X-Nico

33 unusual facts about Leicestershire


2004–05 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester retained the previous season's kit, manufactured by French company Le Coq Sportif and sponsored by Narborough-based bank Alliance & Leicester.

2006–07 Leicester City F.C. season

Leicester City's kit was manufactured by English sports retailer JJB Sports and sponsored by Narborough-based bank Alliance & Leicester.

Albert Pell

Sir Henry was the 2nd Baronet of Wistow and had been the Member of Parliament for the Southern Division of Leicestershire from 1832-1857.

Ashby Canal Trust

In 2009, the Inland Waterways Association held its annual National Trailboat Festival on the restored length of the Ashby Canal at Moira, at the most northern end of the canal in Leicestershire.

Baron Sherard

It was created in 1627 for Sir William Sherard, of Stapleford, Leicestershire.

Bescaby

The chief branch of the river Eye has its source in the locality, near Bescaby Oaks.

Birstall RFC

Birstall Rugby Football Club is a men's senior rugby union club based in Birstall, Leicestershire.

Bloor Homes

Bloor Homes is an Enlish housebuilder based in Ashby Road, Measham, Leicestershire, although it has a Derbyshire postcode (DE12 7JP).

Buckminster Gliding Club

The currently active airfield is much smaller than the original and no longer has direct access to Saltby village, and instead there is a new entrance on the road between the villages of Skillington and Sproxton.

Charles Avery Dunning

Charles Avery Dunning, PC (July 31, 1885 – October 1, 1958) was born in Croft, Leicestershire, England.

Cossington

Cossington, Leicestershire is a village in the Soar Valley in Leicestershire

David Burbage

Burbage was born and raised in Great Glen, Leicestershire, educated at schools in Kibworth and Market Harborough, then studied Computing Science at Imperial College London, chairing the Imperial College Conservative Society from 1986/7, having also held the post of News Editor at Imperial College Radio from 1985/6.

Dolly Rockit Rollers

Their name is a pun on the Leicestershire town of Belvoir (pronounced “beaver”).

Ellistown and Battleflat

Battleflat was formerly divided between the parishes of Thornton and Ibstock.

Hinckley and Bosworth

At the northern and eastern edges of the Borough lie several settlements (including Bagworth, Desford, Groby, Markfield, Ratby and Thornton) which largely relate to Leicester; in particular the most northern villages have little to do with the main administrative centre of Hinckley.

Jennifer Gretton, Baroness Gretton

Since her husband's death in 1989, Lady Gretton has run the family's Stapleford Park Estate, in Stapleford, Leicestershire.

Keyham

Keyham, Leicestershire, a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England

Newport Pagnell Canal

The main cargo was coal, brought from Shipley on the Nutbrook Canal and Moira on the Ashby Canal for sale in Newport Pagnelll and the surrounding region.

Quorn, South Australia

The town was surveyed by Godfrey Walsh in 1878 and named after Quorndon in Leicestershire, United Kingdom, as part of the preparations for building the railway line from Port Augusta northwards.

River Tweed, Leicestershire

The river meanders gently through the West Leicestershire flood plains, passing near the villages of Dadlington, Shenton, Sibson and to Ratcliffe Culey where it flows into the River Sence and thenceforth into the River Anker, itself a tributary of the River Trent.

Robert Rait

Rait was born on 10 February 1874 in Narborough, Leicestershire, although the family moved shortly afterwards to Aberdeen.

Roger de Beler

That the family was settled in Leicestershire we know from a license obtained by the judge in 1316 to grant a lay fee in Kirkby-by-Melton, on the Wrethek in that county, to the warden and chaplains of St. Peter, on condition of their performing religious services for the benefit of the souls of himself and his wife Alicia, his father and mother, and ancestry generally.

In the same year the offices of bailiff and steward of Stapleford, in Leicestershire, of which apparently he was already tenant, were entailed upon him.

Sir Gerard Noel, 2nd Baronet

Sir Gerard Noel Noel, 2nd Baronet (17 July 1759-25 February 1838), of Welham Grove in Leicestershire and Exton Park in Rutland, known as Gerard Edwardes until 1798, was an English Member of Parliament.

South Witham

On the road to Wymondham is a limestone quarry owned by Breedon Aggregates, containing around 3.2 million tonnes of limestone.

Welham Junction

Welham Junction was a railway junction named after the village of Welham, Leicestershire, although the junction itself lay within the parish of Weston by Welland, Northamptonshire.

Westrill and Starmore

The parish is located in the south of the county, on the border with Northamptonshire, between the parishes of Swinford and South Kilworth.

It has no settlement as such as is one of the least populated parishes in Harborough District, comprising farmland surrounding the track from Stanford Park to Walcote village in the parish of Misterton with Walcote.

Wigstan

On 1st June AD 840, Beorhtfrith went to visit the young King in peace at Wistow (Leics) - or Wistanstow (Salop) - but, when the two greeted each other, he struck Wigstan on the head with the shaft of his dagger and his servant ran him through with his sword.

The site of Wigstan's martyrdom has been variously claimed to be Wistanstow (Shropshire), Wistow (Leics) or Wistow (Cambs).

William Stenson

William Stenson (1770–1861) was a mining engineer born in Coleorton, Leicestershire.

His house (now demolished) was near the site of the present day North West Leicestershire Municipal Offices.

It is known that he was a non-conformist, being buried in the old Baptist cemetery at Hugglescote and also that he is said to have been born at Coleorton, Leicestershire.


2012 FA Community Shield

Kevin Friend of Leicestershire was named as referee, having previously been the fourth official at both the 2011 League Cup Final and the 2011 Community Shield, and refereed the 2009 FA Vase Final.

Auster Autocrat

The Auster J/1 Autocrat was a 1940s British single-engined three-seat high-wing touring monoplane built by Auster Aircraft Limited at Rearsby, Leicestershire.

Braunstone Gate Bridge

Representatives from the Ramblers Association, The Victorian Society, The Footpath Association, The Civic Society and Leicestershire Industrial History Society were present.

Burton Overy

Burton Overy is a civil parish in the Harborough district of Leicestershire, about nine miles south-east of Leicester city centre, and not far from Great Glen.

Centre for Research in Social Policy

The Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP) is a self-funding autonomous research centre based within the Department of Social Sciences at Loughborough University in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, in the East Midlands, England.

Elkington, Northamptonshire

It is from this village that many of the Elkington branches of that surname are supposed to have been descended, mostly the Leicestershire and Oxfordshire/Warwickshire branches come from that region.

Faxton

In 1610, the Manor of Kibworth, Leicestershire was jointly granted to Augustine, Anthony Shugborough and John Smith after Ambrose Dudley, the Earl of Warwick, died without an heir.

FKI

FKI is a British engineering and manufacturing company headquartered in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

Gartree

Gartree Hundred, a wapentake and later a hundred of Leicestershire, England

Gustavus Fowke

Fowke was one of those over-40s, but was in fact only at the start of his cricket career, and he remained as Leicestershire's captain for the next five seasons, overseeing a transition in the team that saw the retirement of older players such as John King, Samuel Coe and Arthur Mounteney and the introduction of the nucleus of the team of the 1930s with Les Berry, Norman Armstrong, Haydon Smith and Alan Shipman.

Hit the ball twice

An example of the dismissal occurred in 1906 when John King, playing for Leicestershire against Surrey at The Oval tried to score a run after playing the ball twice to avoid getting bowled.

Hugo Meynell

Hugo Meynell (June 1735 – 14 December 1808) is generally seen as the father of modern fox hunting, became Master of Fox Hounds for the Quorn Hunt in Leicestershire in 1753 and continued in that role for another forty-seven years (the hunt is so called after Meynell's home, Quorn Hall in Quorndon, North Leicestershire).

Huntingdon Beaumont

There were several branches to the Beaumont dynasty and this was the one based at Coleorton in Leicestershire.

Imagemakers

Foxton Locks, Leicestershire – outdoor 3D installations, seating, exhibition, site leaflet and MP3 audio trail for British Waterways and partners.

James Sperry

Sperry's only first-class match that was not for Leicestershire came in 1947, when he appeared in a festival match at Harrogate in which two teams composed largely of county rather than Test players played a game organised by Maurice Leyland, who had retired from full-time cricket the previous year.

John Beaumont, 4th Baron Beaumont

Sir Thomas Beaumont, Lord of Bacqueville in France, 3rd son, who married Philippa Marward, daughter of Thomas Marward of Quartermarshe, Leicestershire.

John Gretton, 3rd Baron Gretton

John Henrik Gretton, 3rd Baron Gretton DL (9 February 1941 - 4 April 1989) was an English peer, owner of Stapleford Park in Leicestershire.

John King, Baron King of Wartnaby

At weekends, he travelled north to his country estate, Friars Well Estate, near Melton Mowbray in the county of Leicestershire.

John Prior Estlin

He was born at Hinckley, Leicestershire, 9 April (O.S.) 1747, was the son of Thomas Estlin, hosier, by his wife, née Prior.

Ken Higgs

After two years in the Lancashire League, the Leicestershire captain, Ray Illingworth called Higgs out of first-class cricket retirement because of Graham McKenzie's expected unavailability with the 1972 Australians.

Launde

It gives its name to an electoral division of Leicestershire that stretches all the way from Scraptoft, Thurnby and Stoughton, near Leicester, to the border with Rutland.

Leicester Pro Wrestling

Whilst Willenhall was abandoned as a venue after only one show, Minworth and Lea Hall remain regular venues for LPW, along with Shard End Social Club, and Leicestershire venues Thurmaston Progressive Working Men's Club and Stocking Farm Social Club.

Martyn Booty

Born in Kirby Muxloe, Leicestershire, Booty started his career as a trainee at Coventry City, but struggled to break into the first team.

Oscytel

All three men were landowners in the eastern midlands, with Oskytel owning lands at Beeby, in Leicestershire.

Paul Dixey

He signed a summer contract with Leicestershire for the 2011 season as deputy to Tom New under the guidance of former England wicketkeeper Paul Nixon.

Pearl Cap

She was trained by Frank Carter, a member of the prominent racing family that began in France with Thomas Carter (1805-1879), who immigrated from Peckleton, Leicestershire in England in 1831 and founded the English Racing Colony in Chantilly, Oise.

Quidem

Stations for Banbury, Stratford, Warwick, Rugby and Coventry transmit from Honiley, Warwickshire, whilst services for Hinckley, Loughborough and Tamworth emanate from Coalville, Leicestershire.

Ray Julian

He had appeared in Leicestershire's first three List A matches, one each in the Gillette Cup competitions of 1963, 1964 and 1965, but all three games were lost.

From 1959 to 1965, Julian was Leicestershire's main wicketkeeper, though his indifferent batting and Leicestershire's perennially long tail in this period meant that other wicketkeepers such as John Mitten and Geoffrey Burch were tried, though not usually for long.

Refectory table

Stanford Hall in Leicestershire, England has numerous areas of early furnishings including one room with original 17th century furnishings including a refectory table and set of Charles II chairs.

Reuben Jones

Reuben (Ben) Jones (born 19 October 1932 in Newport, Shropshire, England; died 3 January 1990 in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire) was an Olympic equestrian rider who competed in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo and the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Richard Cheslyn

Richard Cheslyn (born 17 December 1797 at Langley Priory, Leicestershire; died 29 December 1858 at Shelford, Nottinghamshire) was an English amateur cricketer who played first-class cricket from 1825 to 1846.

Rob Childs

That same year, he began his teaching career at a high school in Loughborough, Leicestershire.

Robert Sadington

On 12 February 1332 he was placed on the commission of peace for Leicestershire and Rutland, and on 25 June 1332 was a commissioner for the assessment of the tallage in the counties of Leicester, Warwick, and Worcester.

Sir Thomas Gresley, 10th Baronet

Gresley was born at Netherseal, (then in) Leicestershire, the son of Rev. Sir William Nigel Gresley, 9th Baronet and his wife Georgina Anne Reid.

Sir William Parsons, 1st Baronet of Bellamont

Sir William was the eldest son of James Parsons of Diseworth, Leicestershire, and Catherine, sister of Sir Geoffrey Fenton, the Secretary of State to Elizabeth I.

South Leicestershire College

The Boxing Development Centre is ran through Boxing legend Barry McGuigan with its training sessions held in South Leicestershire College's Boxing gym, The Weigh In.

Sri Lankan cricket team in England in 1979

Sri Lanka also played a 55-over one-day match against Leicestershire County Cricket Club, which Leicestershire won by 4 wickets; a 2-day match against Oxford University, which Sri Lanka won by an innings and 86 runs; and 3-day international matches against Ireland in Eglinton and against Scotland in Glasgow, both drawn.

The Wave Pictures

The band has its origins in a group called Blind Summit, which David and Franic formed with Hugh Noble in Wymeswold, near Loughborough in Leicestershire, in 1998.

Tom New

New has had his progress into the Leicestershire team blocked by Paul Nixon but having recently signed a new two-year contract with the club, seems to be set to replace the England keeper once he hangs up his gloves.

Tonge and Breedon railway station

Tonge and Breedon railway station was a station at Tonge that served the adjacent village of Breedon-on-the-Hill, Leicestershire, England.

Viscount Beaumont of Swords

It was created on 20 May 1622 for Sir Thomas Beaumont, 1st Baronet, Member of Parliament for Leicestershire from 1604 to 1611 and High Sheriff of Leicestershire in 1610.