Leicestershire is a county in the centre of England with a population of 600,000 with borders on Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Northamptonshire. Leicestershire covers the area around the City of Leicester (which is a Unitary Authority) and towns such as Glenfield, Loughborough, Ashby-De-La-Zouche and Coalville. The name Leicester dates back from around 1080, the regions symbol is the fox and the area is known as the home of the now-outlawed country pastime of fox hunting.
Leicester has made some tasty additions to English cuisine in pork pies (based in Melton Mowbray), Stilton cheese and Red Leicester cheese are all enduring and exportable brands.
Industries and major employers in the area are: textiles, farming, medical instrument production, metal working, car/motorcycle, manufacturing, construction, railway locomotive construction and hi-tech part production.
Castle Donnington is a small village in Leicestershire with a population of over 7,000 but is familiar to millions across the world for its yearly music festival at Donnington Park with weekly car and bike racing. Donnington has hosted F1 Grand Prix meetings and the now discontinued rock festival featured rock bands such as Iron Maiden, AC/DC, Metallica and Motorhead. |