The reference for the city in the world map is latitude 52o38’06” north, latitude 1o08’06” west.
The River Soar, which runs through it, is among the few geographical features in Leicester – since it is, by and large, quite featureless and flat.
It’s on the eastern edge of the National Forest – a millennium project which aims to recreate a large forest in England’s midlands.
The city embraces many satellite towns, such as Wigston, Syston, Oadby and Forest East.
City Coverage
The city has been a unitary authority since 1997, with its very own authority powers inside the city. The city covers an area of approximately 7,500 hectares, and its population density is approximately 38 people per hectare.
The city is an ancient city and settlement – but only had the status of the city after 1919, by Royal Charter.
Population
The city’s population had grown from less than 20,000 (it was 17,000 by the start of the century) to over 210,000 people from 1801 to 1901 – and then expanded further to the current level.
The city has 22 electoral wards, but only two of these (east and west Knighton) aren’t among the top 50% electoral wards recognised as deprived areas.
Out in the county, the city highest point is Farndon Hill, which is 277m above sea level and located in the Charnwood Forest area.
The area is quite flat and does not have very interesting topography – other than that, you can only see a handful of low, undulating hills in the area – since it was flattened and eroded significantly in the last Ice Age. The elevation inside the city seldom reaches more than 200m and is an average of 150m above sea level.
Geologically
Geologically, the city is on top of the western edge of the Trent Valley’s East Midlands shelf. It is covered with a bed of New Red Sandstone and Mudstone – all laid down mostly in the Lower Lias period.
In the west, there are coal measures from the Upper Carboniferous period. Coal mining was a very important industry for the local economy of villages around nowadays, it has faded away, and is no longer a significant contributor to the economy of the region.
The Bluefaced is a sheep breed developed for the purpose of providing raw material to the burgeoning hosiery trade that happened in the 18th Century. It is a common breed of sheep in Northern England.
Another popular breed, the Border, has surfaced at approximately the same time. While it takes its name originally from the Stilton area in Cambridgeshire, the Blue Stilton – known as the King of English cheeses – is well-associated with the city.
Local Cheese Making
Considering the city has the predominance of licensed Stilton producers (2), the county claims that the cheese is solely their own.
The cheese is associated with Stilton due to the fact it was served at a Coaching Inn, at the village of Great North Road (A1).
All four Blue Stilton producers are less than 30km (about 20 miles) away from Melton Mowbray. Melton Mowbray, of course, is the home of British Pork Pie – since it’s protected, only a Pork Pie from Melton Mowbray can be named a Pork Pie.
Climatically, the city has England’s typical temperate climate. While the climate is similar, its temperature is quite unusual: the average temperature, surprisingly, is only 9oC. It varies throughout the year, of course, with an average of 21oC through July and August.
It has an average low of the only 1oC through December and January. The wind direction is primarily south westerly – the wind brings weather systems from the North Pole and Atlantic.