Leicester

My story

Leicester is a pleasant place to live and has a very long history extending over three thousand years or so. Prior to moving there to live in 1998, I had visited Leicester just twice - once in the seventies for an unsuccessful job interview (it didn't matter) and once earlier in the nineties for a race meeting. So my knowledge of Leicester is based on what I've seen or read about in the years since 1998. Actually, I didn't study Leicester while I was working in Narborough or for some time afterwards.

As a start, here are a few links that might be of interest. I haven't visited most of these places so their inclusion here does not imply any endorsement by me. Note that I briefly discuss Leicester's rail transport heritage in My story (trains).

General interest

General interest

Leicester Wikipedia
Leicestershire Wikipedia
Leicestershire tourism
Leicester leisure and culture
Leicester

Leicestershire celebrities

I used to be a huge fan of racehorse trainer Jenny Pitman but that all changed as a result of the 1992 Cheltenham Gold Cup, especially as that scandal came while her altercation with Jamie Osborne at Ayr was still fresh in the memory. Jenny Pitman has more recently switched to writing crime novels, following the example set by Dick Francis. I'll stick with the original and best racing crime author.

David Attenborough first achieved fame as a presenter of the TV series Life on Earth in the seventies. I loved that series and the sequal The living planet but I haven't followed his career closely in recent years, although I'm pleased to see that he remains active even in his eighties.

Thomas Cook is famous as an international package tour operator these days but I don't think it's what the Rev. Thomas Cook had in mind when he organized a local excursion from Leicester to Loughborough in 1841.

Sue Townsend is famous as the author of the Adrian Mole books but has written other novels too including Queen Camilla, a novel based on (you guessed it) Britain's royal family.

Gary Linkeker is famous as a football (soccer) player.

In music, seventies rock 'n' roll revivalists Showaddywaddy hail from Leicestershire as do the contemporary band Kasabian. Leicestershire also claims Engelbert Humperdinck who was actually born in India although raised in Leicestershire. But I'll stop here and direct you to Leicester bands where you can find everything you wanted (or didn't want) to know about pop and rock music in the Leicester area.

Crime

Crime happens everywhere but I think Leicestershire is a fairly safe area compared to most.

Spectator sports

I haven't been to a rugby match but I've seen football (soccer), cricket and horse racing in Leicester. I got into the cricket for free by selling programs and lottery tickets before the match. It wasn't very remunerative, the free entry having a greater value than the commission.

Sports venues

Sport	Venue	Description
Rugby union	Welford Road	Leicester Tigers
Football (soccer)	Walker Stadium	Leicester City
Cricket	Grace Road	Leicestershire county cricket club
Horse racing	Oadby	Leicester racecourse
Motor racing	Castle Donington	Donington Park

Entertainment

I haven't visited any of these entertainments although I'd like to visit the National Space Centre one day. It's not exactly Houston but it's the nearest you'll get in Britain.

Entertainment venues

Cinemas
DeMontfort Hall (concerts
Leicester Haymarket Theatre
The Little Theatre
Phoenix Arts Centre
Leicester museums
National Space Centre

Environment

I've spent plenty of time walking around Leicester, visiting some of the parks (Abbey Park is the main one) and walking along the banks of the canal and river as well as along the Great Central Way (part of a once busy train route). Some day I may visit Gorse Hill city farm. Both of my grandfathers worked on farms but I haven't had much contact with farms in my adult life.

Environment

University of Leicester Botanic Garden
Gorse Hill City Farm
Leicester's main parks
Twycross Zoo