Section of map showing the location of Royal Agricultural Show in 1924, near to the ex-GCR Abbey Lane Sidings where there were “Special Show Traffic Loading Docks”.  Click here to see the full map.

The map above is reproduced from a leaflet produced by the London and North Eastern Railway about the facilities it is providing for the show, and can be read here.

 

Information about this show and the previous two Royal Agricultural Shows held in Leicester are detailed in the ‘Leicester Historian’ article “Royal Agricultural Shows in Leicester”, by Andrew Moore.
Click here to read the article, downloaded under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence 

The article says that the site was then private farmland with the grand entrance being near the current junction of Blackbird Road and Parker Drive. The decision to hold the show here spurred planned improvements to the tramway system in the vicinity which included extending the railway bridge over the additional carriageway of Blackbird Road at Leicester Corporation’s expense.

The LNER bore the brunt of rail transport of exhibits to the site and at Abbey Lane Sidings they increased facilities by adding landing stages and four long sidings.  They also provided an additional six sidings at their Western Boulevard depot, sufficient for 174 wagons, and utilised the former Great Northern facilities at Belgrave Road.

There were doubts about the show going ahead due to a prevalence of foot and mouth disease which reduced the livestock on display, however the five day event opened on 1st. July 1924 though attendance was less than had been hoped.  One problem affecting attendance was the weather.  On the third day there were heavy storms and then very strong gales during the night which damaged some of the exhibits.  Overall, less than 86,000 attended the event, fifty percent less than anticipated.

Following the 1924 show, a small part of the site was used to build a stadium for greyhound racing.  This was opened in 1926, and its use expanded to include motorcycle speedway two years later.  The stadium has since been replaced by housing.

 

As an interesting side note, the article describes how the 1868 show was held on Victoria Park in Leicester to which a steeply graded temporary branch line for delivering the exhibits was laid from the Midland Railway.

 

Reference:

1. Moore, Andrew, “Royal Agricultural Society Shows in Leicester”, Leicester Historian, v48, 2012, pp15-21.

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