Leicester City Transport 72, New Parks, Leicester, 1979
Much to absorb in this suburban winter scene of yesteryear Leicester. Change is very much in evidence in this view of Dominion Road at its junction with New Parks Boulevard on the New Parks housing estate; a district to the North West of the City.
Open-platform rear-loading buses were still very much a part of Leicester life in 1979, pounding the city streets until their demise in 1982.
Working the No14 New Parks service, Bus 72 was a 1965 built East Lancs bodied Leyland PD3 that would see service until 1980. In pursuit of 72, is one of the new Dennis 'Dominator' buses that were ousting the last of the back-loaders.
Leicester City Transport's General Manager, Geoffrey Hilditch had a hand in the development of the Dennis Dominator. Therefore, it was of no surprise that Leicester purchased many examples, Leicester becoming a major user of the type.
Aside of the Austin-Morris Princess parked on the driveway, GM motors products are predominant in this scene. The blue Vauxhall Chevette poking out from New Parks Boulevard (the junction since blanked off). A Bedford CF van parked on the soggy grass verge, and further up the road, what looks to be the rear of a Bedford HA van.
In the middle distance at the zebra crossing, the post-war Stanton concrete lampposts are being replaced with taller steel columns carrying Thorn 'Alpha One' sodium lanterns. Today, the area is lit with LED street lights, and the zebra crossing is a traffic light controlled pelican crossing.
No double-glazed windows in the council houses, the original steel framed single-glazed Crittall style windows still in situ. It is likely that most of the housing stock pictured would be without central heating too, so ice on the insides of windows would have been common place in the winter months. Central heating is a fairly new thing to me, not living in a home that had it until I was 51.
The TV aerials on the roofs aim in two directions, but all are of the UHF type, most homes would have had colour television sets by this time.
The old VHF analogue system for 405-line television sets remained available in some areas until as late as January 1985. The last 405-line transmitter serving the Midlands was at Lichfield. I don't know if this would have reached North West Leicester?
Despite the colour television revolution in the early 1970s, many B&W 405-line sets remained in use until the signal was switched off. With no secondhand market and little prospect of using them again, most sets got dumped and a few were squirrelled away.
Photo - January 1979.
Leicester City Transport 72, New Parks, Leicester, 1979
Much to absorb in this suburban winter scene of yesteryear Leicester. Change is very much in evidence in this view of Dominion Road at its junction with New Parks Boulevard on the New Parks housing estate; a district to the North West of the City.
Open-platform rear-loading buses were still very much a part of Leicester life in 1979, pounding the city streets until their demise in 1982.
Working the No14 New Parks service, Bus 72 was a 1965 built East Lancs bodied Leyland PD3 that would see service until 1980. In pursuit of 72, is one of the new Dennis 'Dominator' buses that were ousting the last of the back-loaders.
Leicester City Transport's General Manager, Geoffrey Hilditch had a hand in the development of the Dennis Dominator. Therefore, it was of no surprise that Leicester purchased many examples, Leicester becoming a major user of the type.
Aside of the Austin-Morris Princess parked on the driveway, GM motors products are predominant in this scene. The blue Vauxhall Chevette poking out from New Parks Boulevard (the junction since blanked off). A Bedford CF van parked on the soggy grass verge, and further up the road, what looks to be the rear of a Bedford HA van.
In the middle distance at the zebra crossing, the post-war Stanton concrete lampposts are being replaced with taller steel columns carrying Thorn 'Alpha One' sodium lanterns. Today, the area is lit with LED street lights, and the zebra crossing is a traffic light controlled pelican crossing.
No double-glazed windows in the council houses, the original steel framed single-glazed Crittall style windows still in situ. It is likely that most of the housing stock pictured would be without central heating too, so ice on the insides of windows would have been common place in the winter months. Central heating is a fairly new thing to me, not living in a home that had it until I was 51.
The TV aerials on the roofs aim in two directions, but all are of the UHF type, most homes would have had colour television sets by this time.
The old VHF analogue system for 405-line television sets remained available in some areas until as late as January 1985. The last 405-line transmitter serving the Midlands was at Lichfield. I don't know if this would have reached North West Leicester?
Despite the colour television revolution in the early 1970s, many B&W 405-line sets remained in use until the signal was switched off. With no secondhand market and little prospect of using them again, most sets got dumped and a few were squirrelled away.
Photo - January 1979.