Thurnby Lodge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Map sources for Thurnby Lodge at grid reference SK638050

Thurnby Lodge is an estate in eastern Leicester. Roughly, it consists of the area inside the city boundary which is north of the Uppingham Road, east of the A563 outer ringroad, and south of the Scraptoft Lane.

It is near but not part of Thurnby, after which it is named.

Council Estate built from the early 1950's onwards to facilitate the central Leicester slum clearance until the 1960's. The area west of Bowhill Grove was the last phase of the estate stretching to Nursery Road at it's most westerly point. Two, three and four bedroomed council houses built in brick and concrete block, terraced with large rear and smaller front gardens. Children on the estate attended, Willowbrook junior school who's sister and identical architectural school, Scraptoft valley was on the adjoining Netherhall Estate. The local and only public house was the Stirrup Cup on Thurncourt Road (now the Manor) although the estate at it's northerly point had a gated access to the White House Inn on Scraptoft Lane. The estate was serviced by Midland Red buses, routes L37 and L38 who's termini were on Thurncourt Road opposite the shops. When the estate was first built, it had a functioning railway station (Thurnby and Scraptoft) at the southerly most corner of the estate on Kinross Avenue. Steam trains and excursions to the east coast were still running until the 1960's. Unfortunately the 'Beeching Plan' put paid the local branch line and the station fell derelict, finally being demolished in the late 1960's and houses being built on the site and much of the old line route. The area south of the main shops on Thurncourt road was originally unlandscaped country land with a natural stream running through it. This area was extensively lanscaped in several phases by the Leicester city council and a flood plain added up until the present day, destoying a fertile habitat for the then common water voles and fresh water fish found within the habitat. Many of the houses on the estate have reverted to private ownership under the right to buy, resulting in a large variety of upgrades and extensions to the original council properties.

Nearby places are Humberstone (north and west), Scraptoft (east), Thurnby (south-east), Evington (south) and Goodwood, Leicestershire (south).