The Lindens pub, on Halstead Road, demolished in January 2014, was previously a private house.
Halstead Road was not built until around 1900 and there is no mention of it in the 1901 census. In 1911 there were only 4 houses on Halstead Road. The Lindens may have been the biggest one, occupied by Edith Cooper, her children and her servant .
In 1923 a newspaper article was published recording the death of a domestic servant from the Lindens who was drowned in the canal near Belgrave.
In 1928 it was occupied by Mr F Toone, a hosiery manufacture in Leicester. This is what the house and grounds, (and the Toones?) looked like
In 1929 it was put up for sale by auction. The sale details are given below
Lot One: The House
Dining Room,Morning Room and Study,Billiard Room,Music Room,Eight Bedrooms and Dressing Rooms,Two Bathrooms,
Electricity is generated on site. Also included is a Bungalow Cottage.
The Garden, comprising 4 acres 3 roods and 2 perches.
Double Tennis Lawn,Croquet Lawn,Shrubbery Knoll with Skittle Alley,Two Rose Gardens,Pleasure Lawn,Lily Pond,Sunken Lawn for Clock Golf,Garden Pavilion,Bowling Green,Ornamental Lake for Boating Stocked with Roach and Perch plus Rustic Bridge to Island,Vegetable Garden,Full Size ‘En Tout Cas’ Hard Tennis Court.
Lot Two: Kitchen Garden comprising 1 acre 1 rood and 2 perches,with Greenhouse, Outbuildings and Farm Premises.Ripe for Development.
Lot Three: Orchard comprising 1 acre 2 roods and 25 perches with Apple, Plum, Pear, and Damson.
In 1933 It was still unoccupied when the Nottingham Evening Post reported the death of an unknown woman who was found drowned in a lake in the grounds of the house.
In 1959 Daisy Pickaver, a barmaid at The Lindens, was selected to join 20 other finalists in the Queen of the Barmaids national competition. Daisy caused quite a stir back in 1938 when she was chosen as Carnival Queen in Mountsorrel on her 30th birthday.
The Lindens in November 2013
On 21st January 2014 the demolition of the Lindens began
Source material
Nottingham Evening Post 21 July 1923 and 14 August 1933
Loughborough Echo 1959 ‘Queen of Barmaids
Dear Sir or Madam, I am doing Family Research and have just found out that a distant relative of mine used to live and work at the Lindens. Her name was Rose May Sanderson and she apparently died on 19th March 1921 from Tuberculosis, when she was 16 years old. I just wondered if there was any record of her being there and for how long. Her mother’s name was Florence Sanderson. Any information would be greatly appreciated. Yours faithfully, Mr. Dennis Farrow.
Hello Dennis,
I’m afraid we don’t have any more information about the Lindens. But I will circulate our members to see if anyone has any knowledge of Rose May Sanderson.
Regards
Keith
Hi Keith, Re Rose May Sanderson, thanks very much for your prompt reply, and it’s as I thought it might be. I know that places in those days failed to keep good records, or if they closed down, all records would be lost or destroyed. Her mother, Florence Sanderson, lived at 182 Birstall Street (or Road) in Leicester, and I also wondered if Florence worked in a Lace Factory in Leicester (if there were any) because she worked in a Lace Factory in Nottingham when she was younger. Thanks also for circulating your members, it is much appreciated.
Regards,
Dennis Farrow.
Sad to learn the Lindens was knocked down, we used to send lorry drivers over there when we were booked up, by the way I am the daughter of Charles and Vera Grainger who ran Woodbrook Cafe on Loughborough Road, sad to say both mum and ad have passed on now, I am also getting on, far from the girl who was known on Radio Leicester, famous for her “big dumplings” when my parents sold the cafe, we all retired to Spain in 1981, after having many years of hard work and happiness –
Life goes on, sad to say the older you get, the fast it passes you by!
I would like to say I met my partner in the Lindens when it was a pub (Nov 1980) He was an Electrician working at the Metal Box factory on Loughborough Rd Leicester. Originally from Worcester he was a resident of the pub as Betty ***? let out a few rooms of her rooms. One night another pub regular who I knew asked my ‘to be partner’ in the back room if he could give a girl a lift as she had missed her last bus home because the guy she was supposed to be meeting had stood her up! He said yes, we were introduced and he took me home in his E-type jaguar, the rest is history!
The pub has happy memories for me. We were together for 45 years until his death recently in June this year (2024) Sorry the building had to be demolished. Love the history you have found on it.
Regards
Kathy