ASHBY-DE-LA-ZOUCH

'Ashby-de-la-Zouch' is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England.
Sometimes referred to in short as ''"Ashby"'', the town lies within the National Forest, and has a population of 12,758. The associated adjective is "Ashbeian".

Contents

History

Governance

Geography

Economy

Landmarks

Transport

Culture

Pubs and nightlife

Ashby Arts Festival

Notable people

References

History

"Ashby" is a word of Anglo-Danish origins, meaning "town of the ash [tree]". The Norman French addition dates from the years after the Norman conquest of England, when the town was given to the Zouche family in the reign of Henry II.
It has a historic 15th century castle. The castle area was the setting for ''Ivanhoe'' by Sir Walter Scott. A local high school is named after the book (Ivanhoe College, for 11 to 14-year-olds). The local upper school, Ashby School, previously Ashby Grammar School, is a mixed comprehensive school for 14 to 18-year-olds and has its roots in the 16th century. In 1464 the town and castle came into the possession of the Hastings family. Later the town was one of the Royalists' "chief garrisons" under the control of Colonel Henry Hastings, Earl of Huntingdon and commander of the North Midlands Army. When the town fell after a long siege in March, 1646 it was counted a great relief to the surrounding towns and villages.
★ [1]

The parish church, St Helens, houses a rare 300 year-old finger pillory, which may have been used to punish people misbehaving in church.
Many of the buildings in Market Street, the town's main thoroughfare, have timber framing, but most of this is hidden by later brick facades.
The "Bull's Head" pub retains the original Elizabethan half-timbering. There are also Regency buildings in this street.
Bath Street has a row of Classical-style houses dating from the time that the town was a spa.
Dolly Shepherd, 1887-1983, the famous Victorian aviatrix, made her return to parachuting from balloons in a display at Ashby, after recovering from a potentially fatal accident.

Governance

Prior to 1974, Ashby-de-la-Zouch formed its own local government district - Ashby-de-la-Zouch Rural District - within in the administrative county boundaries of Leicestershire. Since 1974, it has formed part of the North West Leicestershire local government district.

Geography

Ashby-de-la-Zouch is located at (52.7667, -1.4667)¹. An old popular song entitled ''Ashby-de-la-Zouch By The Sea'' plays on the fact that Ashby is in central England.
In recent years the town has been one of the fastest growing in the Midlands, and the historic centre is now surrounded by executive housing.

Economy

By far the largest employer in the town is United Biscuits, which provides about 2000 jobs. One of its production plants closed in 2004 with loss of 900 of these posts.
Other employers in Ashby include Standard Soap, Tesco, Calder Colours (paint) and Ashfield Healthcare. There is also a concentration of high-tech employers. Ashby was home to the video game software house Ashby Computer Graphics, also known as Ultimate Play The Game, now called Rare. They have since moved to a custom build house at Manor Park, just down the road from Twycross.

Landmarks

★ Willesley Park Golf Course is set in rolling countryside, partly in parkland and partly on heathland. The course was opened for play in April 1921. The first hole is played along an avenue of lime trees which once flanked the old coach road from the old Norman castle in the town to the now demolished Willesley Hall.

★ Nearby villages include Donisthorpe, Oakthorpe, Measham, Coleorton, Coalville, and Moira.

Transport

The Midland Railway reached Ashby in 1845, placing the town on an important route between Leicester and Burton upon Trent. In the 20th century the passenger train service through Ashby was withdrawn. The Leicester - Burton railway continues to run through the town, but now it carries only freight. In the 1990s there was an unsuccessful plan to restore passenger services as a branch of Leicestershire's Ivanhoe Line; however, it remains within Leicestershire County Council's Structure Plan as a project awaiting funding.
Formerly, both the A50 Leicester to Stoke-on-Trent road and the A453 Birmingham to Nottingham road passed through the town centre. The heavy traffic which previously travelled through the town has been substantially relieved by the A42 and A511 bypasses, which replaced the A453 and A50 respectively.
The nearest railway station is in Burton upon Trent, over 12.8 km (eight miles) away. Leicester railway station also provides an efficient 1hr 10 minute Midland Mainline high speed rail link to the London terminus station at St Pancras which will become the home of international Eurostar trains in November 2007. Calls have been made for the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line to be opened as part of the Ivanhoe Line.
East Midlands Airport is 14.5 km (9 miles) north of Ashby (approx. 12 mins drive) and provides flight connections in the UK and Europe.
Frequent bus routes provide a direct service to Leicester and Burton-upon-Trent (Arriva X2 & 8) and the National Express Coach Network links to Leicester for intercity connections and a daily direct service to London.

Culture

Pubs and nightlife

There are several pubs in Ashby including Zeus Bar, The Bull's Head, The Lamb, and The White Hart.

Ashby Arts Festival

Every August, Ashby holds an arts festival sponsored by the district council [2]. This features local artists, musicians, song writers, poets, performers and story tellers. The multiple sites around the town host exhibitions, musical performances, workshops and talks, and the town centre is decorated with flags and an outdoor gallery.

Notable people

★ Alastair Yates, a presenter on BBC News 24 and BBC World went to Manor House School, Ashby and his farming family still live in the town. He was at BBC Radio Leicester in the mid-1970s.

★ Formula One driver Roger Williamson was born in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

★ The Young Knives formed in Ashby-de-la-Zouch.

★ Russell Hoult a footballer was born in Ashby de la Zouch, and still lives locally now, in Coleorton

★ Adrian Mole, a fictional character who wrote diaries including ''The growing pains of Adrian Mole'' and ''The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole aged 13 3/4'' (written by Sue Townsend). Adrian moves from Leicester to Ashby-de-la-Zouch during his lifetime. His girlfriend Pandora Braithwaite later becomes MP for the town.

References

★ A comprehensive guide to Ashby de la Zouch

★ Ashby Radio, the town's new Radio Station (on trial from 3-30th March) for Ashby de la Zouch and the surrounding areas

★ Information about Ashby-de-la-Zouch

★ Ashby Churches

★ Ashby Hastings Cricket Club

★ Henry Hastings and the Siege of Ashby

★ Local community site for Ashby de la Zouch.

★ Ashby Arts Festival