Leicester
51155
226127663
2008-07-16T22:59:46Z
62.64.213.113
{{otherplaces}}
{{Infobox Settlement
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|official_name = City of Leicester
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|settlement_type = [[Unitary authority|U.A.]] & [[City status in the United Kingdom|City]]<!--For Town or Village (Leave blank for the default City) -->
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|image_skyline = Leicester City Centre.jpg
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|subdivision_type = Sovereign state
|subdivision_name = [[United Kingdom]]
|subdivision_type1 = {{nowrap|[[Constituent country]]}}
|subdivision_name1 = [[England]]
|subdivision_type2 = Region
|subdivision_name2 = [[East Midlands]]
|subdivision_type3 = {{nowrap|[[Ceremonial counties of England|Ceremonial county]]}}
|subdivision_name3 =[[Leicestershire]]
|subdivision_type4 = Admin HQ
|subdivision_name4 =Leicester
<!-- Politics ----------------->
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|government_type =[[Unitary authority]], [[City status in the United Kingdom|City]]
|leader_title =Governing body
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|leader_title1 =[[Local government in England#Councils and councillors|Leadership]]
|leader_name1 =Leader & Cabinet
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|established_title = Founded
|established_date = [[Anno Domini|AD]] 50</br> <small>as [[Ratae Corieltauvorum]] by the Romans</small>
|established_title2 = City Status
|established_date2 = "restored" 1919
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|area_magnitude = 1 E7
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|population_blank2_title =Ethnicity </br><small>(United Kingdom Census 2005 Estimate)<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=13&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1206486958671&enc=1&dsFamilyId=1812|title=Neighbourhood Statistics}}</ref> </small>
|population_blank2 = 62.6% White<br />29.3% S.Asian<br />4.3% Black<br />2.5% Mixed<br />1.3% Chinese and other
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<!-- General information --------------->
|timezone = [[Greenwich Mean Time]]
|utc_offset = +0
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|latd=52 |latm=38 |lats=06 |latNS=N
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|london_distance = 102.8 m
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|website =[http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ http://www.leicester.gov.uk/]
|footnotes =
}}
'''Leicester''' ({{pronEng|ˈlɛstə}}) {{audio|En-leicester.ogg|listen}} is the largest [[city status in the United Kingdom|city]] and [[unitary authority area]] in the [[East Midlands]] of [[England]], and is the traditional [[county town]] of [[Leicestershire]].
Leicester lies on the [[River Soar]] and at the edge of the [[National Forest, England|English National Forest]]. In 2004, the population of the city proper was estimated at 285,100, with 441,213 living in the [[Leicester Urban Area|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 [[Leicester City Centre|city]] proper to include the satellite towns of [[Oadby]], [[Wigston]], [[Braunstone Town]], [[Birstall, Leicestershire|Birstall]], [[Glenfield, Leicestershire|Glenfield]], [[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|Areas of Leicester]]. 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|London St Pancras International]] to [[Sheffield]], [[Nottingham]] and [[Leeds]]. High-speed trains operated by [[East Midlands Trains]] can reach London in just over an hour. It is also served by rail lines to [[Birmingham]] via [[Nuneaton]], and to [[Cambridge]] via [[Peterborough]].
Major industries in Leicester today include food processing, hosiery, knitwear, engineering, electronics, printing and plastics.
The [[Leicester City Centre|city centre]] is mainly [[Victorian era|Victorian]] 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, Humberstone Gate, High Street and Gallowtree Gate are pedestrianised, and vehicles are restricted on the others.
[[Image:Leicester clocktower.jpg|thumb|left|140px|The [[Clock Tower (Leicester)|clock tower]]]]
[[Leicester City Centre]] is home to [[Haymarket Centre|The Haymarket]] and [[The Shires]] (soon to be renamed [http://www.highcrossleicester.com/ 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|St Martin]], the medieval churches of [[St Mary de Castro (Leicester)|St Mary de Castro]] and [[St Nicholas' Church, Leicester|St. Nicholas]], the [[Leicester Guildhall|Guildhall]] and the [[Jewry Wall]].
There are a number of major developments on the horizon implemented by the [http://www.leicesterregeneration.co.uk Leicester Regeneration Company] including the £60 million [[Curve Theatre, Leicester]] designed by [[Rafael Viñoly]].
In 1990, Leicester was designated the [[United Kingdom|UK's]] first [http://www.environmentcity.org.uk 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]] [[gurdwara]]s and [[Muslim]] [[mosques]] around the city, mostly converted from existing buildings. The [[Jain]] Temple in Leicester is near the city centre ([http://www.jaincentre.com The Jain Centre]). The area around Belgrave Road is known as the [[Golden Mile (Leicester)|Golden Mile]], and contains many Indian restaurants, jewellery shops, and other shops catering to the large Indian 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|Abbey Park]], 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)|Highfields]] to the south-east of the city centre, and Leicester plays host to the second largest [[Leicester Caribbean Carnival|Caribbean Carnival]] in the UK after [[Notting Hill]].Since 2004,a large number of eastern Europeans and Africans have also moved here.
==History==
According to [[Geoffrey of Monmouth]], a mythical king of the Britons [[Leir_of_Britain|King Leir]] founded the city of Kaerleir ('Leir's [[Chester (disambiguation)|chester']] – 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.<ref>Geoffrey of Monmouth, ''The History of the Kings of Britain'', translated by Lewis Thorpe, p. 81 and 86, Harmondsworth, 1966</ref> [[William Shakespeare]]'s ''[[King Lear]]'' is loosely based on this story and there is a statue of Lear in [[Watermead Country Park]].
===Roman===
[[Image:Roman ruins at Jewry Wall.jpg|thumb|left|250pg|The remains of the Roman baths at [[Jewry Wall]]]]
{{main|Ratae Corieltauvorum}}
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 [[Celt]]ic tribe and Leicester was the capital of a territory of what is now known as the East Midlands.
The [[Roman Empire|Roman]] 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|baths]] 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|five boroughs]] (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===
Leicester became 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|city status]] 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|King Richard III]] 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|Henry VII]] 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|Simon de Montfort]] forced King [[Henry III of England|Henry III]] to hold the first [[Parliament of England]] at the now-ruined [[Leicester Castle]]. This was not the only time parliament was held in Leicester, see [[Parliament of Bats]].
Lady Jane Grey, ([[1536]]/7 — [[12 February]] [[1554]]), a great-granddaughter of [[Henry VII of England]], reigned as uncrowned [[Queen Regnant]] of the [[Kingdom of England]] for nine days in July 1553, and for that reason is called "The Nine Days Queen"<ref name="royweb">{{cite web|url=http://www.royal.gov.uk/output/Page44.asp|title=Official Website of the British Monarchy – Jane}}</ref> was born at [[Bradgate Park]] near Leicester.
===Tudor===
[[Image:Abbeyruins Leicester.jpg|thumb|Leicester Abbey ruins, now part of Abbey Park.]]
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 was 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, Leicestershire|Abbey Park]].
===Civil War===
Leicester was a Parliamentarian stronghold during the [[English Civil War]].
In 1645, [[Prince Rupert]] decided to attack the city to draw the [[New Model Army]] away from the Royalist headquarters of Oxford.
Royalist guns were set up on Raw Dykes and after an unsatisfactory response to a demand for surrender, the Newarke was stormed and the city was sacked on 30 May. Although hundreds of people were killed by Rupert's cavalry, reports of the severity of the sacking were exaggerated by the Parliamentary press in London.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.british-civil-wars.co.uk/military/1645-leicester-naseby.htm|title=1645:The Storming of Leicester and the Battle of Naseby}}</ref>
===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, [[railway]]s 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|St Pancras]]) 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|Belgrave]], [[Aylestone]], [[Knighton, Leicestershire|Knighton]] 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|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 [[Demographics of India|Indians]] arriving from [[Kenya]] and [[Uganda]] in the early 1970s. In the 1990s a group of Dutch citizens of [[Somali people|Somali]] 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 majority.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0cq.RefLocID-0hg00900c008.Lang-EN.htm|title=Equality and Human Rights Commission - home page<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> 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.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.staffnet.manchester.ac.uk/news/unilife/1007/research/#d.en.124216|title=Research (The University of Manchester)<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ccsr.ac.uk/research/mrpd/events/documents/BSPS07SimpsonFinneyMinorityWhiteCities.doc|title=www.cre.gov.uk/Default.aspx.LocID-0hgnew0cq.RefLocID-0hg00900c008.Lang-EN.htm|title=Equality and Human Rights Commission - home page<!-- Bot generated title -->}}</ref> The [http://www.rima.org.uk/about/sci/casestudy5_leicester.html 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" but with positive overtones meaning unchanging,reliable or dependable.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 legless wyvern distinguishes it as a Leicester wyvern as opposed to other wyverns. The supporting lions are wearing coronets in the form of collars, with the white cinquefoil hanging from them.
==Demography==
{| class="wikitable" id="toc" style="float: right; margin-left: 2em; width: 40%; font-size: 85%;" cellspacing="3"
!colspan="4"|'''Leicester compared'''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadDatasetList.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&g=394575&i=1001x1003&m=0&r=1&s=1198285960875&enc=1&domainId=16|title=Leicester (Local Authority)|publisher=neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk|author=United Kingdom Census 2001|date=2001|accessdate=2007-12-28}}</ref>
|-
|'''[[United Kingdom Census 2001|UK Census 2001]]'''||'''Leicester'''||'''[[East Midlands]]'''||'''England'''
|-
|Total population||279,921||4,172,174||49,138,831
|-
|Foreign born||23.0%||6.0%||9.2%
|-
|White||63.9%||93.5%||90.9%
|-
|Asian||29.9%||4.0%||4.6%
|-
|Black||3.1%||0.9%||2.3%
|-
|[[Christianity|Christian]]||44.7%||72.0%||71.7%
|-
|[[Hindu]]||14.7%||1.6% ||1.1%
|-
|[[Islam|Muslim]]||11.0%||1.7% ||3.1%
|}
The [[United Kingdom Census 2001]] showed a total resident population for Leicester of 279,921, a 0.5% decrease from the 1991 census.<ref name="2001 census">{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/census2001/profiles/00fn.asp|title=Leicester profile of 2001 census|accessdate=2007-12-28|publisher=Office for National Statistics|year=2003}}</ref> Approximately 62,000 were aged under 16, 199,000 were aged 16–74, and 19,000 aged 75 and over.<ref name="2001 census"/> 76.9% of Leicester's population claim they have been born in the UK, according to the 2001 UK Census. Mid-year estimates for 2006 indicate that the population of the City of Leicester stood at 289,700 making Leicester the most populous city in [[East Midlands]].<ref name="2006 Mid-year estimates">{{Cite web|url=http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Expodata/Spreadsheets/D9664.xls|title=Mid-year estimates for 2006|accessdate=2007-12-28|publisher=Office of National Statistics|year=2007|format=XLS}}</ref>
The population density is {{PD km2 to sq mi|3814|spell=UK}}<ref>{{cite web | title =Leicester population density | publisher = Statistics.gov.uk | url = http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198800250139&enc=1&dsFamilyId=789 | accessdate = 2007-12-28 }}</ref> and for every 100 females, there were 92.9 males. Of those aged 16–74 in Leicester, 38.5% had no [[Education in England#Qualifications|academic qualifications]], significantly higher than 28.9% in all of England.<ref name="Leicester neighbourhood stats">{{cite web | title =Leicester key statistics | publisher = Statistics.gov.uk | url =http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadKeyFigures.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198801397203&enc=1 | accessdate = 2007-12-28 }}</ref> 23.0% of Leicester’s residents were born outside of the United Kingdom, higher than the English average of 9.2%.<ref>{{cite web | title =Leicester country of birth data | publisher = Statistics.gov.uk | url = http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198800401075&enc=1&dsFamilyId=85 | accessdate = 2007-12-28 }}</ref>
In terms of [[List of English districts by ethnic diversity|districts by ethnic diversity]], the City of Leicester is ranked 11th in England. In 2001, 60.5% of residents identified themselves as [[white British]], 29.9% Asian or [[Asian British]], 3.1% black or [[black British]], 2.3% mixed race and 0.8% Chinese or other ethnic group.<ref name="Ethnic groups">{{Cite web|url=http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=3&b=276827&c=leicester&d=13&e=16&g=394575&i=1001x1003x1004&o=1&m=0&r=1&s=1198799473446&enc=1&dsFamilyId=87|title=Leicester ethnic grouping percentages|accessdate=2007-12-28|publisher=Office of National Statistics|year=2001}}</ref>{{clr}} Leicester has the lowest proporition of [[white British|indigenous]] inhabitants than any British city.
===Population change===
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%;width:70%;border:0px;text-align:center;line-height:120%;"
! colspan="10" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|[[Population growth]] in Leicester since 1901
|-
! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="17" | Year
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1901
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1911
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1921
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1931
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1939
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1951
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1961
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 1971
! style="background: #FFFFFF; color:#000080;" | 2001
|- Align="center"
! style="background: #99CCCC; color: #000080" height="17" | Population
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 211,579
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 227,222
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 234,143
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 239,169
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 261,339
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 285,181
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 273,470
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 284,208
| style="background: #FFFFFF; color: black;" | 279,921
|-
| colspan="10" style="text-align:center;font-size:90%;"|<small>'''Source: '''[http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10042744&c_id=10001043&add=N A Vision of Britain through Time]</small>
|}
==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]].
===Dialect===
Chisit is the regional nickname and dialect for the people of Leicester. They are often referred to as Chisits because of how they speak and more commonly of how they pronounce the question 'how much is it'? sounding - in the Leicester dialect - like 'im a Chisit'. [1] The nickname was given to the Leicester folk from the inhabitants of the East Coast seaside town of Skegness which is a popular holiday destination for the people of Leicester.
In Leicester, words with short vowels such as up and last have a northern pronunciation (ie "up" not "ap" and "last" not "larst") whereas words with vowels such as down and road sound rather more like a south-eastern accent. The [[schwa]] sound at the end of a word followed by the letter R is pronounced as an [[open back rounded vowel]], a feature paralleled in the [[German language]]. Words such as 'take' and 'make' are often pronounced the northern way 'tek' and 'mek' and words such as 'owt' and 'nowt' are pronounced in a southern way 'ote' and 'note'.[2]
Leicester has a very distinctive dialect and can prove baffling for non-residents of Leicester. Fast talking and elipsed pronunciation combined with regional words can make understanding fairly difficult.Words ending in "ty" or "by" are pronounced "teh" and "beh" eg thirty is "thirteh" and Ratby is "ratbeh". [3]
Other distinctive features are;
Mi' duck -"my dear" a term of endearment often following 'ay up' (Hello there). Jitty - Alleyway. Croggy - Ride on the back of a bicycle. Code - Cold. Ode - Old. Cob - Bread roll. Mardy - Grumpy or bad tempered. Safto - This afternoon. Hum/hom - Home. Rally - Railway. Snap - Lunch. Sen - Self eg. 'Mesen' 'yoursen'.
The dative case of inanimate nouns is also marked by the zero morpheme rather than "to the".
===Food and drink===
[[Image:Everards logo.jpg|left|thumb|Everards the famous Leicestershire brewery.]]
Henry Walker was a successful pork butcher who moved from Mansfield to Leicester in the 1880s to take over an established business in the high street. The business prospered, moving to Cheapside in 1912, and later established a sausage factory in Cobden Street. After World War Two meat rationing saw Walker & Sons factory output drop dramatically. The company looked at alternatives to make better use of its premises and workforce and began to manufacture [[potato crisps]]. The first Walkers production line was in the empty upper storey of Walker's Oxford Street factory in Leicester. In the early days the potatoes were sliced up by hand and cooked in an ordinary fish and chip fryer. In 1971 the [[Walkers]] crisps business was sold to Standard Brands, an American firm, who sold on the company to [[Frito-Lay]]. [[Walkers]] crisps currently makes 10 million bags of crisps per day at two factories in [[Beaumont Leys]], and is the UK's largest grocery brand.<ref>''[http://www.themanufacturer.com/uk/detail.html?contents_id=7024 Walkers Crisps, Coming to the crunch]'' - ''The Manufacturer'', October 2006</ref> Meanwhile the sausage and pie business was bought out by Samworth Brothers in 1986. Production outgrew the Cobden Street site and sausages and pork pies are now manufactured at a meat processing factory and bakery in [[Beaumont Leys]], coincidentally situated near the separately owned crisp factories. Sold under the Walkers name and under UK retailers own brands such as Tesco's Finest, over three million hot and cold pies are made each week.<ref>''[http://www.samworthbrothers.co.uk/ourcompany_whereweare.asp?sub_nav=company Our company]'' - ''Samworth Brothers'', October 2007</ref> Henry Walker's butcher shop at 4-6 Cheapside is still in business, selling Walkers sausages and pork pies, and is currently trading under the ownership of Scottish company Fife Fine Foods which bought up the Walkers butchers stores chain from Dewhursts in 2006.
Some 15 major Indian food manufacturers are based in Leicester including Mayur Foods, Cofresh Snack Foods Ltd, Farsan, Apni Roti, and Spice n Tice. The 'Mithai' Indian sweet market is catered for by award winning Indian restaurants - for instance the vegetable samosas approved by the Vegetarian Society sold at The Sharmilee on Belgrave Road. In May 2007 Leicester was voted 'Curry Capital of Britain 2007' by [http://www.menumagazine.co.uk/archive/may07/curry%20capital.html Menu Magazine] after a campaign led by restaurateur Kaycee Patel of Ek Maya restaurant.
[[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.
Blackfriars bakery produces cakes and flapjacks.
A safe pubs and clubs scheme [http://www.leicesterbestbarnone.co.uk/ 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 [http://www.leicester.gov.uk/smilesafe/ SmileSafe] scheme.
===Clothing===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Next.gif|thumb|Next has its headquarters at Enderby in Leicestershire, which is also where its business routes lie.]] -->
Leicester and Leicestershire have had a traditional industry of [[Knitting|knitwear]], [[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.|Nike]] visiting the university to employ students. The head office for [[Next (clothing)]] is based in nearby [[Enderby]]. The headquarters of [[Freeman, Hardy and Willis|Freeman Hardy 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|Co-op]]) 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===
<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:A&L.gif|left|thumb|A household name still considered as a local bank in Leicestershire.]] -->
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)]] Mattel UK, and the British Gas Business.
[http://www.investleicestershire.com Invest Leicestershire] provides information to businesses looking to relocate to the city or county, or to established local companies wanting to develop. [http://www.chamberofcommerce.co.uk/ Leicestershire Chamber of Commerce] is another good source for business advice.
===Creative industries===
[http://www.lcbdepot.co.uk/ Leicester Creative Business Depot] was established to house creative and arts businesses, and puts on exhibitions.It is based in Rutland Street on the former Leicester City Bus property hence a play on its current title. Businesses in Leicester include [[Haley Sharpe Design]], [[Checkland Kindleysides]], printers [http://www.print-mate.co.uk/ Printmate] in Kirby Flirth, [[Taylor Bloxham Ltd]] in Beaumont Leys, sister company [[C & R Printing Services]] in Enderby and [[Channel 2020]].Other Leicester printers are Artisan Press at Beaumont Leys and Senator Print Finishers at Littleton Street.
===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. [http://www.leicestercitypct.nhs.uk Leicester City Primary Care Trust] employs over 1,000 full and part time staff providing healthcare services in the city. [http://www.leicspt.nhs.uk 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 the Bupa Hospital Leicester.
===Statistics===
This is a chart of trend of regional gross value added of Leicester at current basic prices [http://www.statistics.gov.uk/downloads/theme_economy/RegionalGVA.pdf published] (pp.240-253) by ''Office for National Statistics'' with figures in millions of British Pounds Sterling.
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year || Regional Gross Value Added<ref>Components may not sum to totals due to rounding</ref> || Agriculture<ref>includes hunting and forestry</ref> || Industry<ref>includes energy and construction</ref> || Services<ref>includes financial intermediation services indirectly measured</ref>
|-
| 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 Guidance ltd,listed on the Lord Lieutenant's [http://www.leics.gov.uk/index/your_council/about_leicestershire/leicestershire_lieutenancy_index/leicestershire_lieutenancy_queens_enterprise.htm website].Guidance Monitoring Limited (GML) specialises in the design and manufacture of sophisticated electronic tagging/tracking systems for asset protection and personnel monitoring including for security and criminal justice applications.
== Politics ==
[[Image:Leicester Town Hall.jpg|thumb|right|[[Leicester Town Hall]].]]
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|Glenfield]], 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)|Liberal Democrat]]/[[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative]] 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 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)|Leicester East]] and [[Leicester West (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester West]] are represented by [[Keith Vaz]] and [[Patricia Hewitt]] respectively - both members of the [[The Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]]. The third seat, [[Leicester South (UK Parliament constituency)|Leicester South]], became vacant in May 2004 on the death of Labour politician [[Jim Marshall (UK politician)|Jim Marshall]]. A [[Leicester South by-election, 2004|by-election]] was held on [[July 15]], and was won by [[Parmjit Singh Gill]] of the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]], with a 21% swing. This by-election saw almost 4,000 votes go to a [[RESPECT The Unity Coalition|Respect Party]] candidate, who opposed the Iraq war. However, in the [[United Kingdom general election, 2005|2005 general election]], Labour's unsuccessful by-election candidate and former Council Leader [[Peter Soulsby|Sir Peter Soulsby]] won Leicester South back for the party, and Vaz and Hewitt retained their seats.
==Transport==
===Railway===
[[Image:leicesterarrival.jpg|left|thumb|250px|[[Leicester railway station]] lies on the eastern side of the city centre on the [[A6 road|A6]] London Road.]]
The rail network is of growing importance in Leicester, and with the start of [[Eurostar]] international services from [[St Pancras railway station|London St Pancras International]] in November 2007 giving Leicester almost direct links to the continent, this growth is sure to continue.
[[East Midlands Trains]] are the InterCity operator running 'fast' and 'semi-fast' services to and from [[London, England|London]] to northern England, and provide local services throughout the [[East Midlands]], regional services to the [[West Midlands (region)|West Midlands]] and [[East Anglia]] are provided by [[Cross Country]].
Rail routes run north–south through Leicester along the route known as the [[Midland Main Line]], going south to [[Bedford]], [[Luton]] and [[London]]; and north to [[Lincoln, Lincolnshire|Lincoln]], [[Sheffield]], [[Leeds]] and [[York]].
Junctions north and south of the station link the east–west cross country route, going east to [[Cambridge]] and [[Stansted Airport]]; and west to [[Nuneaton]] and [[Birmingham]].
Leicester is 99 miles from London on the Midland Main Line, the fastest trains taking 1 hour and 09 minutes. Journeys to [[Sheffield]] take around 1 hour, Leeds and York are approximately a 2 hour journey. Birmingham and Peterborough are around 1 hour away.
Passengers using the railway station can include a [[PlusBus]] ticket with their train ticket which gives unlimited bus travel in a designated area.
[[Network Rail]] has plans afoot to re-develop the station incorporating the city council's plans for the surrounding area.<ref> {{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/7280724.stm|title=Plans for £150m station facelift |source=BBC News |date=2008-03-06 }} </ref>
====Great Central Railway====
{{main|Great Central Railway (preserved)}}
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 [[Castle Donington]] which is in North West [[Leicestershire]]. Served by low-cost international [[airline]]s, 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 and coaches===
[[Image:Unknownarrivadart JPG.jpg|thumb|right|250px|An Arriva Midlands Dennis Dart departing from [[St. Margaret's Bus Station]], Leicester.]]
[[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. Leicester currently has one permanent [[Park and Ride]] site at [[Meynells Gorse]] with buses operating at least every fifteen minutes, a site is also under construction at Enderby, there is a weekend operation from County Hall, Glenfield.
Passengers using the railway station can include a [[PLUSBUS|PlusBus]] ticket with their train ticket which gives unlimited bus travel in a designated area.
*[[National Express]] operate long distance services.
*[[Stagecoach Group]] operate a mixture of mid to long distance bus and coach services including [[Megabus]].
*Skylink 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.Most First routes are within the city due to its former identity being Leicester City Transport.
*[[Arriva|Arriva Group]] are the parent company of [[Arriva Midlands]] who operate a mixture of local and rural bus services throughout [[Leicestershire]].It operates both in the city and county and it was formerly known as Arriva Fox County,Midland Fox and Midland Red (East).
*[[Centrebus]] operate budget local services mainly between local authority estates.
*A number of coach operators run excursions from the station including [[Woods Coaches]] of Wigston.Other operators include Fleetline Buses,Ausden Clarke,Confidence,Hylton and Dawson and Steve Akiens.
===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]]. The city is also home to Cyclemagic, the UK's leading community cycling organisation with probably the widest range of bikes and pedal powered machines in the world.
== Education ==
[[Image:University of Leicester campus.jpg|thumb|332px|[[University of Leicester]] seen from [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]] - Left to right: the Department of Engineering, the [[Attenborough Tower]], the Charles Wilson Building.]]
[[Image:National Space Centre, Leicester.jpg|thumb|right|[[The National Space Centre]] in Leicester]]
Leicester is home to two universities, the [[University of Leicester]], which attained its [[Royal Charter]] in [[1957]], and the [[De Montfort University]], which opened in [[1969]] as [[Leicester Polytechnic]] and adopted its current name in 1992.
It is also home to the [[National Space Centre]] off Abbey Lane, 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 on Glenfield Road. 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 [http://www.samworthenterpriseacademy.org/ The Samworth Enterprise Academy] a [[city academy]] whose catchment area will draw in children from the Saffron and Eyres Monsell estates, co-sponsored by the [[Church of England]] and David Samworth, chairman of Samworth Brothers. State school status has been granted to the Leicester Islamic Academy. The city's special schools are currently undergoing reorganisation.
Under the "Building Schools for the Future" project, Leicester City Council has contracted with developers Miller Consortium for £315 million to rebuild Beaumont Leys School, Judgemeadow Community College in Evington, and Soar Valley College in Rushey Mead, and to refurbish Fullhurst Community College in Braunstone.<ref>''[http://thisisleicestershire.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=132407&command=displayContent&sourceNode=132390&contentPK=19305931&moduleName=InternalSearch&formname=sidebarsearch Schools building deal is signed and sealed]'' - ''[[Leicester Mercury]]'', 19 December 2007</ref>
Leicester City Council underwent a major reorganisation of children's services in 2006, creating a new Children & Young People's Services department.
===Education Links===
* [[:Category:Education in Leicestershire|All Education]]
* [[:Category:Schools in Leicestershire|County Schools]]
* [[List of schools in the East Midlands#Leicester|Schools in Leicester & the Wider Area]]
== The Arts ==
The city hosts an annual [[Pride Parade]] ([[Leicester Pride]]), a [[Leicester Caribbean Carnival|Caribbean Carnival]] (the largest in the UK outside London), the largest [[Diwali]] celebrations outside of [[India]] and the largest comedy festival in the UK [[Leicester Comedy Festival]].
Arts venues in the city include:
* The [[Phoenix Arts Centre]]. Former name "Phoenix Theatre".
* The [[De Montfort Hall]].
* The [[Little Theatre (Leicester)|Little Theatre]].
* The [[City Gallery]] (one of the regions leading contemporary art galleries)
* The [[Peepul Centre]]
* The [[Haymarket Theatre, Leicester|Haymarket Theatre]] : (Now closed, the Leicester Theatre Trust await relocation to the new Curve venue).
* [[Curve Theatre, Leicester|Curve]] : New purpose designed performing arts centre, designed by [[Rafael Vinoly]], Scheduled to open in Autumn 2008.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.leicesterpac.co.uk/|title=Curve website}}</ref>
===Music===
While Leicester has often been neglected as a centre for popular music it has had a vibrant history that has thrown up a large number of notable, as well as forgettable, artists. Current venues for music include
* [[The Charlotte]]: live music venue
* [http://www.themusicianpub.co.uk/ The Musician]: live music venue
* [http://www.firebugbar.co.uk/ Firebug] : live music venue
* [http://www.shedvenue.co.uk The Shed] : live music venue
There are also a number of Small Jazz Clubs including the 'Copa' these usually have very entertaining acts if not a little corney.
====1960s====
Leicester's main small venue for pop and rock was the Il Rondo on Silver Street. The roll call of bands
who played at the Il Rondo runs like a Who's Who of early/mid sixties pop and rock. [[The Yardbirds]] and [[The Animals]] played there before passing into rock history along with less well remembered groups like the Graham Bond Organisation. [[The Beatles]] also came to De Montfort Hall.
Colin Hyde (East Midlands Oral History Archive) carried out a range of interviews about growing up in Leicester in the
1950s and 1960s and begun to map where all of the venues of the day were.<ref>talking history:the newsletter of the East Midlands Oral History Archive. Number 7: May 2003.</ref> He identified a number of clubs, pubs, and coffee bars like the
Chameleon, run by Pete Joseph, the El Casa, or the El Paso - cafes which stayed open after the pubs closed. Among others, people also remembered the Blue Beat club on Conduit Street, run by Alex Barrows who later started the House of Happiness on Campbell Street. Night clubs such as the Burlesque or the Night Owl became more popular as the 1960s progressed, and they opened up the opportunity to dance all night.
A local beat band called The Foresights were signed to EMI. They were notable for all members wearing glasses.
====1970s====
The seventies saw the emergence of the well known cabaret band [[Showaddywaddy]] from the city with lead singer Dave Bartram and their 1950s themed songs.
====1980s====
The early 1980s saw Leicester punk band [[Rabid (band)|Rabid]] have two minor indie hits, and there were greater successes later in the decade for [[Yeah Yeah Noh]]. The mid-1980s saw the emergence of bands such as [[Gaye Bykers on Acid]], [[Crazyhead]], [[The Bomb Party]], and [[The Hunters Club]], who were all associated with the [[Grebo]] scene. [[The Deep Freeze Mice]] had formed in 1979 and went on to release ten albums in total. [[Diesel Park West]] had their first top 75 hits in the late 1980s. Other notable Leicester bands from this decade included [[Po!]] and [[Blab Happy]].
====1990s====
The early nineties were marked in the cities music scene by a period of muted reflection. The band [[Prolapse (band)|Prolapse]], was formed by a group of Leicester University and Polytechnic students in 1992. . The band rose in popularity, and quickly gained a record deal with cherry red records, recorded a number of John Peel sessions for Radio 1, and toured with Sonic Youth, Stereolab and Pulp. 1992 also saw the formation in Leicester of Cornershop, an anglo-Asian agit pop band, who became most famous for the 1997 Number 1 single, "Brimful of Asha". [[Perfume (band)|Perfume]] & [[Delicatessen (band)|Delicatessen]] both also rose to critical acclaim),
====Post-2000====
Since 2000 the city has once more seen a notable upsurge in the success of the local music scene. Several Leicester musicians and/or acts have received considerable media attention in their fields since 2003-2004. [[Kasabian]], followed by [[The Displacements]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/the-displacements/9338|title=The Displacements - Track Reviews - NME.COM}}</ref> The Dirty Backbeats,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/shows/lamarr/galleries/1068/14/|title=Mark Lamarr's Maida Vale Sessions - The Dirty Backbeats}}</ref> [[Kyte]]<ref name=glasswerk>{{cite web|url=http://www.glasswerk.co.uk/index.php?db=national&page=news,article&id=3503|title=Kyte Announce New 2008 Tour Dates}}</ref> and Don's Mobile Barbers<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.sorted-records.co.uk/info/infoboom.htm|title=Don's Mobile Barbers - Boom Times!}}</ref> all rose from the city to national attention. Other local bands including Herra Hidro and The Legion have also recently been signed to local labels 'RobotNeedsHome Records' and 'ForTheSakeOfTheSong' Respectably. [[The Go! Team]] were first signed to local label [[Pickled Egg Records]], and Leicester musicians feature in such bands as [[Fun Lovin' Criminals]], [[The Happy Mondays]], [[The Holloways]], [[Envy & Other Sins]], and [[A Hawk and a Hacksaw]].
The development of the award-winning music festival [[Summer Sundae]] with connecting Summer Sundae Fringe festival (run by the local arts collective [[Pineapster]]) as well as other music festivals focused on blues and folk music may well provide the city with more of a focus for its local bands to break out nationally. 2006 saw the closure of The Attik, a venue that for over 20 years had played host to hundreds of bands.
== Sport==
[[Image:Leicestersportingstatue.jpg|thumb|250px|The Sports Statue on Gallowtree Gate]]
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]].
[[Leicester racecourse]] is located to the south of the city in Oadby.
After a period of success for the football, cricket and rugby teams around the turn of the millennium, Leicester was for some time dubbed (by the local press and local inhabitants at least) the sporting capital of the UK, and a statue commemorating this period was erected in the town centre.
Leicester Tigers on Welford Road are one of the most successful [[Rugby Union|rugby union]] teams in Britain.
Leicester City have also enjoyed a fair degree of success. They have been [[Football League Cup]] winners three times, [[Football League Second Division|Football League Second Division (pre-1992)]] champions six times, [[FA Cup]] runners-up four times, and [[Football League First Division|Division One]] playoff winners twice. They have also played in European competitions on several occasions, the most recent in the [[2000-01 in English football|2000-01 season]].However,after a number of poor seasons,they were relegated in 2008 and will play in League One for the 2008-2009 season under manager Nigel Pearson.This is the lowest position they have been in their club history.
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 (speedway)|Leicester Lions]] era. The history of Leicester's Speedways is well documented in three books by Allan Jones.
The city also hosted British and World [[track cycling]] and Road Racing championships at its [[Saffron Lane sports centre|Saffron Lane]] [[velodrome]] in August 1970. The cycle track was improved specially for the event which was televised all over the world. Another first meant that sponsors were allowed to buy sections of the track to utilise for advertising purposes. This was also the first time that a public road - the A46 - was closed in the UK to allow the Road Race to take place:- See The Benny Foster Story published by Fretwell 1971.{{Fact|date=June 2008}}
In 1989, the city hosted the [[Special Olympics Great Britain|British Special Olympics]], and will do so again in 2009.This is the adopted charity for the Lord Mayor of Leicester 2008-2009,Councillor Manjula Sood.<ref name="SpecialOlympics">{{cite web|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/leicestershire/6898257.stm|title=City to host its second 'games'|publisher=[[BBC News Online]]|accessdate=2007-07-14|date=2007-07-13}}</ref>
Leicester is also the 2008 European City of Sport.<ref>http://www.leicester.gov.uk/index.asp?pgid=75325</ref>
===Recent titles won by local teams===
[[Image:Walkers stadium.jpg|thumb|250px|Walkers stadium from the Grand Union canal]]
* 1996 [[County Cricket Championship]]
* 1997 [[Football League Cup|Coca Cola League Cup]], [[Pilkington Cup]]
* 1998 County Cricket Championship,
* 1999 Allied Dunbar Premiership
* 2000 [[Football League Cup|Worthington 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.|Leicester City]] played the last [[Football League Cup]] Final at the Old [[Wembley Stadium (1923)|Wembley Stadium]] beating [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere]] 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).
==Areas==
[[Image:Spinney Hills Park, Leicester.jpg|thumb|Snow in Leicester, taken in Spinney Hills Park]]
*[[Aylestone]]
*[[Beaumont Leys]],[[Abbey Ward]], [[Bede Island]], [[Belgrave, Leicestershire|Belgrave]], [[Blackfriars, Leicester|Blackfriars]], [[Braunstone|Braunstone Estate]], [[Braunstone Frith]]
*[[Charnwood, Leicester|Charnwood]], [[Leicester City Centre|City Centre]], [[Clarendon Park, Leicestershire|Clarendon Park]], [[Crown Hills]]
*[[Dane Hills]]
*[[Eyres Monsell]], [[Evington]], [[Evington Valley]]
*[[Frog Island, Leicestershire|Frog Island]]
*[[Gilmorton Estate]],[[Goodwood, Leicestershire|Goodwood]]
*[[Hamilton, Leicester|Hamilton]]
*[[Highfields, Leicester|Highfields]]
*[[Horston Hill]], [[Humberstone]], [[Humberstone Garden City]]
*[[Knighton, Leicestershire|Knighton]]
*[[Mowmacre Hill]]
*[[Nether Hall]], [[New Humberstone]], [[New Parks]], [[Newfoundpool]], [[North Evington]], [[Northfields]]
*[[Rowley Fields]], [[Rushey Mead]]
*[[Saffron Lane Estate]], [[Southfields, Leicestershire|Southfields]], [[South Knighton]], [[South Wigston]], Spinney Hills, [[St Peters]], [[St Matthew's]], [[Stoneygate]]
*[[Thurnby Lodge]]
*[[Westcotes]], Wigston, [[West End, Leicester|West End]], [[West Knighton, Leicestershire|West Knighton]], [[Western Park, Leicester|Western Park]], [[Woodgate, Leicestershire|Woodgate]]
==Places of interest and landmarks==
[[Image:Leicester Cathedral.jpg|thumb|right|300px|The inside of Leicester Cathedral]]
'''20th Century Architecture:''' Leicester University Engineering Building (James Stirling & James Gowan : Grd II Listed),Kingstone Department Store, Belgrave Gate (Raymond McGrath : Grd II Listed)
'''Older Architecture:'''
'''Tourist:''' Discover Leicester Tour is an open top tour bus linking many of the [[Leicestershire]] tourist sites in and around the city. See [http://www.goleicestershire.com/].
'''Parks:''' [[Abbey Park]], [[University of Leicester Botanic Garden|Botanic Garden]], [[Victoria Park, Leicester|Victoria Park]], [[Gorse Hill City Farm]], [[Castle Gardens, Leicester|Castle Gardens]], [[Grand Union Canal (old)|Grand Union Canal]], [[River Soar]], [[Watermead Country Park]].
'''Industry:''' [[Abbey Pumping Station]], [[National Space Centre]], [[Great Central Railway (preserved)|Great Central Railway]].
'''Places of Worship:''' [[Shree Jalaram Prarthana Mandal]] (Hindu temple)[http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/shree_jalaram_prathana_mandal.shtml],
[[Jain|Jain Centre]] [http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/360_images/2002/11/jain_temple.shtml],
[[Leicester Cathedral]],
[http://www.masjid-umar.org Masjid Umar] (Mosque)[http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/panoramas/masjid_mosque_360.shtml] Guru Nanak Gurudwara (Sikh)
'''Historic Buildings:''' [[Leicester Town Hall|Town Hall]], [[Leicester Guildhall]], [[Belgrave Hall]], [[Jewry Wall]], [[Leicester Secular Hall]], [[Leicester Abbey]], [[Leicester Castle]], [[St Mary de Castro]],
[[Leicester Assembly Rooms|Assembly Rooms]], Newarke [[Magazine Gateway]].
'''Shopping:''' [[Haymarket Centre]], [[The Shires]], [[Leicester Market]], [[Golden Mile (Leicester)|Golden Mile]], [[Fosse Park]], [[St Martin's Square]], [[Silver Arcade]] .
'''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]] - Leicester Coritanian Athletics Club.
==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 ==
{{Cleanup-list|date=January 2008}}
* 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 [[Colin Pitchfork|criminal conviction]] using [[Genetic fingerprinting|Genetic Fingerprint]] 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 {{Fact|date=February 2007}}
* First [[Halfords]] store opened in the city on Halford Street
* First Jongleurs club to be opened outside London, in 1997.
==Twinning==
Leicester is [[twin towns|twinned]] with:
{|bloxham
| valign="top" |
* {{flagicon|People's Republic of China}} - [[Chongqing City|Chongqing]], [[China]]
* {{flagicon|Germany}} - [[Krefeld]], [[Germany]]
* {{flagicon|Nicaragua}} - [[Masaya]], [[Nicaragua]]
| valign="top" |
* {{flagicon|India}} - [[Rajkot]], [[India]]
* {{flagicon|France}} - [[Strasbourg]], [[France]]
* {{flagicon|Bulgaria}} - [[Haskovo]], [[Bulgaria]]
* {{flagicon|Pakistan}} - [[Sialkot]], [[Pakistan]]
|}
===City flag===
Leicester's city flag was designed by local graphic designer, Jamie Bott in April 2007 in accordance with BBC Radio Leicester.[http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester/content/articles/2007/04/25/leicester_flag_winner_feature.shtml]
==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. Other
analogue 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|DAB]] multiplex has the following stations:
*[[BBC Radio Leicester]]
*[[Leicester Sound]]
*[[Sabras Radio]]
*[[Galaxy Digital]]
*[[Traffic Radio|Highways Agency Traffic Radio]]
*[[XFM]]
*[[Classic Gold GEM]]
*[[Heart 106]]
*[[Asian Plus]] - also known as [[Hindu Sanskar Radio]]
*[[Takeover Radio]]
*[[Smooth Radio]]
The local [[Hospital Radio]] stations is [[Hospital Radio Fox]].
==External links==
{{Commonscat|Leicester}}
*[http://www.goleicestershire.com/ Leicester Tourist Guide]
*[http://www.oneleicester.com/ One Leicester]
*[http://whatson.leicester.gov.uk/ What's on in Leicester]
*[http://www.leicestershiretv.com/ Leicestershire TV]
*[http://www.localhistories.org/leicester.html History of Leicester]
*[http://www.bbc.co.uk/leicester BBC Leicester]
*[http://www.leicester.gov.uk/ Leicester City Council]
*[http://www.skyscrapercity.com/forumdisplay.php?f=985 Leicester regeneration discussion forums on skyscrapercity.com]
*[http://www.visitleicester.co.uk/england/leicester-images-pictures.php Images and Slideshows of Leicester City]
==References==
{{reflist}}
{{clear}}
{{Areas of Leicester}}
{{East_Midlands}}
{{UK cities}}
{{LargestUKCities}}
{{coor title d|52.63422|N|1.13852|W|region:GB_source:enwiki-osgb36(SK584044)}}<!-- Note: WGS84 lat/long, converted from OSGB36 grid ref -->
* [http://www.leicesterview.co.uk] Polish Community Website Leicester
[[Category:Leicester|*]]
[[Category:Cities in England]]
[[Category:Local government in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Unitary authorities in England]]
[[Category:50 establishments]]
[[Category:Articles including recorded pronunciations (UK English)]]
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