What is left in Leicester of the GCR? 

The pub (Pump and Tap) and stairs were on the other side of the road exactly where the Leisure centre is now. They used to do an amazing Sunday roast 😁😢

Wasn't expecting to see a real train in this video! Even had a proper oil tail lamp. It looks like those hydraulic buffer stops could be from Leicester Central as there were similar ones in the bay platforms. Good to see you back in full swing!

Hi Middy love your enthusiasm and knowledge of what you are talking about.Cannot wait for the next instalment to loughborough.Years ago when they used the word Great it really was that good.All that effort to make it great and then they tear it apart.Your walk through the brambles beside the M1 was an acknowledgement to how really Great the Central Railway was and like visiting a grave you gave it much respect.Thankyou so much for reminding us and the world that we were once epic in what we could achieve,"Great "even.Thankyou Middy and carry on as you were.

Closing the Great Central was madness.

Fantastic upbeat ending.👍

The Pump and Tap! Great pub

Amazing video many thanks 👍🏻

Excellent vid as always from you , with your local knowledge of the area . Guess is some compensation that the still running part of the GCR is there as a memory of what was . Just sad that more of it could not have been saved .

Fantastic video again. Makes me want to visit Leicester with a set of ladders and get up & walk along the remaining track bed. Thank you

Great work.

I owned the single arch many moons ago on Ravensbridge Drive!

Back in 1997 i did my forklift training at coates on top of GCR station at frog island

I was a student living at Frog Island in 1983 when the Slater Street Bridge was taken down. The Vic Berry scrapyard dominated the city Centre with piles of trains.

I used to go fishing with Bob Berry. One of his brothers as fars as i can remember.

Odney manor from the west Somerset railway its a shame they made sure the railway was not going back to Leicester central

Yet another entertaining and interesting Middy Explores video production, and with an unexpected but fantastic finale! I believe that I have been on that very same train, back in 2016 or 2017 when I was part (volunteer) of a group booked by a local charity for the visually impaired. It was a great day out and I would love to do it again sometime. If I can find the photos, I’ll ping them over to you via Messenger.

There used to be a large signal post and gantry on top of the arch by the entrance to the Jewry wall museum. I worked on the museum building around 20 years ago when I saw it. Vic

Middy... You have done it again!! What a brilliant video documentary. From Upperton Road ex-wagon shed and sidings right through to Leicester North heritage GCR station. Great catch by filming the "Manor" class which was the guest engine for the GCR Autumn Steam Gala. Well done my friend. Can't wait for the trip to Loughborough. Thank you.

The blue brick bridge abutments are still present on Devonshire Road, Blackbird Road, Beaumont Leys Lane and Thurmaston Road. There are some amazing old photos of this as well. The 'single arch' wasn't single, when the previous business (caravan sales) expanded, the blue brick arches from the river upto what you seen now, were demolished. This happened I think in the early 00's.

Excellent.

The Bowstring bridge had it's deck cleaned out and painted back in the 80's. It had fresh coats of paint in that green, red, white and black finish that we see it in now. Several bridges got a wash and brushup and a lick of paint for the forthcoming sustrans Great Central Way. I seem to remember some welding work on the deck as a kid before it was painted again, but must have been A1 after all the attention it got. These bridges were higher than most and easily accommodated double decker busses making their way under from the southgates bus station area and so on. I stood on the bridge in the mid-80's marvelling at the construction. I don't think it was going to fall apart in a hurry. The surrounding masonry was as sound too. The viaduct was required to be removed and because of that the bridge could only then be supported from the old Garage side (where did all the old teracotta Austral tiles go?) - so it had to be demolished. Very sad. A unique place where river road and rail crossed each other. The bridge didn't give up without a gargantuan fight. Wm Lovatt did a great job on the ironwork. Great to see what's left of the line. I remember playing with friends back in the early 80's around the back goods warehouse (Roadline Depot) and the sidings at the back of the Western Hotel the tracks which stood in a dilapidated state on insulators. There was a large feral cat population around the old 'light' generator building. They were dispersed rapidly when the park was made, I remember one in my back garden en route to a refuge somewhere else - it was a huge blue-grey stripy thing of enormous size. They must have kept the rat population down which was a blessing. Lovely railway, always been a favourite 'underdog' of mine as it would have made an excellent high speed link. Slater street and the bowls club I'm sure will let you on their site anytime for a kind word. Thanks for sharing and you brought some memories back from my childhood.

I'm guessing the signal post on the arches was the former distant signal for Abbey Lane Sidings.

He also battled to keep Grange House in Thurnby, the home of Charles Bennion who left Bradgate Park to the city but he lost! Also my brother wrote a book for the government about the future of Leicester and that old railways could be used as new roads for freight as the GCR followed the M1 for a distance. There were even talks of monorails! But all we got was the inner ring road!

I think the building shown was, I could be wrong, the Farben Works, Slater Street, The derelict remnant of a far larger industrial site, this grade II listed building. It is on Leicester City Council’s at-risk register and is classed as being in poor condition. Very interesting video 👍

As someone who grew up in Birstall I was always absolutely gutted that I couldn’t hop on a train straight into town! And I’m always annoyed that the station isn’t called Birstall 😂

The Last Arch should be Listed as it is of architectural & historical significance. Perfect example of the excellent GCR brickwork.

My dad battled for years to keep the old railways around Leicester as even then he was thinking of cycle and walking routes in and out the city. Alas the local clowncils refused anything like that and sold out to the Leicester & De-Montfort Unis. Even turn them into a light rail system! But no. The clowncil wanted money!

It would have been cheaper to reinstate the G.C. than the HS2!!

Good video any one reading this were you a member of the cage brigade ? you will know who you are

Leicester has suffered seriously over the years with feckless councils and their meddling. I have just bought a place in Groby as I intend to retire back to Leicester where I was born and bred from London. As cities go, Leicester still retains a lot of it's older history. Maybe not on the scale of Nottingham where my dad had his offices. But Leicester still has the old bits and RIII. Even a walk around the back of Holy Bones will reveal parts of city that people never ever go to. It 's what I call a "Look Up City", you need to look up! Also we have everything from Roman, Medieval, Tutor, Regency, Edwardian, Pre, Inter and Post war buildings. So we don't do too bad. Unlike Northampton that lost everything, we kept a lot of our history!

Wow ! A fantastic ending to your latest video a real live steam loco. Lets have more,so much nicer than you getting ripped to pieces pushing through brambles and bushes.Thanks for posting.

The REAL reason the Bowstring bridge and indeed all other GCR infrastructure has been obliterated, is because Leicester council didn't want the GCR to be reinstated.

Oh dear, a GWR steam loco, I don't like GWR steam locos.