More than four million people live in the East Midlands, a region rich in both heritage and cultural diversity. And one that embraces change and challenge.
The East Midlands is the fourth largest region in England.
Where else in England can you spend the morning on a mountain plateau, and the afternoon freely imbibing minerals from a Roman spa? Enjoy a Human Spaceflight and move a one-tonne ball of granite with the touch of a hand? Explore caves once inhabited by Ice Age man, visit England's largest and finest Anglo-Saxon church or watch an osprey hunting trout?
The region's proximity to London has ensured it pride of place in the history of the making of England. Leicester's history dates back to Roman times. Later, it was one of the five Danelaw towns and was the traditional home of Shakespeare's tragic King Lear and his daughters.
The social reform movement born in 19th century Britain had an enormous impact on the Midlands. Unfortunately, WWII air raids undid much of the good work in many of the larger, industrial centres and post-war town planners completed the vandalism by designing the ring roads and motorways that virtually obliterated some of the region's finest old urban centres.
The East Midlands have a typically cold English climate in general, with higher rainfall in the summer months and few hours of sunshine in winter. The weather in winter, though oppressive, tends to be constant rather than extreme.
Leicester's appeal doesn't owe much to quaint physical charm. Instead, what draws people to this city is its palpable sense of excitement, largely a result of the diverse mix of ethnicities and cultures here. |
