Sport, Leisure & Shopping

During the excursion outlined in my last two posts I documented a couple of other building sites that are symptomatic of the redevelopment of our local area.  Significantly, my house is now situated in the newly branded 'De Montfort University Square Mile'.

For many years the preferred local amongst my social circle was the Pump and Tap on Duns Lane.  Situated a short walk from my door, the Victorian building was originally a Railway hotel backing onto arches that once supported the disused Great Central line.  A few metres away, the imposing Bowstring railway bridge spanned a canal and the junction of Western Boulevard and Braunstone Gate.

The Pump was a relaxed and slightly alternative boozer and attracted a wide range of clientele that included genuine eccentrics and dedicated hedonists, without ever being threatening.  For years it hosted live music under the arches and retained its character even after a major refurbishment.  It was the venue for memorable moments in many lives and provided a haven for those keen to avoid the standard family Christmas Day.  Numerous framed photographs celebrated the survivors of those annual sessions. 

Despite concerted campaigns to save them, the Pump has gone now, along with the bridge.  The junction now offers widely expanded vistas and has completely changed in character. On the pub site has emerged a minimalist steel and glass box that will house the ever-expanding De Montfort University’s new sports centre.  Its cold modernity faces off against a dark rampart of truncated railway viaduct that has become a new landmark in its own right.  The marketing material attached to the site claims it will become a community facility, as indeed was The Pump.  The only difference being that the community chose The Pump.

There's That Tower Again

My final stop was the construction site of a Tesco supermarket.  I’ve been intrigued by its use of a sophisticated timber frame and the way that the clearance of its site has again revealed previously obscured views of the buildings beyond.  These new perspectives on the city are a feature of these upheavals that I find genuinely exciting.

Of course, it’s Tesco that best symbolises the ‘supermarketisation’ of Britain and the ability to annexe the grocery pound of entire neighbourhoods.  I’m guessing that the increasing influx of new De Montfort students has reached a critical mass of potential supermarket shoppers.

Still Hanging On For Now...