happy medium

I’m getting way more viewers of this blog then I expected, and around half of the hits are from here in New Zealand. When someone asks where I’m from, Leicester, the response is normally a blank stare. So for the Kiwis –

It’s pretty much as far from the coast you can get in the UK, which is probably why I can never be bored of the sea and harbour view from my apartment. Leicester is one of the oldest cities in Britain, 2000 years, though you wouldn’t think it to look at it. Dates back to the Roman times, when they had a peaceful takeover of the Coritani people and created the city on the banks of the River Soar.

After the Romans cleared out in the 5th Century the population fell, and the city abandoned, until the Saxons came along, and the Danes (Vikings) invaded. It then became a stong-hold in Medieval Times, King Richard III was buried under Greyfriars Church , and England’s first ever Parliament was held in Leicester in 1265 – not London. In the late 1700s and 1800s it became one of the main centres of the Industrial Revolution.

Leicester is set to be the first city in the UK to have a non-white ethnic majority population, by 2011. It has the largest Hindu-Indian population outside of India (what-up Vish!), as well as a large Afro-Caribbean population. The famous Golden Mile consists of the best Indian restaurants in the Country.

Today it’s a pretty unremarkable City, but it’s the surrounding countryside that saves it. Some of the most beautiful green landscapes, ancient woodland, and chocolate box villages.

Some great photos of Leicester City here

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 12th, 2006 at 11:03 am and is filed under happy. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.