Title
Blaby
Subject
Blaby
Description
Marcel Everett recalls the local houses and the canal during the 1920s and 1930s. She also describes the changes which took place in the industry of Blaby due to the industrial revolution.
Creator
East Midlands Oral History Archive
Source
EMOHA
Publisher
EMOHA
Date
1986
Contributor
Photograph courtesy of Greater Wigston Historical Society. To use seek permission from http://www.wigstonhistoricalsociety.co.uk/
Rights
You may use this item in accordance with the licence https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/2.0/uk/
Format
.mp3
Type
Oral History
Duration
2 min 2 sec
Transcription
Mrs Everitt: To Blaby? Well I was two and a half so it would be 1916. It was a very, very quiet place then. Now, where the County Arms are it was the wharf, they called it, the canal came there, and there was a little pub, two cottages, and a couple of houses going up the hill from there, by the canal, and then nothing else ‘til you got to Aylestone, apart from a farmhouse at the top of what they called the Red House Hill.
Interviewer: Was farming the main occupation of the people who lived in Blaby?
Mrs Everitt: No, it’s quite near to the town [Leicester] you know, and by that time due to the industrial revolution we had lots of boot and shoe factories in town and most people worked in that trade. They used to walk to Aylestone and catch the tram car into the centre and quite a lot worked in the factories – hosiery factories, boot and shoe factories. There were still farmers round here, homesteaders you might say. There was one across the Green and the cattle used to come home from Mill Lane every night at four o’clock and leave reminders everywhere, and go across the Green here to that little farm at the top of what they call Home Close. But mainly I think Blaby, being the nearest village to the town, was less and less agricultural, you know.
Interviewer: Was farming the main occupation of the people who lived in Blaby?
Mrs Everitt: No, it’s quite near to the town [Leicester] you know, and by that time due to the industrial revolution we had lots of boot and shoe factories in town and most people worked in that trade. They used to walk to Aylestone and catch the tram car into the centre and quite a lot worked in the factories – hosiery factories, boot and shoe factories. There were still farmers round here, homesteaders you might say. There was one across the Green and the cattle used to come home from Mill Lane every night at four o’clock and leave reminders everywhere, and go across the Green here to that little farm at the top of what they call Home Close. But mainly I think Blaby, being the nearest village to the town, was less and less agricultural, you know.
Interviewer
T. Mitchell
Interviewee
Marcel Everitt
Location
Blaby, Leicestershire
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