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LEICESTERSHIRE DID YOU KNOW?

The Royal Connection

Bradgate House was once a magnificent Tudor Manson. Now it is a ruin. The house is situated in Bradgate Park, which was, in the 13th century, a hunting park. In 1445 the park was owned by Edward Grey whose son John married Elizabeth Woodville. John was killed at the Battle of St Albans in 1461 during the wars of the roses. His widow then married King Edward IV. One of her sons from her first marriage, Thomas, started to build a house in the park and after his death his son, Thomas also, finished the project in about 1520. This Thomas died in 1530 and his son Henry took over the house. His daughter Jane is believed to have been born at the house on 12 October 1537. Jane was also the great-grand-daughter of Henry VII.

In case you wondered where this was going, she was known as Lady Jane Grey and was also known as the nine day Queen. You can read more about this here. After Jane was executed it is said that workers in Bradgate Park cut off the trunks of several oak trees a few metres above the ground to symbolise the execution of the lady who was born at Bradgate House. That is one of those stories that may or may not be true but there are oaks in the park that show signs of this having happened. Just for your information, in conservation and tree management terms, this is known as pollarding.

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Leicestershire Eats

A pork pie is a hot-water crust pastry case filled with a mixture of chopped pork and pork fat surrounded by a layer of jellied pork. Simple statement there. However, the most famous pork pies are those made within a 10 mile radius of the town of Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire. In April 2008 an order by the European Union was made saying that only pies made within this area can carry the Melton Mowbray name.

Pork pies have been around since the middle ages. It is said the Melton Mowbray examples began in about 1831. Melton Mowbray pork pies are made with hand formed pastry and not cooked in cases which is why they have bowed sides. This also gives the pastry a golden brown colour. The crust is firm and that allowed farm workers to take them with them for lunch. The pork used is uncured and therefore quite grey in colour as a traditional Melton Mowbray pie can have no artificial colours, flavours and preservatives. The minimum percentage of meat required to be a true Melton Mowbray is 30% although many will have more than this.

The meat actually shrinks when the pie is cooked and Melton Mowbray Pork Pies have a jelly, made from gelatine or bonestock, added to fill the gaps and help preserve the meat. This also helps to keep the pie moist. There is a tradition in the East Midlands of eating pork pies for breakfast at Christmas. Back in the 19th century this time of year was the busiest for the Melton Mowbray bakers.

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Leicestershire VIPs

Seven random people who were born in Leicestershire in the last 100 years:-
Biddy Baxter (Editor Blue Peter for 23 years), the late Joe Orton (Playwright), Sue Townsend (Author, Creator of Adrian Mole), the late Graham Chapman (Comedian, Monty Python), Gok Wan (TV Presenter and Fashion Consultant), Gary Lineker (TV Presenter and ex Footballer) and John Deacon (Musician, Bass Guitarist with Queen).

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Richard Remembers

I think you may have guessed by now that this is yet another of those counties I have never stayed in although I can claim to have been there twice this year. My son runs a second-hand car business and he sometimes picks cars up from an auction in Shepshed in Leicester and I will drive him up so he can drive the car he has bought back. However, he's now bought a trailer so he can bring his own cars back and I can concentrate on things here.

As a child I liked looking at maps and finding out different place names. We used to drive through Much Hadham on our way to our holidays in Norfolk and that one amused me. Six Mile Bottom seemed on the large size although it is a very small village in Cambridgeshire and, possibly my favourite that I found was, Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire. It just sounds so good when you say it and that is my memory of Leicestershire.

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Owlbut's Birdwatch

The collared dove is really well named. It is a pale, pinky-brown grey colour but it has a black band around its neck. They have reddish feet and deep red eyes. Their beaks are medium length, black and thin. They can be found almost anywhere and will often appear in your gardens. They make a continuous cooing sound. They also like farmland. There are nearly a million breeding pairs in the country but, weirdly, they only arrived in the UK in the late 1950s, originally coming from the Middle East.

They are 32 cms long, have a wingspan of 51 cms and weigh 200 grams. They eat grains, buds and shoots, which explains why they like farms I guess.

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Two extra sections, "It Happened Here" and "Now That's Weird", will appear on 10 MMarch 2025