Bath is bedecked with bronze plaques marking the residencies of the great and the good but l was more fascinated to read a more recent brass plaque in Northumberland Place.
It’s a tribute to a man who ran a gentleman’s clothing shop in this quaint and hidden passageway opposite the Guildhall.
Leslie George Towers, and his partner Dermot Edwin Parnell, were in business as Leslies Menswear from 1960 to 1987 and also remembered for bringing floral displays to this ‘hidden gem’ of a retail trading corridor.
Later today, l received some amazing photos – courtesy of local historian Kirsten Elliot from Akeman Press, She wrote:
“I found these images of Northumberland Place in the Akeman Press Archive, all taken around 1968 – 70, some by my mother, Mrs Jean Fry, and some given to us by a photographer called Colin Hamilton.
Not only do they show Leslie’s, boldly advertising Levi Jeans, but also Eileen’s seed shop, who collaborated with Leslie to provide plants – no wonder the displays were so wonderful. The company was always ready to help to improve the public realm.
In 1942, after the Bath Blitz, Eileen’s decorated the bandstand in Sydney Gardens for a concert, and a collection was made for the Mayor’s Air Raid Relief Fund.
Above all, they show the splendour and variety of the floral displays. Sadly, only the Coeur de Lion makes much of an effort now.
Perhaps this will inspire the present traders in Northumberland Place to get together and bring back the joy and colour of the past.”
Leslies got a mention in my recent podcast with local author Simon Hurford and the books he has written about the glory days of the Bath Pavilion when – during the 1960’s – some of the world’s top groups came to perform in Bath.
Simon said the newly-named ‘teenagers’ flocked to Leslies and that the city – at that time – was regarded as being more fashionable than Bristol!
Catch Simon’s podcast below:
Ah yes – I remember it well! Opposite the Coeur de Lion and the ‘go-to’ modern menswear retailer of the day, for the fashionable young man-about-town. Not that I included myself in that category but I bought some nice clobber there over the years. They stocked the more unusual and fashionable lines, which the likes of Burton, John Collier, Hepworths etc (the choice of our fathers!) just couldn’t compete with. I still have a Van Gils scarf I bought there and they were one of the first to stock the ubiquitous Ben Sherman button-down collar shirt! You are absolutely right to say that they were the ‘founding fathers’ of the floral displays which have graced Northumberland Place ever since (and they won a few awards). Leslie Towers and Dermot Parnell were quite high-profile retailers and citizens of Bath in their day, and it is fitting that they should be thus commemorated, with their ‘floral legacy’ a lasting memorial. It was a bit of a joke, at the time, that one kitted oneself out from Leslie’s in the morning/afternoon and then spent the evening at the Keel Club (in Bathampton) showing it off! I shall make a point of strolling down Northumberland Place on my next visit to Bath. Thanks for the memories!