, her name was Rosy Hillard. It was the first murder in the area, it shattered everyone's innocence.

What do you remember about it?

All I remember is that it was in the paper and that she was murdered, and they (the police) never did find out who killed her.

Where was she found?

She was found where the Charnwood Estate is built now it would probably be the late Seventies. At the time, we used to sit out at nights until about 11 o'clock. People didn't believe you when you said there would be five or six on each corner, there was so many around there at the time. When you used to talk to people from outside the area and say you are from Highfields, they would say, "Highfields! I don't know how you live there, it must be terrible!" But it wasn't really. People went about their life you know.

This is the late Seventies you are talking about?

Yes, but that was something that always sticks in my mind. You see murders on films, and you hear about people getting snatched and things like that, but when it's in the next street to you, it's a bit hard to take in. She used to come to the corner shop at Bridgend Street. I remember when the police came round to interview us, I was playing records in the front room. They interviewed my dad. My dad used to work long hours so was away probably at work or at home at that time. Then they asked if there was any other male in the house and I came out, but they were looking for an older person. The girls used to have a bit of trouble with each other. It was a lively place to live. I think that was when I realised that it could be dangerous if you weren't aware of where you were going.

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I was just coming to the corner of Berners Street, when I noticed this bloke at the corner, it was about 11 o'clock. He was about fifteen or something, but the minute I spotted him I knew he looked dangerous. I got to the corner where the delicatessen was, I knew he was coming for me and I ran, I managed to get to our door just in time. I was lucky that night you know. It was that place. I think after that you had to be aware there was two sides to Highfields. You based your life on the street you lived in.

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There used to be the adventure play ground in Spinney Hill Park as well. We used play there.

Was it a centre of your life when you were young?

It was a place where everybody was drawn to. There would be about seven, eight games of football going on, and then you would have a lot of the Asian kids playing cricket the bottom and near the brook, you would very rarely see it now.

Extract
When we arrived it was changing, people who lived round that area who had money and lived in the big houses on Mere Road

Extract
I think it was Bate's Fair that came. I remember the ones in the seventies better because I was older. I mean, I always loved the Fair. I loved sitting in the Dodgems and things like that and you got all the music. The Asians always used to come from all over once the fair was there, all the Asian community seemed to descend on the Fair because they loved it.

Extract
Most people went to the Fair and you know, people could wander round, my sisters would wander round. I would be with my and we would see everyone from posing with older girls friends!

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We used to have them down St Hilda's Church, that was a community thing, everybody went to rummage sales because amongst other things you would get little baked cakes and things like that. I suppose it was like the equivalent of car boot sales now.

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Tell me about this the Boy's Club at St Hildas?

I remember the guy who ran it, Ernie O'Connor. You could go in there for free, it was easy going and you could play table tennis and just mess about basically.

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when the summer came they used to have summer schools at the old Moat Boy's school. They were great, everybody went to that.

What is a summer school?

We used to have organised things, sports, there would be cooking for the girls. There was football and you could go in there and do painting and things like that and it was quite good.

Extract
Maybe a lot of the girls round the area looked forward to going there because there was something actually for them. Whether it seemed to be more catered towards the lads I don't know, I never knew there was too many things for girls.

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They had the sports round on Spinney Hill Park or Ethel Road, the playing fields on Ethel Road. There were little medals and things for the winners, it was quite good. Everyone enjoyed the summer school round here because people were together.

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It has changed but the funny thing is it's becoming quite an area where lots of single people live. When I was being brought up, there were people living in flats but now there are more students. It is changing into a student area and a lot of people seem to be moving back into Highfields. For instance, when I went college last year there seemed to be quite a lot of people who were tutors who lived down that area so it's got a little bit of a bohemian air about it. There are all nationalities now.

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Marjorie Marston was born in Highfields in 1942.
Extract
When I was younger we had no immigrants here, if you will excuse me saying this, the first time I ever saw a coloured person was when I was at grammar school, and we had one girl in the whole school. So all the immigrants have all come in since after I got married really and I was twenty. So you know it has come in more or less since then in the last thirty years or so.

Extract
Were there a lot of burglaries?

I don't remember any at all. We used to leave our doors open if we popped to the corner shop or whatever, the front door could be left open and we wouldn't come back and find everything gone whereas you might do today!

Did you have a local bobby on the beat?

There was always a local bobby walking around. I didn't really know them that well but you used to see policemen on the beat, as you might say. Not riding around in cars because really there weren't that many cars around anyway.

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And were the nurses and midwives fairly co-operative at that time?

Oh I think so yes, the midwife used to be like a real friend. They used to come around and the mums used to know the midwifes and the doctors too, they used to be real friends.
Our doctors used to be on the corner of Highfields Street.

Can you remember his name?

Dr Casey or Dr Shein, Dr Shein came later. Dr Casey was the older one and I think he moved down to Sparkenhoe Street eventually.

Now does that differ from today, the midwifes visiting the new mothers and has it all changed?

Midwifes go in and I'm sure they probably do try to be very, very friendly but at that time, you saw one doctor and one midwife all the way through, but nowadays of course you go to hospitals and you see lots of different people. Even when you come to the doctors although you try to see the same one, it isn't always possible. I don't know whether you get the same close relationship or not. I mean when I was pregnant we had a similar sort of pattern, you saw the same doctor practically all the time and the midwife used to come home and I saw her all the time and that's quite a nice pattern I think, yes, you get quite friendly.

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Do you remember anything of the Carnival?

Oh yes, we have been to see it, we try to see it every year. Actually we think it is very good. We like all the music, steel bands, I particularly like those. This year I think it really excelled itself with all the costumes, bird costumes all brightly coloured, they were really nice.

Extract
Bonfire Night, we used to have bonfires in the middle of the roads. Do you know where St Peter's Junior School is in Twycross Street? Well, in Gopsall Street, there used to be one right outside the school, a great big one and as we lived just over the road, it used to be really handy. We used to be out there probably until twelve at night with this bonfire going and there used to one at the other end of the street as well, because there weren't a lot of cars, it wasn't a problem.

So who used to organise these?

We used to organise them ourselves. We all used to collect some wood and plonk it on the bonfire and everyone used to get their fireworks and start them up and people used to come out, stand on their doorsteps and watch.

Extract
Did you used to make the Guy Fawkes dummy?

Yes, we did. We had the Guy Fawkes to put on the top and roast potatoes and treacle toffee and things all sorts of things. You don't see a lot of that these days. Dancing round bonfires sort of thing you know even that seemed to be safer then

Extract
we used to have street parties every so often on big occasions, like the Coronation. We had a street party, or on anybody's big national birthdays. They used to be great fun because you used to get the big tables and everybody used to gather and bring food, and there used to be fancy dress parties and competitions.

Extract
I used to go to the Working Men's Club sometimes because my father used to belong in the Working Men's Club, that was in Oxendon Street I think. They used to put on shows there, we used to sit down and have a drink, a bit like the working clubs are now, children used to sit and have their crisps and their soft drinks that used to be a regular treat every week.

Extract
Only as I say it was a lot safer then, a happier place I think. I think generally people were a more communicative to each other you know, probably looked out for each other a little bit more.

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From a letter from G R Patel, Shree Hindu Temple and Community Centre
Extract
After World War II, very few Indians came to this country. Highfields was the area where they first started to live. At that time there were no houses owned by Indians. They had to rent the room and four or five people were living in a room. At that time there were no Indian families.

After 1960, East African Indians started emigrating to this country. Most of these immigrants started to settle in London, West Midlands and Leicester. In 1973, a mass exodus started from East Africa. Many of them were financially well off, but again, quite a good number came as refugees. The British government helped them a lot to settle in this country as well as many other countries in the world.

Extract
In 1967, Indian ladies started praying in various houses in Highfields. In 1969 a co-operative shop was purchased at the corner of Cromford Street and Chatsworth Street. This shop was later made into the praying hall. In June 1969, the deities of Lord Radha-Krishna were installed and the place was turned into a Hindu Temple. This was the first Hindu Temple in UK.

We started many activities such as religious services, mother tongue Gujarati classes, celebrations of religion festivals, children's art classes etc. Up to 1989, this place was very active serving the Hindu community living in surrounding areas. Slowly our people stated to move to the other areas of the city.

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Mrs Margaret Porter came to Highfields in 1923.
Extract
the back entrance to the workhouse which went round into Kent Street where men used to wait at the end of the day hoping to be given a meal and accommodation for the night.

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Brett Pruce was born in Highfields in 1955.
Extract
It wasn't such a fun place by that time, especially when we got to the late Sixties. As I said before, I want tell you the bad points as well as the good points, but by that time things were deteriorating quite badly.

How did that affect you?

Well, it was an all encompassing thing because it affected everything you did. You couldn't play out so much.

Is that because there were cars or were you threatened?

Well, yeah, there were cars, there were also drinking clubs springing up. One opened up on the corner of Stoughton Street which was the John F. Kennedy Club. We experienced a lot of problems there, and there were houses of ill repute. Two sprang up more or less dead opposite to us, which obviously posed their own sort of problems. You know we witnessed quite a bit of violence there. My brother and I had the front bedroom, my mum and dad had the other front bedroom, but then we had to move and share and segregate the middle bedroom at the back of the house because of car doors slamming all night.

Keeping you awake?

Yeah, a car would scream up, two doors would slam, the front door would open, the front door would slam! Ten, fifteen minutes would elapse, the front door would open, the front door would slam, the car would start up and then roar off down the street. And this was going on all night!

And how old were you then?

Well, this is in the mid-Sixties from 1966 to 1967 onwards. Probably that's when I started to notice it. I think it was at the same time as the John F. Kennedy Club opened, and most mornings there would be somebody asleep in our entry. Or at best they would have relieved themselves in the entry! But physically having to step over people when you're going to school doesn't set you off in the right frame of mind. My dad worked and he had always gone so my mum would perhaps deal with it.

So how would you get rid of somebody .

Just wait for them to wake up and make their way home.

Was that people who lived in Highfields, or people coming into Highfields?

Yeah, if they were walking I would assume they lived in Highfields, drinking clubs like that were a bit of a rarity at the time, so I would have thought people would have travelled in to the area to go to their places.

Extract
The thing that really destroyed my mam and dad was, we had a West Indian family next door to us at number 9, they were lovely. I played with their son who was the same age as me. They moved out in 1968, or 1969 I believe. Then another West Indian family moved in, and it turned out they were not of the best character, let's put it like that. We ended up with parties next door to us at number 9. I mean, they had disco speakers six feet high, literally! If I said to you that it physically rattled the plates off the wall, you probably wouldn't believe it! These parties would go on till three and four in the morning. Then they would just sweep the cans and whatever into the street in the morning. It got really, really nasty.

What happened with the police and the council at that point?

Well, the police were there every other night, and there were fights. Yeah, my brother and I thought it were a little bit exciting you know, because we used to hang over the wall and they'd all sit round a big table in the garden smoking whatever they smoked. It was all a bit sort of risquŽ especially in those days at beginning of the Sixties. You know, this is a bit a bit exciting. But it nearly killed my mum and dad. Going from how tranquil and how friendly it was when I was in sort of pre-teen years. I remember all the front doors were open. You know, you used to just wander in and, I know it sounds stupid, but my mam used to leave the milk money on the table. The milkman used to come in down the entry, go into the kitchen, put the milk on the table, take his money and go. You just can't do that now. My mum used to polish the steps to the front door and the little shoe grate where you cleaned the mud of your shoes and whatever. That sort of thing. Everybody did it in the street and it really was a nice atmosphere.

Extract
By that time, had quite a few of the people that you'd played with as children moved out of the district?

Moved on? Yes they had. We were one of the last ones to go really. Well, not one of the last to go, but there seemed to be a mass exodus because it deteriorated quite quickly. The start of it really was the John F. Kennedy Club opening up. Then the brothels opening. It seemed to happen all at once. It changed the atmosphere in the space of a couple of years. It went from being the sort of nice place where you could wander out and go where you like, to being where you can't go out.

Extract
There were eight years between my brother and myself, and I was always a bit of a problem to him, because in the Sixties I was just a young sprog and of course, he was into motorbikes. Yeah, he was one of the rockers , I suppose you'd call them now. You know I was too young for the mods and rockers thing. He was always out on the motorbike in the leather jacket and all the bits. A bit of a god to me, you know.

Was that a group in Highfields? Did he have a similar group to you?

Yeah, all his mates. Again they were all Moat boys. They were all the same age and all had the same interests. There used to be a row of motorbikes outside our house, and of course the younger lads would all be saying, "Look at that", you know, "Let's have a sit on it", or whatever and they were like gods to us because they were doing everything that we couldn't. There were all sorts of fights, but we never saw any of that. Never seemed to happen round our way.

So he had the same sort of friends that you had?

Yeah, oh very much so. It was very community based if you like. You didn't stray much outside your patch.

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at secondary school because obviously when I was at secondary school, we were the minority at Crown Hills, the Highfields lads, probably only half a dozen of us, probably less than that in our class. There used to be four or five of us who would walk to school, or ride to school or go on the bus to school from where we were. But of course everybody else from there were coming from Goodwood and Evington, and Coleman Road. And it opened up new friends to you, you know, I've got pictures in there when we all went to Wembley from School. I could tell you where they all lived, there's nobody from Highfields there. There's one, Phil Chapman. He lived on Donington Street. But yeah, it was a tight knit community I have to admit. That creates its own problems. At times, you can be too tight knit, can't you? Everybody knows everybody else's business.

Was there much gossip?

Oh I think so, yeah. You would hear the expression "Over the garden fence". Well obviously we didn't have garden fences, we had six foot high walls in the back garden. So it was always on the front doorstep. The big gaggle of ladies. I'm not saying it was just ladies. Perhaps if a guy was fiddling with his car or a motorbike there'd be, you know, you'd have a gossip or whatever.

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Have you been back to Highfields recently?

I drive up there quite regularly. I go through Highfields on my way to work in the morning.

We have a final question that we are asking everybody, and that's how does Highfields today compare with how Highfields as you remember?

Well, it's scary. I don't like stopping the car. My house really saddens me because I see the house now. It's filthy. There's a big speaker above the front door, and the windows are filthy. I don't know whether they're curtains or blankets that have been just hung up there. I mean it looks filthy. It really, really saddens me because I think everybody then took an interest in their house. I always remember it as being spotless. The front door and the brasses being polished and even the step being red, cardinal waxed and whatever. And to see it now. I was born in the front room there, but it just really saddens me. And the whole way it's gone now, with capped off streets and, you know, I mean. They obviously capped all the streets off to stop the kerb crawlers and whatever, and it segregates it. Whereas we could go anywhere.

Do you feel that's not just the road markings but the atmosphere as well?

Oh, the atmosphere is very aggressive, it's fear I think. I think people are scared you know for one reason or another. I mean you pick the Leicester Mercury up every night and there's people been on Melbourne Road or Saxby Street or Sparkenhoe Street who have been attacked and had money took off them or worse. It always seems to be that area if you like. OK, I mean I think somebody's created that for some reason, for it to have gone from the area it was to the area it is. You know, somebody's got to look at their heart and say, "Well, we've done something wrong somewhere." I mean I'm not sort of knocking Highfields. All the people there are working and trying to get things back to how it was. I'm not sure whether that can be achieved or not, because I don't think people have got the willingness to do that. I mean, who's going to leave their front door open nowadays?

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At the end, up at Highfields we just you know, we daren't go out. But I mean, you can't take away the fact that we had twenty odd fabulous years up there and five or six horrible ones.

But your memories are basically fairly good?

Oh, very good, yeah. I mean, especially the people. And the community. I really, really miss that. I remember my mam being poorly, very poorly. People were bringing you dinners in because they knew my mum weren't fit to cook and my dad still had to go to work. Somebody would come in with two plates. "Here you are, get that down your neck!" and things like that. I mean, I'd love to think that that could happen again, I'm not sure that we've not turned ourselves into too selfish a bunch. But I really miss that.

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I think transport now is, and people having cars. I mean this estate was designed with narrow roads because nobody had a car thirty odd years ago, or the odd family. Now every family has got two. So consequently you can't move on this estate for cars, because they weren't built for it. But, you, it just makes you more mobile. You haven't got to stay in your own community. You know, if you've got a pal who lives in Glen Parva you're fifteen minutes away from it. I think people are scared, you know, for one reason or another. You know, are you safe to walk. I mean you pick the Leicester Mercury up every night and there's people been on Melbourne Road or Saxby Street or Sparkenhoe Street who have been attacked and had money took off them or worse. You know and it always seems to be that area if you like. OK, I think somebody's created that for some reason, for it to have gone from the area it was to the area it is. You know, somebody's got to look at their heart and say, well, we've done something wrong somewhere. I'm not knocking Highfields. All the people there are working and trying to get things back to how it was. I'm not sure whether that can be achieved or not, because I don't think people have got the willingness to do that. I mean, who's going to leave their front door open nowadays. You know, there's a joke, isn't there? You know, if you don't want to watch the telly, leave your front door open for five minutes.

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At the end, up at Highfields we just, you know, we daren't go out. But, I mean, you can't take away the fact that we had twenty odd fabulous years up there and five or six horrible ones, you know.

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Mr Charan Singh came to Highfields in the 1950s.
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Before me, my brother lived at Highfields at 18 Hartington Road. We both shared a room. Then we moved together onto Mere Road. We lived together for 2 years. Highfields was a lovely area. Everybody loved one another. There were only 10-12 Asians. Everybody, despite colour, race, was friendly. Everybody cared about one another. There were no baths in the houses then and it was difficult.

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I found it hard to speak with the people at work. I used a lot of gestures and signs. After 2-3 weeks I started to speak bits of English. My English colleagues were very helpful. They were polite. The neighbours became friendly and we started to go to one anothers house and have meals. We became so friendly that I forgot about my family, that they were not with me.

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The children were nice and treated us with respect and love. As the population grows it gets worse. The police were pleasant and helpful. I did not even know about social security.

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There were 10-12 Asians in Highfields area. We could not worship but later on we started to hire a room in schools to worship.

Weddings were in the house with 4-5 people. Not like now. There were no meals, parties etc. in the parks.

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Councillor Farook Subedar came to live in Highfields in 1972.
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Can you tell me, did you have any problems with religion, with funerals or weddings?

Oh yes, yes. We had to overcome lots of hurdles when we came. We had to make a cultural awareness to the local community, to local institutions, to the local councils, even local MPs and politicians were not aware of our culture. We had to tell them our requirements, our needs in schools and funerals, or our religious functions. Take the Eid Festival, we had to explain why our children could not come to school on that particular day. Most of the people were not aware, they thought we were all Asians with one religion. We must all be Hindu or we must all be Moslem. They did not realise the diverse religions and inter-cultural community amongst the Asians.

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When we first moved there was one Mosque on Berners Street, which is called Masjid-E-Noor and there was another Mosque which is called Sutherland Street Islamic Centre. There were only two Mosques in the whole of the city of Leicester.

When did the others come?

The others just came because the demand was there and there was a big influx of the Moslem Community in Leicester coming from Malawi. They were coming from Zimbabwe, South Africa, East Africa. As the Moslems started coming to England, alot chose to make Leicester their home. Then the need was there because Masjid-E-Noor was a very small Mosque and even Sutherland Street was a one terrace house through Sutherland Street, so I don't think these two Mosques could have taken the influx of the population, then increasing Moslem population in Leicester. So the demand was there at that particular time.

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I remember in 1974, Imperial Typewriter Building was in dispute with the Asian workers and the Imperial Typewriter decided to close down the whole factory. Some Moslem businessmen thought they could convert the canteen of Imperial Typewriter into a Mosque. It's one of the largest in Leicester now. Slowly and gradually there were other Mosques built in Keythorpe Street and there was one built on Loughborough Road, and there was one bought on Stoughton Drive South. There's another Mosque on Barclay Street off Narborough Road, and then there's a Mosque on Upper Tichbourne Street. There's a new Mosque on St Stephens Road so roughly there must be twelve in the city of Leicester now.

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Now what about the Madressas for the children of the supplementary Schools?

Oh yes. Now we had a struggle. As I said we had two small Mosques to contend with a large number of children to be taught in supplementary schools. So slowly and gradually, we negotiated with local schools to give their premises to be available in the evenings for supplementary schools in the early years. If you come around in Highfields in the evenings you will find most of the schools are allocated for some kind of supplementary school.

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Can you tell me about leisure activities, what did you used to do in your spare time?

Well, we used to have lots of sports activities here. I remember Highfields Youth and Cultural Centre (HYCC) was built in 1973 and that was our centre point for most of our recreational activities. Every evening, we used to come and play volley ball, then we used to come and set up our cricket team and things like that, and from there we would go to Victoria Park and Spinney Hill Park and play our football, outdoor games, cricket etc.

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Do you remember any of the cinemas that were here?

There was a few cinemas. There was one called Sangam, one on Belgrave Gate, the other one was Evington cinema which is on the corner of East Park Road and Chesterfield Road, now it is an old peoples' home. There is another cinema on Green Lane Road, I'm talking about Asian cinemas. There were lots of English cinemas. I'm just giving you background on the Asian cinemas. Then there was a brand new one built on Belgrave Road called Natraj Cinema, it was purpose built. Nowadays, it's a Sari shop.

What about the Apsara?

Apsara cinema? Sorry I forgot that one. There there were five or six cinemas in the city of Leicester.

Extract
riots took place in 1982. In 1981/82 we established Highfields Community Council to resolve the crisis. The establishment and the disenchanted youths. The riot was not political, the riot was there because the local community were not getting their rights. The youths were not getting the facilities which was required for them, so they were getting really upset and disenchanted with the system. This was not just in Leicester, it was all over the country.

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But I remember the riots exactly, most of the effect and damage was done near this library, in actual fact. Near all these shops. Shopping precincts were looted and even the shops in front of the house, the electrical shops were looted so many times.

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Highfields has always been a very safe place to live in. I'm not saying that there is no crime. There are crimes in every area, but if you ask the Highfields residents the question, "Why don't you want to leave Highfields?" They will reply that the facilities they have in Highfields are such they can't get any in any other area in city of Leicester. So yeah, there are pluses and minuses but overall I think there are more pluses to live in Highfields than minuses.

Extract
What about shopping and halal foods?

Yes, when we came there were only three halal butchers. One was in Berners Street, Mr Khan, and there were two others – one in Laurel Road and Ismail Food Store in Duffield Street, there was three or four halal butchers. People used to struggle to have halal foods, not just the meat, even the biscuits and other foods. We had to be careful because none of the breads and things like that were halal. There were no ingredients displayed on those items, so we had to be very careful what we ate. We were lucky in in Highfields. There was a Moslem businessman who started some bakeries, like the Leicester Bakery, Sabat Bakery and others. This is how we got most of the halal items and even the groceries and shop keepers now they make sure that they supply mostly the non-animal fat products, they know the local residents only want halal foods.

Extract
There was lots of racist elements in crime at early stage and the local authority were not aware what racism was. Thank God the local authority have created racial awareness courses for the senior officers to be aware when someone comes and reports and complain about racial motive attacks and crime. Even the police force were not really aware what racism is they just used to put all the crime into one basket and they used to treat them equally, it wasn't fair to the ethnic minority because they used to suffer both ends. On one side it is a crime, on the other side it was a racist crime.

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Did they used to have the 'bobby on the beat?'

I think so. At the time, we used to enjoy more police on the street than nowadays and they were local policemen. They were on first name terms with the residents and we could identify local "bobby". Now if you ask anyone who your local policeman is I don't think anyone knows.

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What about councillors at that time?

When we came there was hardly any Asian councillors. There were none whatsoever. I remember the first Asian councillor was Mr Shah. He used to have a business on Hartington Road and he became a councillor sometime in 1975. From there on we had more councillors but when we came to Leicester there was not a single Asian councillor in the city of Leicester.

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So if you had any problems or wanted advice, where would you go?

Well, most of our people used to turn to the local MP. At the surgeries and they used to go the Mosques, Mandir and the Gudwara and they'd seek advice from the leadership there, and through that leadership, they would convey that complaint to the local MP or local council. But thank God, slowly and gradually people have started establishing local Advice Centres and Community Centres. Nowadays, it's so accessible as you can see, so many Advice Centres.

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What were the people like at that time. Were they a mixture of a certain religion or a certain part of Africa?

In Highfields, we had a very good mixture. Infact we had people from Afro-Caribbean, people from East Africa, people from India and Pakistan. We had people from Bangladesh, all kinds of mixtures and the local inhabitants, the English. So we had a mixture of most of the community. Highfields was unique in this sense.

Extract
How would you celebrate Eid at that time?

We used to go early in the morning. We used to hire a hall on London Road. A church hall, and we would perform our Eid there. Then we would come home and celebrate with our family, mother, sisters, brothers, cousins and then we would go and visit families and friends' houses and that was Eid. Then we realised that we must do more than that. So I myself took an initiative in 1982/1983 to get an Eid Festival on a proper footing. I went to the council, I got a planning application to set up a proper Eid Festival in Spinney Hill Park, with different stalls, food stalls, book stalls, and a sports function. Then I also went and saw the local fun fair chap, Billy Bates. He was quite willing to accept our offer. The first Eid Mela we celebrated with the Lord Mayor and the local MPs, councillors, local dignitaries, scholars from London, they came down and we had our first Eid Mela in the whole year. Leicester was the first city to establish Eid Mela.

Extract
there was a need for young children to celebrate their Eid because it's an event, Eid itself is happiness. A child needs to identify what Eid means to him or her. So when the Mela came, most of the children were blessed with Duas.

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You know people were coming from Birmingham, Manchester, London, Slough. We met people from all over the country for Eid Mela. It was a success! It was just not for Moslems. Everyone came to it. It was open to everyone regardless of colour, creed or race.

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Do you know of any local factories in Highfields. Can you tell me anything about them?

Yeah, there were plenty in actual fact. As I say, when Imperial Typewriters closed, most of that building slowly became occupied by mostly Asian entrepreneurs, they established their businesses there. The prominent ones which come to mind are Nyasa Garment, Adam & Co, Screen Objects, Supreme Textiles, they were all there. Everest Hosiery, Everest Garments, they established their businesses in Highfields and it has really brought prosperity to the area. We must commend the hard work and dedication of these Asian businessmen to really make Highfields what it is now. Otherwise if the businesses were not here, Highfields would have suffered severely, because there are no other big industries in this area. Most of the local residents of Highfields managed to get a job within the location.

Extract
Do you remember anything about the local library in Garendon Street, as it was then?

Yes, it was a very small library. Unfortunately and it didn't had any booklets, magazines or newspaper for the Ethnic Minority. But when this library was established as the Highfields Library, slowly and gradually we asked for different magazines and different newspapers to be displayed on a daily basis. And thank God that people have appreciated it. You as a librarian can see how many people come here every day. These facilities have been here for some years now.

Extract
I regard Highfields as a very precious village. To me, Highfields has got a lot to give to the community and to society at large. If someone was to study the way we live, or some serious research student wants to research an inner city or diverse cultural community, there can't be at a better place than Highfields village, I can tell you that.

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Mr Eric Tolton was born in Highfields in 1916.
Extract
next door, 168, they were school teachers, it was quite a posh area and a school teacher was somebody to be respected in those days, yes you know, like I was going to say doctors, but I dont know whether doctors are respected nowadays like they used to be. Because I was a naughty boy I was, I used to have an awful temper and my mother wanted me to do something, I cant remember what it was now, and I was playing up kicking my feet and screaming at the bottom of the entry and this lady next door Mrs Bowman, the teacher, she came out oh she didnt half give me a lecture.

Extract
Can we just come to the fact that you are a Freeman of Leicester now, can you tell me how you came by this honour?

Well it is handed down you see from father to son and its got to be on the male side unfortunately. My two are freeman, the younger so who lives at Oadby his son will be eighteen tail-end of this year and he is going to become a freeman. It was twenty-one you see when I took it up but it has been brought down to eighteen. And it was 1978 I think they altered the act so that it was eligible for freeman living in county would be entitled to either a pension or to a bungalow. They pay a small pension to some people but its not much, only four or five pounds a week and you have got to be pretty well destitute to get it. Actually in two years its the eight hundredth anniversary of the first freeman, goes back to eleven hundred and something.

Are there any duties attached to it?

Well there used to be, I mean, a freeman originally did what the city council do nowadays. They had to do policing and it was really to control trade. Freemen were the only people allowed to trade within the city walls and that really how it all came about. Thats going back to when after the Norman Conquest and you were apprenticed to a Freeman, after youd done your time you became a Freeman and you could set up your own business you see. Thats how it all started. Ill give you something that you can take and read about the Freeman before you go.

Freeman were the only people who were allowed to vote for Parliament and a lot of fiddling was going off – Ill give you so and so if you vote for me – that sort of thing. I dont know whether you have heard of the rotten boroughs, well that was really the Freeman, they were the rotten lot and it was 1843 round about that time when they formed the city council you know, to take over the duties of running the cities. Of course the old Freemens Common cause we owned all that land you know the Aylestone Road thats why we were able to buy this land and build these bungalows selling that. And the Freemen were allowed to graze cattle cause its all the Aylestone road end of things where the electricity place is, now that was all Freemens land originally which has gradually been sold off.

It was in 1922 that we tied up with the Charity Commissioners and now any money spent has to be done with consent of the Charity Commission, but the only advantages one gets really as I say there is a small pension paid to some and the bungalows. But people dont want them now weve got one empty been empty for months. I mean I became active as a Freeman many years ago now and at one time when these were first built I was chairman of the Bungalows Committee, I had a long waiting list of people, I used to take them in order of age actually and it was in 1970 when we went with the Charity Commission sorting out frest regulations it was made to the most needy. Cause we had one lady down here she was rolling in money, she employed her own solicitor all this sort of thing you see, but by law she was the oldest applicant and was entitled to it which is wrong you see.

I still lived in my old house in Collingham Road and had to pay rent and rates and all this sort of thing I shouldnt be able to live as comfortably as I do now I should be scratching around cause I only. I get my ordinary pension, and of course when I did sell my house its that money thats bringing me the interest which I am living on, but when I read in the paper and they talk about the interest rates going up again, Im quite pleased. So I suppose from that point of view you can say you are needy cant you? There was a man came to talk to us from the Charity Commission, he used to say the poor and the needy, came from Liverpool.

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And now Mr Tolton, for a final question we are asking everybody is how does Highfields as it is today compare with your memories of the area?

Well I dont really know the Highfields a lot from a personal point of view now, but from what I see in the paper, and read, and hear, it was much better in my day than it is now. You were safe to go out, you could do things cause in the very fact that there wasnt the traffic, it made things more peaceful. like it is. Mere Road, Highfields Street, Saxby Street were quite select areas you were coming up in the world if you lived there, but Im afraid you cant say that nowadays really, its a pity really because there are some lovely houses up there, big houses but I dont know I liked it in those days better than I do now.

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Mrs Muriel Wilmot came to live in Highfields in 1927.
Extract
the dark people were starting to come in, the Asian community and the others, so that was a change as well.

How did you feel about that?

Well, I didn't feel bad about it at all really because I have always adapted myself, we had them in London and I got on very well with them. I mean I find that some of them are more friendly than we are. They always say "Good morning, how are you, are you all right?" and I think it's awfully nice. They say to me that they are very sad to see me on my own and that if I was in their community I wouldn't be left on my own, I would be put into a group of people and looked after all the while.

Extract
You see as the Asian community gradually moved in, the English people moved out. So gradually every street became more and more empty of white people and of course we are completely in the minority now. There is only two or three in each street now.

That is a big change isn't it?

That is a very big change. But it's happened over a period of years.

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Mrs Dorothy Woodford was born in Highfields in 1921.
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On the other side of Sparkenhoe Street the houses were rather bigger and my best friend lived in one of these. She was Joyce Hart, a Jewish girl who was a descendant of Sir Israel Hart, one of the city's past benefactors. The Harts had a maid called Florrie as Mrs Hart, (Joyce's mother) helped in the family radio business. Florrie would be detailed to take the three of us to the 'Vicky' Park, and I remember she often seemed rather disgruntled at the responsibility!

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November 5th. Every year my father would bring home a small selection of fireworks – Catherine Wheels (duly pinned on the line prop), Roman Candles, Jumping Jacks and the like. After the display in our small back garden, we would then do the rounds of all the side streets in the neighbourhood where bonfires would be alight in the middle of the street. I suppose it must have been a bit risky, but I don't recall any fire getting out of hand.

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Mrs Joan Hands came to live in Highfields in 1940.
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Derwent Street was just one of the many roads with Derbyshire connotations in the Spinney Hill area of the town. They marched in parallel rows, all running into Melbourne Road as it climbed the hill to the solidly severe Melbourne Road Church. The street was a community and we knew everyone who lived in it and quite a lot of their ‘business’, as my mother put it, not that she encouraged closeness or the popping in and out of other people’s houses which was commonplace at that time.

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