Francis Street Post Office

Bring Back Our Post Office... 

There may be a chance of getting our much missed Francis Street Post Office re-opened, here in Stoneygate.  

We need your help...

Add your signature to our campaign in shops on Allandale Road & Francis Street.

Stoneygate Sunday Shopping...

Open this Sunday 

(11th December)

11am - 4pm

Open this Sunday 

(11th December)

11am - 4pm

Come and enjoy a unique shopping experience in a festive and relaxing atmosphere.

You will find independent boutiques, gourmet food & wine, beauty treatments, home and garden,
gifts & decor, state of the art home entertainment and so much more to tempt and indulge you, family and friends.

Free Parking - Special Christmas Offers - Mulled wine & Mince pies - Gift Wrapping

Many of the Stoneygate Shops are extending their opening hours for the Christmas period.

*Late night Thursday 8th, 15th, 22nd 9-7pm

*Sundays 11th, 18th 11-4pm

*Late night all week 19th-24th 9-7pm

Open all hours...

Stoneygate Shops Christmas Opening Hours
for December 2011

*Late night Thursday 8th 15th 22nd 9-7pm

*Sundays 11th & 18th 11-4pm

*Late night all week 19th-24th 9-7pm

Many of the Stoneygate Shops are extending their opening hours for the Christmas period.

Come and enjoy a unique shopping experience in a festive and relaxing atmosphere.

You will find independent boutiques, gourmet food & wine, beauty treatments, home and garden,
gifts & decor, state of the art home entertainment and so much more to tempt and indulge you, family and friends.

Free Parking - Special Christmas Offers - Mulled wine & Mince pies - Gift Wrapping

*Late night Thursday 8th, 15th, 22nd 9-7pm

*Sundays 11th, 18th 11-4pm

*Late night all week 19th-24th 9-7pm

Celebrating 30 years

Congratulations to  Les Caves Du Patron who are currently Celebrating 30 years of Trading in
Stoneygate...

Let's move to Clarendon Park and Stoneygate, Leicester

Its cultural life may not boil but at least, these days, it simmers

Article from the Guardian by Tom Dyckhoff 

Friday 12 August 2011

 
'Leicester has had a little renaissance of late'. Photograph: Sophia Evans for the Guardian
What's going for it? Nobody understands my love for Leicester. No matter how many times I say, "Look ye at the splendid train links, the sturdy, underrated civic architecture, the marvellous subcontinental Asian cuisine," nobody is convinced. So I take doubting Thomases to Clarendon Park and Stoneygate. "Where else," I ask them, slightly starry-eyed, "can you buy a large, four-bedroom Edwardian semi in such lush, louche environs for £275,000?" Their silence seals my victory. These paired neighbourhoods are in the university part of town. House-hunt wisely. It's redbrick uni nirvana: tree-lined streets of bulbous Victorian semis, corduroyed lecturers in cafes, dusty bookshops and curry houses, interspersed with cute gentrified spots such as Allandale Road and Francis Street, plus Victoria Park, with its Lutyens war memorial. Once upon a time the area's most famous son, Joe Orton, had to escape to London to find his fleshpots. No more. Leicester has had a little renaissance of late. Its cultural life may not boil but at least, these days, it simmers. The case against The neighbourhood used to be in part ruled by Quakers, hence a lack of old boozers. Well connected? You can walk to the city centre and train station. Several trains an hour to London St Pancras (half-hourly for the fast service, 69 mins), to Birmingham (50-58 mins) and to Nottingham (30 mins). The M1 and M69 are on your doorstep. Schools "Good" primaries include St John the Baptist CofE, Overdale and Coleman, Ofsted says, and St Thomas More Catholic is "outstanding". Secondaries: independents such as Leicester High School for Girls gobble a lot of the intake but Crown Hills Community and Moat Community are both "good". Hang out at… A latte at Mason & Brooke on Allandale Road for the lecturers. For the student, to London Road: cocktails at the Lansdowne, followed by a curry at the Curry House. Where to buy It's dense Victorian terraces to the north abutting the park. Huge, pricier late-Victorian and Edwardian villas and semis straddle London Road. South Knighton is almost villagey. Market values Huge detacheds, £450,000-£800,000. Detacheds, £190,000-£450,000. Semis and town houses, £175,000-£500,000. Terraces, £125,000-£285,000. Flats, £75,000-£200,000. Bargain of the week Four-bedroom Edwardian semi in the thick of the neighbourhood, £275,000, with Barkers.
From the streets
Kate Sullivan "Leicester is amazingly diverse and vibrant, but you won't find that in Clarendon Park. It's white, middle-class and poncey." Andy Ward "My favourite haunt is Babelas Bar on Queens Road: laid-back atmosphere, great selection of real ales and wines, and legendary cheeseboards." Sarah Kirby "The annual art trail showcases work by more than 50 Leicester-based artists in houses, gardens and studios in the area." • Live in Leicester? Join the debate below. Do you live in Retford? Do you have a favourite haunt or a pet hate? If so, please write, by Tuesday 16 August, to lets.move@guardian.co.uk
• Tom Dyckhoff
• guardian.co.uk
• Article history

New shops on the block

New shops on the block include Outer Space - a great addition to the Stoneygate shops.
Who else is new?  Come and take a look around.

Nominated for the Google Street View Award 2011

"It's such a friendly place with lovely shops, and that's why people keep coming back."

"This area has got everything – cafes, quaint shops, garden shops, hairdressers and some lovely clothes shops."

 "We've also got free parking and we're friendly and unhurried – not like the hustle and bustle of the city centre."

"home to many independent shops selling niche brands in attractive surroundings." 

 

Best Shopping Street...

Francis Street In Stoneygate Leicester Is Short Listed For Google Best Shopping Street Retailers Ask Shoppers To Go And Vote For Their Local Street

Stoneygate the select shopping area of Leicester has been the place for those extra special gifts that you can't find elsewhere. For years now both Allandale Road and Francis Street have been the destination for many shoppers and visitors to the area.

Now Francis Street has finally been recognised as one of THE places to go in the UK, short listed for Googles Street View for Best UK Shopping Street in their awards supported by The Sun, Vogue and Lonely Planet.

We are hoping that people of Leicester and Leicestershire will go and vote for our local street by following the link HERE.

The Leicester Mercury spoke to a number of the retailers and this is what was reported:

Ricky Gibbs, co-owner of boutique gift shop Nest which has been in Francis Street for about nine years, said: "I'll bet we've been nominated because we're all independent shops, and most traders here source their products from small makers and graduates rather than sell mass-produced stuff.

"We've had a high turnover of shops over the years, but the essence of independence always remains the same."

Lizzie Bates works at Linden Aromatics, which specialises in exclusive brands of aromatherapy and skin care products.

She said: "It's such a friendly place with lovely shops, and that's why people keep coming back."

Powder Blue sells a variety of items including perfume, furniture, jewellery and gifts.

Sarah Anderson, who has worked at the shop for about a year, said: "This area has got everything – cafes, quaint shops, garden shops, hairdressers and some lovely clothes shops.

"We've also got free parking and we're friendly and unhurried – not like the hustle and bustle of the city centre."

If you want to see Leicester standing head and shoulders above other cities in the UK get a vote in now and click HERE

Article by the best of Leicester