Law & Order

Mr Bakhsish Singh Attwal came to Highfields in 1957.
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We had no problems with the police as we did not commit any crime.

The English police force were better here than the Indian police. Would try and understand us

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Roger Cave came to live in Highfields in 1940, the year he was born.
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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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Dr Stuart Fraser lived in Highfields from 1946 the year he was born.
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The striking thing then that I remember about Highfields was that I used to have to walk, I was delivered to school, I was dropped off-he had a Ford Popular car, but I always had to walk home, so he obviously used to drop me off before morning surgery but I used to have to walk home then and this is from Albert Road, which is from the Clarendon Park way and I would walk from the age of 5, I would walk back from Melbourne Street. There was only one major road crossing and that was the Evington Road, St James Road into Evington Road into St Stephens Road and I was told that later on that my mother had another friend who was the wife of a dentist or another doctor and she had instructions to look out of her upstairs window to watch for me crossing the road. That was the nearest I was looked out for in this journey. When I think about it now, it is quite a trek for a 5 year old or a 6 year old child to make unaccompanied and I did it for several years.

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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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My mother and father had a very relaxed way of managing the house, I mean they wouldn't ever lock things up at all, they were very trusting and I assume this trust was how they had developed through the thirties and the forties probably, living in Highfields had had no great major worry about security. There was certainly in the time that I lived here, there was never a break in to the house at all whilst we lived here, no break ins into the dispensary at all, nothing at all, no

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Mr Tirthram Hansrani came to live in Highfields in the late 1940s.
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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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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 Amarjit Singh Johl came to Highfields in 1964.
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Do you mean you felt safe in Highfields?

It was safe like any other good respectable area. We never experienced any intimidation. There was a red light street Nedham Street. It consisted of a only tiny area but it was very limited. In general, it was a respectable and safe place to live.

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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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Miss Alma Knight was born in Highfields in 1923.
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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.
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I remember I had a friend who lived on the corner of Duffield Street, there was a big Irish family there called the McKanans. Brian was very big for his age, he grew up to be about six foot six eventually, but we dressed him up like a 'guy'. Our 'guy' looked the best around but things got a bit dangerous when we spotted the 'policeman spirit' coming up Melbourne Road. We said to Brian, "Don't move Brian, stay there because here comes policeman spirit." Of course, basically he would class it as begging, all we wanted to get was sweets, but Brian got up and ran up Duffield Street dressed as a 'guy'. The policeman said later on when he caught us, that it was the first time he had seen a walking guy!

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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.

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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.

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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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Marjorie Marston was born in Highfields in 1942.
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I used to go out and just window shop in the town and then walk back home. Also we used to walk back from the dancing, we had to if we missed the last bus or whatever. But now I would be quite worried if my daughter was on her own and she had to walk back from anything like that

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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 the Fairs. I notice you have got something down here about Fairs. We used to have a big Fair on Lee Street Circle, where we have built all the shops now. I remember going down to that one year with my father and my two younger brothers and getting lost, I remember that very well. I think my brother was about two so I must have been about seven or something like that. I remember seeing someone, and this is how safe it was then, I remember seeing someone who reminded me of my next door neighbour and I followed him all the way home. I managed to get home, yes, I just walked behind him because I knew it was somebody I knew. My father was frantically going round the fair looking for me and I was safely at home.

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We didn't have telephones of course either not in the house.

So if anybody had a burglary or some sort of emergency how did they get in touch with the police and the hospital?

Well I mean there were phones elsewhere but not many people had them in their homes, so you would go to a call box to get in touch with them. They were the big red phone boxes, the ones that have gone.

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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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Brett Pruce was born in Highfields in 1955.
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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.

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Mr Charan Singh came to Highfields in the 1950s.
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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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Councillor Farook Subedar came to live in Highfields in 1972.
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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.

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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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Mr Eric Tolton was born in Highfields in 1916.
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Can I go back to something you said earlier. You joined the Labour Party League of Youth, were you very involved in local politics?

Well I was at an age where the young people thought they could mould the world. Ive got some photographs, there is one somewhere of a group out hiking, well I dont know where we went I was more interested in the girls, usually out in Charnwood Forest area we used to go. Im not really a good walker but the others didnt bike so we used to go hiking. I cant remember what we got up to were all pretty good, you were in those days not like nowadays you had to behave yourselves.

Did you feel that it was reasonably safe to go anywhere day or night in those days?

Yes, when I started courting, my wife lived in Newfoundpool off the Pool Road, I lived on Mere Road and it was perhaps two in the morning on Saturday night when I left her. I used to think nothing of it and get on my bike and bike home. No you never had any trouble, the only trouble that I had was my bike lamp didnt work!

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.Mrs Dorothy Woodford was born in Highfields in 1921.
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It was quite safe for children to play unsupervised in the local parks – we were merely warned to be careful of the trams when crossing London Road, and told quite firmly what time we had to return home. I remember a very pleasant elderly gentleman who frequented Victoria Park, who always had a pocketful of sweets for the children. I seem to remember my mother telling me it was Percy Gee. Certainly in those days the most caring of parents seemed to have little fear for their children when talking to strangers.

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