Doors 313 – Leicester, Leicestershire (part III) – May 2024
This is the final selection of doors from a visit I made to Leicester with work in May 2024. I did however return in June 2024 and captured a whole load more doors, but I will save these for another day. While Leicester is the sort of city that you drive past or have to have a good reason to go there, it has an interesting history and special culture all of its own, and the surrounding countryside is quite beautiful.
I hope you enjoy the final selection in this series:
Arrivals gateway at Leicester Station, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Ornate Indian restaurant door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Gate and black door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Ordinary door to the thinnest of buildings, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Fancy doorway with as utilitarian door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Grey door to the disused Carron Buildings, Rutland Street, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Three doors into the Secular Society secular hall, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Ghost door on the weighbridge toll collector’s house, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024Large arched door with ornate balcony, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Well that’s it for another week and the end of this visit to Leicester. Something different to come next time.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 312 – Leicester, Leicestershire (part II) – May 2024
This is a second selection of doors from Leicester, a city I visited for the first time in May 2024. I was there for work, but made the most of my overnight stay to explore the city and naturally take some door photographs.
Leicester is not a ‘honey pot’ city that you would necessarily choose as a holiday destination, but it has its own distinctive history, heritage and charm, and is surrounded by some beautiful Leicestershire countryside.
These doors are the middle selection of three, I hope you enjoy them:
You have to love doors within doors like this one, Leicester, May 2024Grey door with interesting panelling, Leicester, May 2024Two fine black doors, Leicester, May 2024Ornate door and large lamp, Leicester, May 2024Sumptuous deep red doors, Leicester, May 2024Street art door, Leicester, May 2024Entrance to Royal Arcade, with doors aplenty, Leicester, May 2024Haymarket memorial clock tower with gated arches, Leicester, May 2024Haymarket memorial clock tower with gated arches, Leicester, May 2024
So that’s it for this week, with one more selection from Leicester, although that isn’t quite true, because I returned to the city a couple of months later, with my team in to visit the new Bradgate Park and Swithland Wood National Nature Reserve which had just been declared and was the purpose of my visit on this occasion, so expect a second set of doors from Leicester in due course.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Doors 311 – Leicester, Leicestershire (part I) – May 2024
One of the main reasons that I am enjoying my work so much at the moment is that I get to travel around the country helping teams and partnerships declare new National Nature Reserves. These NNRs are the lesser-know sibling of National Parks and National Landscapes (formerly Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONBs)). There are about 220 NNRs in England, and they are the country’s best places for nature.
There is a Government target to create 25 new significant NNRs over a five-year period, and we are in the second year of rolling this out. In May 2024, a new National Nature Reserve was declared called Bradgate Park, which is a ten-minute drive outside Leicester. I was lucky enough to be there at the launch event and stayed the night before in Leicester – naturally it was an opportunity to photograph some doors. This is the first selection of doors from that visit:
Door and gable end to Grade I listed Leicester Guildhall, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Door to Grade I listed Leicester Guildhall, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Blue door and sprinkler stop valve, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Leicester Cathedral, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Main door to Leicester Cathedral, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Door to Leicester Cathedral, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Old wooden door and glass panels, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
Wide old door, Leicester, Leicestershire, May 2024
While Leicester Cathedral isn’t much to write home about, the guildhall next door is a pretty special building. More to come from this trip to Leicester next time.
If you have made it this far, you probably like doors, and you really ought to take a look at the No Facilities blog by Dan Anton who has taken over the hosting of Thursday Doors from Norm 2.0 blog. Links to more doorscursions can be found in the comments section of Dan Anton’s Thursday Doors post.
Mr Cenz, Leicester Bus Station, Leicester, July 2024
Earlier this year I travelled to Leicester for a Team Meeting and managed to pick up a few pictures of street art, much of which had been painted at this year’s ’Bring the Paint’ festival. Rather than concentrate too much on each piece, I am going to present a mini gallery of work from the visit.
Mr Cenz, Leicester Bus Station, Leicester, July 2024
This might be the best Mr Cenz piece that I have seen anywhere. It is clean, crisp and vibrant, and uplifts the bus station beyond all recognition. An absolute stunner.
Nuno Viegas, Gower Street, Leicester, July 2024
Nuno Viegas painted this piece this year and it is not too dissimilar to one he painted a couple of years ago in Leicester for the festival. A classy ‘paper aeroplane’ piece – a theme that runs through much of his work.
Verna Poppy, The Haymarket, Leicester, July 2024
I don’t know much about Verna Poppy, but rather liked this piece that was in good company with Inkie and Philth/N4T4 adjacent to it.
Lucy Danielle, The Haymarket, Leicester, July 2024
Another artist I have not encountered before is Lucy Danielle who came up with this abstract photorealistic mash up. A beautiful design. There is so much great artwork in Leicester, and well worth a visit.
Alas, today is my last day in Copenhagen, and I have to say I have been having a truly wonderful time in a city that feels very content with itself, without being conceited. I would willingly come back again, and the trip from Bristol is incredibly quick and easy. There is only one downside, and that is Copenhagen is a very expensive city, so it is just as well my visit was confined to a long weekend.
Another city visit I made in May this year was to Leicester (I went again in July), and was fortunate enough to snap up a few pieces from a Bring the Paint festival a couple of years ago, at the start of the week when one or two of them were painted over for the 2024 festival. These are four very different pieces collected together to save valuable time and space on Natural Adventures.
Aches, Leicester, May 2024
This is an incredible piece by Aches, an artist who visited Bristol for Upfest in 2022. I haven’t yet posted that piece… must try harder.
Homboog, Leicester, May 2024
I know nothing about the artist Homboog, but I can definitely say that I love this stunning character/writing combination piece.
Philth, Leicester, May 2024
Unfortunately this outstanding Philth piece is painted in a busy yard, and there was no way I was going to be able to get round those palettes, so you’ll just have to imagine how good the whole thing must have looked when it was first painted.
Voyder and Aches, Leicester, May 2024
Damn the car! This is a magnificent collaboration from Aches and Voyder. The latter was an artist who used to paint a lot in Bristol before being seduced by London, our loss was their gain. He was the last artist I was expecting to find in Leicester, but that is what makes hunting for street art so much fun. More from Leicester soon.
It is always great to see work by Inkie, but especially so when outside Bristol, it feels like a home from home. This is an outstanding piece of writing with some flat pink, stylised portraits and silhouetted urban landscape in the background.
Inkie, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
The letters BTP, which form a kind of print backdrop, stand for Bring the Paint, a street art festival hosted in Leicester every now and again. This piece was painted by Inkie for this year’s festival, and accompanies others that he has painted in previous festivals here. This a really nice, tight graffiti writing, and a superb example of Inkie’s work.
I am quite fortunate that my job takes me around the country from time to time, and I get to visit different cities. Of course, while I am passing by, I never pass up the opportunity to stroll about the place and take a few photographs. I have visited Leicester twice recently. Once before the Bring the Paint 2024 festival, and once afterwards. These pictures were taken afterwards, so the pieces are recent – unlike many pictures that I take as a visitor, which are often of old pieces. This is a fabulous collaboration from Philth and N4T4, who have teamed up at Upfest on several occasions.
Philth, High Street, Leicester, July 2024
Philth is known for his large floral repeating pattern pieces, which remind me so much of my childhood in the 1970s and the rebirth of elaborate wallpaper, mimicking our Victorian predecessors. This piece, in sumptuous colours is absolutely stunning and would look amazing if scaled up onto a larger wall, revealing more of the repetition.
N4T4, Leicester, High Street, July 2024
This gorgeous portrait is by N4T4, who, like Philth, is no stranger to Natural Adventures. There are actually two musicians featured in the piece, Gladys Knight (spelling?) and Jon1st, both painted with N4T4’s unusual patterning style that underpins and adds vibrancy to his work. A special and beautiful collaboration on the High Street for shoppers and visitors to enjoy.
I have visited Leicester a couple of times recently, once in May and again earlier this week. On both occasions I have managed to snap a few outstanding pieces, largely, but not exclusively, from the ‘Bring the Paint’ festival. As many of you will know, I struggle just to keep up with new pieces in Bristol, let alone street art that I see on my travels, so I am grouping a few pieces together. These were photographed in May 2024.
Juandres Vera, Leicester, May 2024
This is an extraordinary anamorphic piece by Juandres Vera – really eye-catching, although a little awkward to photograph – it was behind a gate.
Does, Leicester, May 2024
This is an enormous mural by Does, and I am guessing that the writing spells out DOES.
Gent 48, Leicester, May 2024
I have heard and seen quite a lot about Gent 48, but I think that this might be the first piece I have actually seen by the artist. Utterly outstanding.
Nuno Viegas, Leicester, May 2024
Nuno Viegas has visited Bristol before for Upfest, so it was great to see this unbelievable piece combining two-dimensional bubble writing with an amazing 3D hand and spray can. Great reflections on the chrome can and shadows cast by it.
More collections from Leicester to come in due course.
These pieces bring together the familiar with the unfamiliar. Finding Inkie pieces in other towns and cities is always hugely rewarding, and gives me a sense of Bristol pride. To find two pieces in a city that I have never visited in my life before was definitely a bonus. I’m not too sure when these pieces were painted, and not to sure whether they survived the ‘Bring the Paint’ festival which was starting (coincidentally) on the morning I was out taking these photographs.
Inkie, Nottingham, May 2024
The two pieces showcase Inkie’s portfolio really well, containing his stylised Art Nouveau portraits and in the second piece combined with a classic piece of Inkie writing. Always good to see, and Inkie wasn’t the only Bristol artist to have painted in the city where I spotted artwork by Mr Penfold, Lewse, Skank and others… making me feel very much at home. I might have to pay another visit sometime.
This is another outstanding Smug piece that I photographed during a short visit to Leicester last month. It is difficult to convey the sheer scale of the piece, because it is relatively thin, but as you can see it is seven stories tall, and somehow manages to complement the building perfectly. I believe it has been here for quite a while, since at least 2019, but I might be wrong.
Smug, Vestry Street, Leicester, May 2024
The stunning piece features a woman, perfectly slotted into this narrow space, with a bullfinch in flight by her head. The photorealistic representation is quite extraordinary, in particular the folds of the woman’s clothing and her scarf. This and the other Smug piece are worth the trip to Leicester alone. Utterly outstanding and overwhelming.
Natural adventures 