Leicester

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{{Infobox Settlement|official_name = City of Leicester|other_name =|native_name = |nickname =|settlement_type = Unitary authority & City status in the United Kingdom|motto =|image_skyline = Leicester City Centre.jpg|imagesize =|image_caption =Leicester' city centre, looking towards the Clock Tower|image_flag = |flag_size =|image_seal =|seal_size =|image_shield =|shield_link =|shield_size =|image_blank_emblem =|blank_emblem_size =|blank_emblem_type =|blank_emblem_link =|image_map =EnglandLeicester.png|mapsize = 200px|map_caption = Location within England|subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 =[Leicestershire, [City status in the United Kingdom|leader_title =Governing body|leader_name =|leader_title1 =Local government in England#Councils and councillors|leader_name1 =Leader & Cabinet|leader_title2 =|leader_name2 =|leader_title3 =|leader_name3 =|leader_title4 =|leader_name4 =|established_title = Founded|established_date = Anno Domini 50
as Ratae Corieltauvorum by the Romans])|population_density_km2 =|population_density_sq_mi =|population_metro =|population_density_metro_km2 =|population_density_metro_sq_mi =|population_urban =|population_density_urban_km2 =|population_density_urban_sq_mi =|population_blank1_title =|population_blank1 =|population_density_blank1_title =|population_density_blank1_km2 =|population_density_blank1_sq_mi =|population_blank2_title =Ethnicity
(United Kingdom Census 2001) |population_blank2 = 63.8% White
29.9% S.Asian
3.1% Black
2.3% Mixed
0.8% Chinese.|population_density_blank2_km2 =|population_density_blank2_sq_mi =|timezone = Greenwich Mean Time -->|postal_code =|area_code =|blank_name =[British national grid reference system|blank_info =|london_distance = 102.8m|blank1_name =ONS coding system|blank1_info =00FN|blank2_name =ISO 3166-2:GB|blank2_info =GB-LCE|blank3_name =Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics 3|blank3_info =UKF21|blank4_name =|blank4_info =|website = http://www.leicester.gov.uk/|footnotes =-->

Leicester (pronounced ) is the largest city status in the United Kingdom and unitary authority in the English East Midlands. The city is the traditional county town of Leicestershire.

Leicester lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest, England. In 2004, the population of the city proper was estimated at 285,100, with 441,213 living in the Leicester Urban Area. It is currently, by population, the 10th largest city in England and the 13th largest in the UK.

The urban area extends beyond the boundaries of the city proper to include the satellite towns of Oadby, Wigston, Braunstone Town, Birstall, Leicestershire, Glenfield, Leicestershire, Blaby, Thurmaston, Syston and Leicester Forest East. A number of these towns are in fact closely integrated suburbs of the city itself, especially Glenfield and Braunstone. For areas within the city, see #Areas. In terms of population within the city limits it is the largest in the East Midlands.

General The city is close to the M1 motorway, and is on the Midland Main Line from St Pancras railway station to Sheffield, Nottingham and Leeds. High-speed trains operated by Midland Mainline can reach London in just over an hour. It is also served by rail lines to Birmingham via Nuneaton, and to Peterborough.

Major industries in Leicester today include food processing, hosiery, knitwear, engineering, electronics, printing and plastics.

The Leicester City Centre is mainly Victorian era with some later developments, which have usually been integrated in smoothly. The heart of the city centre is the Clock Tower, which is at the intersection of five routes into the city - High Street, Churchgate, Belgrave Gate, Humberstone Gate, and Gallowtree Gate. Today, the latter two are pedestrianised, and vehicles are restricted on the others, with the High Street currently being pedestrianised.Leicester City Centre is home to Haymarket Centre and the Shires (soon to be renamed Highcross Leicester) shopping centres, both of which face the Clock Tower. Leicester Market, Europe's largest covered market, is nearby.The historic core of the city lies slightly to the west, and monuments here include the Castle, the Anglican cathedral of Leicester Cathedral, the medieval churches of St Mary de Castro (Leicester) and St Nicholas' Church, Leicester, the Leicester Guildhall and the Jewry Wall.

There are a number of major developments on the horizon implemented by the Leicester Regeneration Company including the £60 million Leicester Performing Arts Centre designed by Rafael Viñoly.

In 1990, Leicester was designated the United Kingdom's first Environment City, and won the European Sustainable City Award in 1996.

Leicester has a large ethnic minority population, mainly from the Indian subcontinent. There are many Hindu mandirs, Sikh gurdwaras and Muslim mosques around the city, mostly converted from existing buildings. The Jain Temple in Leicester is near the city centre ( The Jain Centre). The area around Belgrave Road is known as the Golden Mile (Leicester), and contains many Indian restaurants, jewellery shops, and other shops catering to the large Asian community in the neighbourhood. Many people travel to the area specifically for the restaurants, which serve authentic Indian cuisine. The annual Diwali celebrations are also held here and at the nearby Abbey Park, Leicestershire, and are the biggest outside of India.There are also many of Afro-Caribbean descent (mainly from Antigua & Barbuda, Montserrat and Jamaica), the community being centred around Highfields (Leicester) to the south-east of the city centre, and Leicester plays host to the second largest Leicester Caribbean Carnival in the UK after Notting Hill.

History According to Geoffrey of Monmouth, a mythical king of the Britons King Leir founded the city of Kaerleir ('Leir's Chester (disambiguation)' – i.e. fortified town). Even today the name of the city in the Welsh language is Caerlŷr. He was supposedly buried by Queen Cordelia in a chamber beneath the River Soar near the city dedicated to the Roman god Janus, and every year people celebrated his feast-day near Leir's tomb.Geoffrey of Monmouth, The History of the Kings of Britain, translated by Lewis Thorpe, p. 81 and 86, Harmondsworth, 1966 William Shakespeare's King Lear is loosely based on this story.

Roman Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England, with a history going back 2000 years. The city of Leicester was first known as Ratae Coritanorum and was inhabited by the Corieltauvi tribe. The Corieltauvi were a Celtic tribe and Leicester was the capital of a territory of what is now known as the East Midlands.

The Roman Empire city of Ratae Corieltauvorum was founded around AD 50 as a military settlement upon the Fosse Way Roman road. After the military departure, Ratae Corieltauvorum grew into an important trading and one of the largest towns in Roman Britain. The remains of the thermae of Roman Leicester can be seen at the Jewry Wall and other Roman artefacts are displayed in the Jewry Wall Museum adjacent to the site.

Saxon and Viking Knowledge of the town in the 5th century is very patchy, certainly there is some continuation of occupation of the town, though on a much reduced scale in the 5th and 6th centuries. Leicester was chosen as the centre of a bishopric (and therefore a city) in 679/80 which survived until the 9th century, when Leicester was captured by the Danes (Vikings) and became one of the Five Burghs (fortified towns) of Danelaw, although this position was short lived. The Saxon Bishop of Leicester fled to Dorchester-on-Thames and Leicester was not to become a bishopric again until the 20th century.

It is believed the name "Leicester" is derived from the words castra (camp) of the Ligore, meaning dwellers on the 'River Legro' (an early name for the River Soar). In the early 10th century it was recorded as Ligeraceaster = "the town of the Ligor people". The Domesday Book later recorded it as Ledecestre.

Medieval and the War Memorial at Bradgate ParkLeicester had become a town of considerable importance by Medieval times. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as 'civitas' (city), but Leicester lost its List of cities in the United Kingdom in the 11th century owing to power struggles between the Church and the aristocracy. It was eventually re-made a city in 1919, and the Church of St Martin became Leicester Cathedral in 1927. The tomb of Richard III of England is located in the central nave of the church although he is not actually buried there. He was originally buried in the Greyfriars Church in Leicester, but there is a legend that his corpse was exhumed under orders from Henry VII of England and cast into the River Soar, although there is no evidence for this and some historians believe that his tomb and bones were destroyed with the dissolution of the church.

Leicester played a significant role in the history of England, when, in 1265, Simon de Montfort, 6th Earl of Leicester forced King Henry III of England to hold the first Parliament of England at the now-ruined Leicester Castle.

Tudor On 4 November 1530, Cardinal Thomas Wolsey was arrested on charges of treason and taken from York Place. On his way south to face dubious justice at the Tower of London, he fell ill. The group escorting him were concerned enough to stop at Leicester. There, Wolsey's condition quickly worsened and he died on 29 November 1530 and was buried at Leicester Abbey, now Abbey Park.

18th and 19th centuries With the construction of the Grand Union Canal in the 1790s linking Leicester to London and Birmingham, Leicester began rapid industrialisation. The main industries being hosiery, footwear and, especially in the 20th century, engineering. All are, however, in decline now.

By 1832, railways had arrived in Leicester with the opening of the Leicester and Swannington Railway, which provided a supply of coal to the town from nearby collieries. By 1840 the Midland Counties Railway had linked Leicester to the national railway network, which further boosted industrial growth. By the 1860s, Leicester had gained a direct rail link to London (St Pancras Station) with the completion of the Midland Main Line. The Great Central Railway arrived in 1900, providing an alternative route to London. However, this closed in 1966.

The borough expanded throughout the 19th century, most notably in 1892 annexing Belgrave, Leicestershire, Aylestone, Knighton, Leicestershire and North Evington. The city obtained its current boundaries in 1935, with the annexation of the remainder of Evington, Humberstone, Beaumont Leys, along with part of Braunstone. It became a county borough when these were established in 1889, but, as with all county boroughs, was abolished by the Local Government Act 1972 in 1974, becoming an ordinary non-metropolitan district of Leicestershire. It regained its unitary status in 1997.

Post World War II In the decades since World War II, Leicester has experienced large scale immigration from across the world. Immigrant groups today make up around 40% of Leicester's population, making Leicester one of the most ethnically diverse cities in the United Kingdom. Many Polish servicemen were prevented from returning to their homeland after the war by the communist regime, and they established a small community in Leicester. Economic migrants from Ireland continued to arrive throughout the post war period. Immigrants from the Indian sub-continent began to arrive in the 1960s, their numbers boosted by Indians arriving from Kenya and Uganda in the early 1970s. In the 1990s a group of Dutch citizens of Somali people origin, settled in the city, apparently drawn by its free and easy atmosphere and by the number of mosques. Since the 2004 enlargement of the European Union a significant number of eastern European migrants have settled in the city. While some wards in the north-east of the city are more than 70% Asian, wards in the west and south are all over 70% white. The Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) had estimated that by 2011 Leicester would have approximately a 50% ethnic minority population, making it the first city in Britain not to have a white British majorityhttp://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0cq.RefLocID-0hg00900c008.Lang-EN.htm. This prediction was based on the growth of the ethnic minority populations between 1991 (Census 1991 28% ethnic minority) and 2001 (Census 2001 - 36% ethnic minority). However Professor Ludi Simpson at the University of Manchester School of Social Sciences said in September 2007 that the CRE had "made unsubstantiated claims and ignored government statistics" and that Leicester would become a plural city by approximately 2019 http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/unilife/1007/research/#d.en.124216 http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/research/mrpd/events/documents/BSPS07SimpsonFinneyMinorityWhiteCities.doc. The Leicester Multicultural Advisory Group was a forum set up in 2001 by the editor of the Leicester Mercury to coordinate community relations, with members representing the council, police, schools, community and faith groups, and the media.

Coat of arms The Corporation of Leicester's coat of arms was first granted to the city at the Heraldic Visitation of 1619, and is based on the arms of the first Earl of Leicester, Robert Beaumont. The field is a white cinquefoil on a red background, and this emblem is used by the City Council.

After Leicester became a city again in 1919, the city council applied to add to the arms, permission for which was granted in 1929, when the supporting lions, from the Lancastrian Earls of Leicester, were added.

The motto "Semper Eadem" was the motto of Queen Elizabeth I, who granted a royal charter to the city. It means "always the same". The crest on top of the arms is a white or silver legless wyvern with red and white wounds showing, on a wreath of red and white. The supporting lions are wearing coronets in the form of collars, with the white cinquefoil hanging from them.

Economy Engineering Engineering is an important part of the economy of Leicester. Companies include Jones & Shipman (machine tools and control systems), Richards Engineering (foundry equipment), Transmon Engineering (materials handling equipment) and Trelleborg (suspension components for rail, marine, and industrial applications). Local commitment to nurturing the upcoming cadre of British engineers includes apprenticeship schemes with local companies, and academic-industrial connections with the engineering departments at Leicester University, De Montfort University, and Loughborough University.

Food and drink Blackfriars bakery produces cakes and flapjacks. The city's ethnic minority population runs leading British Asian businesses, including food manufacturers catering to the changing tastes of the British public such as Cofresh Snack Foods. The 'Mithai' Indian sweet market is catered for by such businesses, for instance the vegetable samosas sold at The Sharmilee on Belgrave Road approved by the Vegetarian Society.

Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered marketplace in Europe and among the products on sale are fruit and vegetables sold by enthusiastic market stallholders who shout out their prices, and fresh fish and meat in the Indoor Market. Everards is the largest Leicester brewery.

The annual Leicestershire & Rutland Restaurant Awards has several categories including City Best Business Lunch, and Young Chef of the Year.

A safe pubs and clubs scheme Leicester Best Bar None has accredited 50 venues in the city that meet public safety and crime prevention standards.

Leicester City Council publishes food safety reports about food establishments in Leicester under their SmileSafe scheme.

Clothing Leicester and Leicestershire have had a traditional industry of Knitting, hosiery and footwear; in the latter it equalled Northamptonshire's idiosyncratic footwear history. The sheep on the county's coat of arms is recognition of this. The local manufacturing industry only survived through protection of the Multi Fibre Arrangement, which came to an end in 2004. However the creative side lives on as De Montfort University has, in the form of its Fashion and Contour Design course, a leading design department for female underwear. It also has the only UK University courses in Footwear Design, with the likes of Nike, Inc. visiting the university to employ students. The head office for Next (clothing) is based in nearby Enderby. The headquarters of Freeman, Hardy and Willis - owned by the British Shoe Corporation (before 1996) used to be in Leicester, and those of Shoefayre (based in South Wigston and owned by the Co-op UK) and Stead and Simpson (based in Syston, Charnwood) are still in Leicestershire. Shoe Zone (originally known as Benson Shoe) is based on Humberstone Road in the city of Leicester, and took over the Oliver Group in 2000, which included Timpson's former retail division and was actually based just inside the City of Leicester on the Braunstone Frith industrial estate - next to the old plant of the British Shoe Corporation.

Financial and business services Financial and business service companies with operations in Leicestershire include Alliance & Leicester, Royal Bank of Scotland, State Bank of India, HSBC, and PriceWaterhouseCoopers. Companies that have their head office based in the area include Next (clothing), and British Gas Business.

Invest Leicestershire provides information to businesses looking to relocate to the city or county, or to established local companies wanting to develop. Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce is another good source for business advice.

Creative industries Leicester Creative Business Depot was established to house creative and arts businesses, and puts on exhibitions. Businesses in Leicester include Haley Sharpe Design, Checkland Kindleysides, printers Taylor Bloxham Ltd in Beaumont Leys, sister company C & R Printing Services in Enderby and Channel 2020.

Healthcare In the public sector, University Hospitals Leicester NHS Trust is one of the larger employers in the city, with over 12,000 employees working for the Trust in the city and county. Leicester City Primary Care Trust employs over 1,000 full and part time staff providing healthcare services in the city. Leicestershire Partnership NHS Trust employs 3,000 staff providing mental health and learning disability services in the city and county.

In the private sector are Nuffield Hospital Leicester and Bupa Hospital Leicester.

Statistics This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Leicester at current basic prices published (pp.240-253) by Office for National Statistics with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.{| class="wikitable"|-! Year || Regional Gross Value AddedComponents may not sum to totals due to rounding || Agricultureincludes hunting and forestry || Industryincludes energy and construction || Servicesincludes financial intermediation services indirectly measured|-| 1995 || 3,561 || 1 || 1,256 || 2,304|-| 2000 || 4,513 || - || 1,425 || 3,088|-| 2003 || 5,087 || 1 || 1,289 || 3,797|}

Business awards The Leicestershire Business Awards has categories including Investing in Leicestershire, Contribution to the Community, and Entrepreneur of the Year.

Recent Leicestershire winners of the Queen’s Award for Enterprise are listed on the Lord Lieutenant's website.

Politics

On April 1, 1997, Leicester City Council became a unitary authority, local government up until then having been a two-tier system with the city and county councils being responsible for different aspects of local government services (a system which is still in place in the rest of Leicestershire). Leicestershire County Council retained its headquarters at County Hall in Glenfield, Leicestershire, just outside the city boundary but within the urban area. The administrative offices of Leicester City Council are in the centre of the city at the New Walk Centre and other office buildings near Welford Place. Some services (particularly the police and the ambulance service) still cover the whole of the city and county, but for the most part the two councils are independent.

After a long period of Labour administration (since 1979), the city council from May 2003 was run by a Liberal Democrats (UK)/Conservative Party (UK) coalition under Roger Blackmore, which collapsed in November 2004. The minority Labour group ran the city until May 2005, under Ross Willmott, when the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives formed a new coalition, again under the leadership of Roger Blackmore.

In the local government elections of May 3rd 2007, Leicester’s Labour Party once again took control of the council in what can be described as a landslide victory. Gaining 18 new councillors, Labour polled on the day 38 councillors, creating a governing majority of +20. Significantly however, the Green Party gained its first ever councillors in the Castle Ward, after losing on the drawing of lots in 2003. The Conservative Party saw a decrease in their representation, whilst the Liberal Democrat Party was the major loser, dropping from 25 councillors in 2003 to only 6 in 2007.

Leicester is divided into three Parliamentary constituencies. Leicester East (UK Parliament constituency) and Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency) are represented by Keith Vaz and Patricia Hewitt respectively - both members of the The Labour Party (UK). The third seat, Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency), became vacant in May 2004 on the death of Labour politician Jim Marshall (UK politician). A Leicester South by-election, 2004 was held on July 15, and was won by Parmjit Singh Gill of the Liberal Democrats (UK), with a 21% swing. This by-election saw almost 4,000 votes go to a RESPECT The Unity Coalition candidate, who opposed the Iraq war. However, in the United Kingdom general election, 2005, Labour's unsuccessful by-election candidate and former Council Leader Peter Soulsby won Leicester South back for the party, and Vaz and Hewitt retained their seats.

Transport Railway - east of the City on the A6 road London Road.The rail network is of growing importance in Leicester, and with the start of Eurostar international services from St Pancras railway station in November 2007 giving Leicester almost direct links to the continent, this growth is sure to continue.

Central Trains provide local services throughout the East Midlands, regional services to the West Midlands (region) as well as East Anglia.Midland Mainline are the InterCity operator running 'fast' and 'semi-fast' services to and from London, England to northern England.

Rail routes run north-south through Leicester, going south to London St Pancras and north to Sheffield, Leeds and York along the route known as the Midland Main Line.Junctions north and south of the city connect other lines west towards Birmingham, and east towards Peterborough, Cambridge and Stansted Airport.

Leicester is 99 miles from London on the Midland Main Line, the fastest trains taking 1 hour and 8 minutes. Journeys to Sheffield take around 1 hour, Leeds and York are approximately a 2 hour journey. Birmingham can be reached in 46 minutes while Peterborough is 1 hour away.

There are four long and spacious platforms helping Leicester receive the accolade of "Highly Commended Large Station of the Year" in the 2005 National Rail Awards. Midland Mainline won "Train Operator of the Year" in 1999 and also in 2006.

Passenger train operating companys (TOC) using the station include Midland Mainline, Central Trains and occasionally Virgin Trains along with a variety of rail-freight and Charter train companies.

Network Rail has plans afoot to re-develop the station incorporating the city council's plans for the surrounding area.

Great Central Railway Leicester was also on a competing line from London to the North, built by the Great Central Railway in the late 1890s. Closed as a through route in the late 1960s, a section from the recently opened Leicester North station to Loughborough is now a heritage steam railway.

Motorways Leicester is close to the heart of the M1 motorway at Junction 21, this section considered to be the busiest part in the country.The M69 motorway also starts near Leicester, and runs to the M6 Motorway and is contiguous with Coventry's eastern bypass.

Airport East Midlands Airport is near to Castle Donington which is in North West Leicestershire. Served by low-cost international airlines, makes the city easily accessible from other parts of the world providing daily services to many principal European destinations such as Paris, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Amsterdam, internal flights to Edinburgh and Belfast and limited services to trans-continental destinations such as Barbados, Mexico, Sanford and Florida.

Leicester's other local airport is Leicester Airport at Stoughton, Leicestershire, which is more for the benefit of enthusiasts than a transport hub.

Buses & coaches St. Margaret's Bus Station is the main interchange for coach services in Leicester, while local bus services are split between St. Margaret's and the Haymarket Bus Station.

National Express operate long distance services.
Stagecoach Group operate a mixture of mid to long distance bus and coach services including Megabus.
Flight Link buses operate hourly during the day and two hourly at night to East Midlands Airport.

First Group are the parent company of First Leicester who operate mainly high frequency local bus routes.
Arriva are the parent company of Arriva Midlands who operate a mixture of local and rural bus services throughout Leicestershire.
Centrebus operate budget local services mainly between local authority estates.

National Cycle Network Many of the country's National Cycle Network pass through Leicestershire. In Leicester City Centre you will find the Leicester Bike Park.

Education in LeicesterLeicester is home to two universities, the University of Leicester (Royal Charter 1957) and the De Montfort University, (founded in 1992 from Leicester Polytechnic).

It is also home to the National Space Centre, due in part to the University of Leicester being one of the few universities in the UK to specialise in space sciences.

Leicester City Local Education Authority initially had a troubled history when formed in 1997 as part of the local government reorganisation - a 1999 Ofsted inspection found "few strengths and many weaknesses", although there has been considerable improvement since then. While many state schools provide a good standard of education, there have been problems with one or two of the large community colleges, in particular New College. However, recent changes of leadership at New College have seen a turnaround in the school's prospects. Current plans to improve the city's education system include the opening of a City Academy partly sponsored by the Church of England and a local Christian businessman (a new school on the Saffron estate), a £250 million "Building Schools for the Future" project using the Private Finance Initiative, the granting of state school status to the Leicester Islamic Academy, and the reorganisation of the city's special schools. Leicester City Council underwent a major reorganisation of children's services in 2006, creating a new Children & Young People's Services department under the leadership of Sheila Lock.

Education Links

:Category:Education in Leicestershire
:Category:Schools in Leicestershire
List of schools in the East Midlands#Leicester

The Arts The city plays host to an annual Pride Parade (Leicester Pride), a Leicester Caribbean Carnival (the largest in the UK outside London), the largest Diwali celebrations outside of India, the largest comedy festival in the UK (Leicester Comedy Festival, and the award winning music festival Summer Sundae with connecting Summer Sundae Fringe festival.

Arts venues in the city include:

The Haymarket Theatre, Leicester : (Now closed, the Leicester Theatre Trust await relocation to the new Leicester Theatre and Performing Arts Centre).
Leicester Theatre and Performing Arts Centre : New purpose designed performing arts centre, designed by Rafael Vinoly, Scheduled to open in September 2008.
The Peepul Centre
The Phoenix Arts Centre
The De Montfort Hall.
The Little Theatre (Leicester).
The City Gallery (one of the regions leading contemporary art galleries)

Sport

Sports teams include Leicester City F.C. (football), Leicester Tigers (rugby union), Leicester Riders (basketball), Leicester Coritanian A.C. (Athletics), and the Leicestershire County Cricket Club. The city has also hosted British and World track cycling championships at its Saffron Lane velodrome. Leicester racecourse is located to the south of the city in Oadby. Leicester is now sometimes regarded (by its inhabitants at least) as the sporting capital of the UK.

Recent titles won by local teams

1996 County Cricket Championship
1997 Football League Cup, Pilkington Cup
1998 County Cricket Championship,
1999 Allied Dunbar Premiership
2000 Football League Cup, Allied Dunbar Premiership
2001 Allied Dunbar Premiership, Zurich Championship, Heineken Cup
2002 Zurich Premiership, Heineken Cup
2004 Twenty20 Cup
2006 Twenty20 Cup
2007 EDF Energy cup, Guinness Premiership

To celebrate the successes of 1997-98, the Leicester Mercury organised the placement of a statue portraying a cricketer, a footballer, and a rugby-player on Gallowtree Gate, not far from the Clock Tower at the heart of the city.

Leicestershire County Cricket Club are the only team that have won the Twenty20 Cup twice.

Leicester City F.C. played the last Football League Cup Final at the Old Wembley Stadium (1923) beating Tranmere Rovers F.C. 2-1.

Leicester Tigers are the only side to have retained the Heineken Cup, and also hold the record for most English Championships won (7).

Motorcycle speedway racing was staged in Leicester. In the pioneer days speedway was staged at a track known as Leicester Super situated in Melton Road and at The Stadium in Blackbird Road. Post war the Leicester Hunters joined the National League Division Three in 1949 and operated at various levels until closure at the end of 1962. The sport was revived for a spell from 1968 before the sale and subsequent redevelopment of the site ended the Leicester Lions era.

The history of Leicester's Speedways is well documented in three books by Allan Jones.

In 1989, the city hosted the Special Olympics Great Britain, and will do so again in 2009.

Areas

Aylestone
Beaumont Leys, Bede Island, Belgrave, Leicestershire, Blackfriars, Leicester, Braunstone, Braunstone Frith
Charnwood, Leicester, Leicester City Centre, Clarendon Park, Leicestershire, Crown Hills
Dane Hills
Eyres Monsell, Evington, Evington Valley
Frog Island, Leicestershire
Gilmorton Estate,Goodwood, Leicestershire
Hamilton, Leicester, Highfields, Leicester
Horston Hill, Humberstone, Humberstone Garden City
Knighton, Leicestershire
Mowmacre Hill
Nether Hall, New Humberstone, New Parks, Newfoundpool, North Evington, Northfields
Rowley Fields, Rushey Mead
Saffron Lane Estate, Southfields, Leicestershire, South Knighton, Spinney Hills, St Peters, St Matthew's, Stoneygate
Thurnby Lodge
Westcotes, West End, Leicester, West Knighton, Leicestershire, Western Park, Leicester, Wigston, Woodgate, Leicestershire

Places of interest and landmarks

Tourist: Discover Leicester Tour is a open top tour bus linking many of the Leicestershire tourist sites in and around the city. See .

Parks: Abbey Park, Victoria Park, Leicester, Gorse Hill City Farm, Castle Gardens, Leicester.

Industry: Abbey Pumping Station, National Space Centre, Great Central Railway (preserved).

Places of Worship: Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal (Hindu temple),Jain ,Leicester Cathedral, Masjid Umar (Mosque)

Historic Buildings: Leicester Guildhall, Belgrave Hall, Jewry Wall, Leicester Secular Hall.

Shopping: Haymarket Centre, The Shires.

Sport: Walkers Stadium – Leicester City FC,Welford Road – Leicester Tigers RUFC,Grace Road – Leicestershire County Cricket Club,John Sanford Sports Centre, Saffron Lane Sports Centre.

Famous Leicesterians A Leicesterian is somebody who comes from the city of Leicester, England. A list of famous people born in Leicester, educated there, or otherwise associated with the city can be found here. Notable people from Leicester.

Leicester firsts

First BBC local radio station. Launched on 8 November 1967 with the first local radio jingle.
First Space Shuttle Simulator outside USA which is at the National Space and Science Centre
First automatic multi-storey car park in Europe which included the largest supermarket in the UK at the time which was a Tesco
First Tesco outside of London
First European Environment City
First traffic roundabout in the UKhttp://www.goleicestershire.com/news/history.htm
First Colin Pitchfork using Genetic fingerprinting as evidence
First place to have traffic wardens
First city in the UK to have traffic lights and is supposed to have more traffic lights than any other UK city
First Halfords store opened in the city

Twinning Leicester is twin towns with:{|bloxham| valign="top" |

- Chongqing City, China
- Krefeld, Germany
- Masaya, Nicaragua

| valign="top" |

- Rajkot, India
- Strasbourg, France

|}

Local media Leicester is home to the Leicester Mercury newspaper, and the MATV (Midlands Asian Television) cable channel which can also be viewed on normal analogue TV and is known as MATV Channel 6.

BBC Radio Leicester was the first BBC local radio station. Otheranalogue FM radio stations are Leicester Sound, Takeover Radio and Hindu Sanskar Radio, which only broadcasts during Hindu religious festivals. BBC Asian Network and Sabras Radio broadcast on AM.

The local Digital audio broadcasting multiplex has the following stations:

BBC Radio Leicester
Leicester Sound
Sabras Radio
Galaxy Digital
Highways Agency Traffic Radio
XFM
Classic Gold GEM
Heart 106
Asian Plus - also known as Hindu Sanskar Radio

The local Hospital Radio stations is Hospital Radio Fox.

External links

Leicester Tourist Guide
Leicestershire TV
History of Leicester
BBC Leicester
Leicester City Council
Leicester regeneration discussion forums on skyscrapercity.com
Images and Slideshows of Leicester City

References

Leicester City Council
Discover who your councillor is, find details of the hundreds of services run by the council, look at what jobs are currently available.

Leicester City Council - About Leicester
About Leicester ... With a population of 280,000, Leicester is the largest city in the East Midlands and the tenth largest in the country.

BBC - Leicester - Homepage
Regularly updated news, entertainment, sport, travel, webcams and weather. A guide to life in the city and the county

BBC SPORT | Football | My Club | Leicester
Visit BBC Sport for all the action as it happens - up-to-the-minute news, results, breaking news, video, audio and feature stories. BBC Sport covers the major events and all the ...

Leicester RaceCourse
Information and fixtures for this venue situated just outside Leicester City.

University of Leicester
The University of Leicester is a world-leading University at the cutting edge of research in diverse fields. For example, we are the world pioneers of genetic fingerprinting and we ...

Leicester.co.uk
Leicester.co.uk is a site for people and organisations in Leicester and Leicestershire, as well as a source of tourist information for visitors to Leicester. ... Welcome to ...

Leicester Tigers
The official web site with news, information, results and fixtures.

Leicester Tigers : Home page
The official site of Leicester Tigers with news, online ticket sales, merchandise, live match commentary, video highlights, player profiles, mobile content, wallpapers and forums

Home | Leicester City
Welcome to the Official Leicester City Football Club website ... Take on other football supporters in our brand-new free to enter Football Fans Poker Freerolls.