A Discovery Circle for those who want to explore Leicester’s urban areas
Details of our next meetings:
Sunday, 22 March 2026, 12 noon, Welford Road Cemetery: We will have a guided tour of the cemetery. Meet at the Visitor Centre at 12 noon. Please note that as this tour is led by a Welford Road Visitor Centre staff member there is a cost of £6. This is payable on the day.
Sunday, 26 April at 2pm: We will explore the London Road from the YMCA to Victoria Park Gates. Meet outside the YMCA on East Street at 2pm. If you can find out some of the history of the road or the buildings along it, please bring this along to share.
More about this Circle
The purpose of this Circle is to visit and explore chosen urban areas of Leicester and their buildings. The aim is to share memories and knowledge through informal discussion. We are also interested in finding out more about the marginalised, less well-known or radical histories of Leicester.
We welcome people who just want to come along the odd meeting. There is no need to book. Just turn up.
We advise those joining us to wear clothing that is suitable for outside weather. The distances we move are not very far as we stop and look at things!
Timing of meetings
Meetings take place every 6 weeks at a time agreed by those attending. The timing is flexible to accommodate the different timetables of Circle members.
Format of the Circle
We will meet at an agreed location close to the area we will explore. Prior to this, one or two members will offer to find out relevant information about areas which they will either share in advance or during the walk about on the day.
The kind of things we may discuss are:
- The history and development of the area and its changing use
- The architecture and aesthetic appearance of specific buildings
- The historical, political, cultural and local context
- Historic and recent events that might have taken place within the area
A list of our upcoming meetings can be found below.
Our ground rules:
- We take turns preparing for meetings. This includes sharing information ahead of the meeting and any admin that is required
- We aim to make the meeting accessible as much as possible. This will include consideration of any health and safety issues that may prevent safe participation
- We welcome people who just want to come along to one of two meetings
- We encourage all Circle members to contribute while avoiding putting someone on the spot
- We show respect to others’ viewpoints and we do not tolerate racism or other forms of discrimination
- We remind each other at the start of each exploration to observe basic health and safety rules while we are out and about, and we look out for each other while we are exploring.
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Details of our forthcoming meetings
Areas we have previously explored:
Sunday, 1 February 2026, Leicester’s arcades: The Silver, Royal, Malcolm and Odeon arcades
Sunday, 30 November 2025: Belgrave Road between Belgrave Circle and the start of the Melton Road.
Sunday, 2 November 2025: Freemason’s Hall (interior visit)
Sunday, 17 August 2025: Welford Road Cemetery
Sunday, 29 June 2025: Granby Street from the YMAC building to the start of Gallowtree Gate
Sunday 11 May 2025: The former castle precinct area and the Newarke.
Sunday 13 April 2025: Humberstone Gate between Charles Street and the inner Ring Road.
Sunday 9 March 2025: Rutland Street between the Curve Theatre/Athena and Humberstone Gate.