So a couple of days ago, I talked about how the chain Wilko shutting down transported me to my childhood where my mum lived in an old mining town that was slowly dying to irrelevance, where she would take me often to Wilko to get various knick-knacks to keep me entertained and help train my concentration and general development.

I couldn't help myself but I had to re-visit the town, Coalville, via Google Maps, as I haven't visited once since at least 2008, likely longer, even though I have been back to England several times. This means it's solidly a 'childhood' memory, with 95% of my time there being a kid and no adult memories steamrolling over them.

I didn't even really remember the layout of the town well at all until I actually dived in. I think the town is quaint and somehow magical, but to anyone who might read this will just find it a mundane town. So I thought I'd throw in some memories that instantly flashed into my eyes as I browsed around to give some more personal insight.

Welcome to Coalville

Coalville, as I said, was once a mining town. My stepdad whom my mum married after my dad was once a miner, turned trucker, so it makes sense he lived there. It's NorthWest of Leicester, a town which itself is a pretty nothing place in the grand scheme of the UK, mostly known for where King Richard III's bones were found, having a substantial portion of the population in active slavery, and for having race wars between Muslims and Hindus, being the most 'diverse' place in the country by far. Also something about football or whatever.

In contrast, Coalville is a very white place, with an average in the high 90%'s, and several areas of 100%. East Leicester is... not so white.

I say this for a reason, as 'white' dominant places tend to be quite old and tend to feel like they're frozen in time since the 1970's, whereas white-minority areas tend to be the cities and more recently developed places. You can see Coalville isn't that far away, but by UK standards, that's a world apart.

Let the tour begin

So my mum used to live on a quaint little street Burgess Road:

To be clear, she was mighty poor. These houses, however, no longer give me that impression. They actually look quite nice! There were 3 bedrooms, a front and back garden and drivway, two bathrooms, a little park across the street. Not bad! It was a council house, basically for people who can't afford private renting.

Here is the specific house we used to live, so many years ago. There used to be a huge overgrown tree my sister randomly planted as a young plant which got wildly out of hand haha. Clearly future owners decided to get rid of it.

Everything else looks practically unchanged, even the kids playground across the street looks identical.

So I'd often walk from the door, turn left and head out to the main road where the intersection greets you with what are much more indicative of that whole coal mining town vibe:

Row after row of small, chimney-clad terraced houses that look as if somebody with giant hands had squeezed them together from either side.

I don't recall ever turning right here, to be honest, so let's go left and... wait... is that Wok Express??

Holy Cripes, that business has survived the pandemic and another 10-20 years before that, in a dead mining town of all places. Incredible. Props to these guys! Could do with a paintjob, though.

Let's keep going. (click images for better views)

After what I guess is about a 7 minute walk, we end up at our first big memory stop. Perhaps considered a secondary central point of the town. Here, we have a Dominoes, a Subway, and if you look closely, BINGO.

This is a particular little relic of the past, as the 70's was HUGE bingo time in England. In some tourist towns like Blackpool, you would see entire streets littered with row after row of bingo halls and houses. My grandmother was apparently a bingo addict which certainly contributed to the continuing poverty we later suffered, but we dabbled in that very building ourselves a couple of times.

When I was there, the subway was actually a game shop. We were too poor to buy games, so we could rent them here whenever I visited, and it's where I first got into the Final Fantasy series which still endures in my life to this day.

I was also exposed to Silent hill 1-4 here, too, something me and my mum would play together until as late as midnight, as we both clearly enjoyed trying to solve puzzles and such as I got older and into my teens. This is basically where one of my big hobbies began.

Nearby was also a bookstore where I'd get the latest Goosebumps books, and this was one of the most exciting times for me. This didn't happen every visit! I'd eagerly await the next installment and it was a huge event in my head when I finally got a new one. I even wrote my own book as a kid inspired by R.L.Stine, called 'The Inside of a Blob Monster'.

Behind us was The Emporium and really put Coalville on the map!

This was supposedly a very successful nightclub my sister would always frequent and have international DJs come and whatever. Tbh I had no idea it was walking distance from home. As a kid it always felt so far away. Still around!

Moving on.

Stunningly, the old petshop still exists too! We always had cats, dogs and guineapigs at one point or another.

Next to it, the restaurant there used to be a long standing barbershop where I would routinely get a 'number 4 back and sides' trim. I still remember the old man and his kindness to me. A cut cost my mum about 4 quid a time I reckon and he was locally known and appreciated by all. That local vibe is definitely something I miss, where everybody knows everybody.

Next we get to the main event

Belvoir Centre

The Belvoir centre (pronounced Beaver) was where all the main shopping went on. It's pedestiranised so we can't go in, but if you zoom in right at the end, you can see the Wilkos I talked about in my last blog.

To the immediate right there used to be a Kodak shop, and another exciting event for me was to get our films developed and see how they turned out. But without going in there's not much else to discuss.

Finally, a few more feet down the road and we get to what I guess is the official town centre, signified by the big clock tower. The Snibston New Inn is apparently doing well, with a gorgeous facade of wartime memorial paintwork, with warplanes flying overhead through the sunset, tanks below and a graveyard poppy field. Let's we forget, eh?

The clock tower, as most, was a prime meeting spot. Remember, in my day as a kid we didn't really have phones so you'd meet up and wait. If nobody came you had to go back home and call from the landline to say 'yo wtf where are you'.

The clock tower here is also serving as a memorial for both world wars, with special focus on prisoners of war. Inscripted:

THIS TOWER WAS ERECTED BY THE INHABITANTS OF THE DISTRICT IN MEMORY OF THE MEN WHO WENT FROM THE COALVILLE URBAN AREA IN LOVING AND GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF[NAMES] WHO, TO THEIR IMPERISHABLE HONOUR, GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 18.

IN LOVING AND GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE OF [NAMES] WHO, TO THEIR IMPERISHABLE HONOUR, GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR 1939 - 1945.

500 Casualties from the area represented on the clock tower can be seen online here, too.

I guess I'll do a third and final part to this tour, this is a good place to take a break!