Loughborough sits about 15 miles south of Mapperley, over the border in Leicestershire, at the southern end of the area Patch Me If You Can covers. The A60 starts here and runs north all the way to Nottingham.
Suburbs with their own stories
The town grew outwards through the 20th century. Shelthorpe was started in 1929, halted by the Second World War and resumed in 1946. Thorpe Acre grew mainly in the 1950s for Brush Engineering workers, including 100 homes built of no-fines concrete, with a further estate in the 1960s and early 1970s. Dishley followed in the 1970s, as did the Hazel Road and Fairmeadows Way estates, then Haddon Way, Grange Park from 2006 and the Eastern Gateway homes by the station in 2013. Eight of Charnwood's conservation areas are in the town, including Ashby Road, Queen's Park and Victoria Street.
Each era brings different walls, from brick and solid concrete to plasterboard on the newer estates, and the preparation is chosen to suit. The work covers indoor plastering and re-plastering, skimming walls and ceilings, patch repairs, plasterboarding, stud walls, media walls and wall panelling.
Student lets
Charnwood brought in an Article 4 Direction for the whole town in February 2012, so renting to three or more unrelated tenants needs planning consent. Landlords with existing lets, especially in the areas between the town centre and the university, can book patching and re-skimming between tenancies to keep rooms in good order.
Call 07877 353120, seven days a week from 7am to 5pm.
