Leicester in the 1950s ― Ten Years That Changed a City

At the beginning of the 1950s, Leicester was an industrial city picking itself up from the debris of the Second World War. Compared with nearby Coventry, Leicester has been a relatively safe place, but the effects of the Blitz were still very evident in New Walk and in the residential areas of Highfields and Stoneygate.After years of operating on a wartime economy, Leicester’s major industries – textiles, hosiery and machine tools – faced the challenge of returning to domestic production, and in assimilating a large male workforce returning from the battlefields of Europe and beyond to civilian life. In Leicester in the 1950s, Stephen Butt traces the vibrant lives of those recovering from the destruction of the Second World War.

Stephen Butt is a well-known local historian. After a career with the BBC, he now enjoys writing and research, with over twenty books in print combining local history with an interest in photography. Stephen's first degree was in Psychology and his MA degree is in English Local History. He has served as Hon Secretary of the Leicestershire Archaeological and Historical Society. He lives in Leicestershire.