Did You Know?

Leicestershire is located in the Midlands region in England, prominent cities and towns in the area include Leicester, Loughborough and Market Harborough.

The first British civilians to fight in the First World War were a group of 50 men, dubbed The Famous 50. They were mostly miners, from the North West Leicestershire town of Coalville.

During the Second World War, the brains at Bletchley Park in Bucks were responsible for decoding German secret messages which led to the breaking of the enigma code. Bletchley wouldn’t have worked without its ears, a Y station – a listening post – at Beaumanor Hall, in north Leicestershire.

Leicestershire is the Spiritual Home of Rock Music. It started back in 1980 with the first Monsters of Rock at Donington Park. It continues today with its awesome successor Download, the second largest music festival in Europe.

The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4. Created by Sue Townsend was set in Leicestershire and was the biggest selling British book of the 1980s.

Leicestershire has the oldest fossils and oldest rocks on Earth. Charnia Masoni, our oldest ancestor and the first multicellular organism, lived 540 million years ago in Charnwood Forest.

Leicestershire is the only place in the world where you can see steam trains pass each other, like they used to do in the old days. The Great Central Railway starts in Loughborough and travels to Birstall.

The Battle of Bosworth took place outside the beautiful town of Market Bosworth, in south west Leicestershire in August 1485. It was here Richard III became the last English king to die in battle. His body was brought back to Leicester and laid out in a church inside The Newarke’s ecclesiastical enclosure.

Coalville factory Palitoy enhanced British playtimes from the 1960s to the 1980s. They gave Britain its Star Wars figures and accessories, Action Men, Tiny Tears and Girls’ World.

Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer, was raised at Kirkby Mallory Hall in south Leicestershire. Ada Lovelace Day is celebrated each October. 

The longest running women’s football club in the league is Leicester Ladies FC. They celebrate their 50th anniversary this spring.

Elizabeth Woodville married Sir John Grey of Groby Hall. He died in battle and left her alone with their two sons at their home in Leicestershire. Not long after she married King Edward IV and became The White Queen. Her two sons by the king are largely believed to have been murdered by Richard III.

Tanky Smith. Who? Francis “Tanky” Smith was the world’s first private detective and purportedly part inspiration for Sherlock Holmes. Memorial to the sleuth can be found in Top Hat Terrace in Leicester’s London Road.

Britain’s longest running vegetarian restaurant (Second oldest in Britain) – The Good Earth – turned 50 in December.

Britain’s largest motorcycle company – Triumph – make their beautiful machines at their headquarters in Hinckley, south west Leicestershire.

Jewry Wall, what remains of a Roman bathhouse, is the tallest single piece of Roman masonry in the country. 

Actor Richard Armitage, best known for playing Thorin Oakenshield in The Hobbit, heralds from Huncote in Leicestershire.

Lady Jane Grey, who was queen of England for nine days and executed at the age of 16, was born and raised in Bradgate Park, Leicestershire.

The brilliant Leicestershire Comedy Festival is the longest running comedy festival in the UK. This year it had 780 events at 60 venues.