Black History Month: Asian Businesses in Loughborough

16 October 2020

October is Black History month and to mark this, we asked Loughborough Library Local Studies Volunteers for stories from their archives which document the lives of Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Loughborough and the Charnwood Area.

Sadly, current restrictions have limited the group’s access to their actual resources in the local studies room at the library, but they’ve sent us a handful of those they can get to on their digital database. 

One of these is a ‘Directory of Asian Enterprise,’ published in Loughborough in 1986.  It features many well-known businesses that existed at that time in the town and surrounding villages.  Those I noted particularly were the Eastern Garden (where I had my first ever curry – I still remember the occasion and how delicious it was!) and Milan Video Hire on Clarence Street (does anyone else remember the days when you hired the machine for the evening as well as the tape?)

Do you have memories of any of the businesses listed in the directory you could share with us?  We’d love to hear them and see any photographs you may have of visiting them over time.

We’d also like to learn more about the history of Black and Minority Ethnic communities in Charnwood.  Email us if you’d like to help build our bank of stories and commemorate the fantastic diversity of the area in which we live. 

Alison Mott