Photo above: Champion on right c 1900.
Ornate portico belies the age of the Champion as it is recorded in the late 1830s as ran by Robert Spence, baker and beer retailer, as it originally was listed in Belgrave and not Leicester.
The Spence family kept the Champion for around fifty years from the 1830s. A couple of interesting cases occurred when the Champion was charged with being open after hours. In the first instance, the court heard various reasons why this may have occurred, ranging from someone altered the clock, the fact that the PC’s watch was fast and that Belgrave time was six minutes out from Leicester time. Perhaps the reason the licence wasn’t endorsed was that the court was told that most of the customers in the Champion were prominent people ‘of good character.’
A sadder episode was heard in 1877 Harriet Ward, who drank in the Champion had fallen on the parish due to lack of maintenance from her ex husband. He countered by accusing her of intimacy with a butcher from Belgrave, as well as having sex with her cousin, finally leaving her due to her drunkenness, debauchery and idleness. He claimed that on one occasion she was drunk for twelve weeks running.
1899 saw Charles Scotney being declared bankrupt from the Champion. despite the brewery reducing the rent, he still found himself a couple of years behind. The fact that he didn’t keep any books, paperwork, profit and loss accounts to throw any light on the business, meant the court had no option to declare him bankrupt. Thomas Smith would take on the licence. Thomas died soon after Catherine Smith his widow would carry on for a few mouths until John Hinge was installed. Edward Hill 1904. John William Castledine 1906. Alfred Henry Ford 1909. Mary Jane Ford 1917. Alfred Henry Ford again 1919. Joseph Bray 1919 were other licensees.
The Champion seemed to have closed circa 1982, reopening as a members club before the popular Flamingo Asian Bar & Grill in1995.
Flamingo Bar & Grill eventually extended into the adjoining property. Finally closing its doors in 2019
