5th August

Leicestershire

East Midlands

42mins from Rockingham

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We drove to Leicester which took 41mins approx from Rockingham.

Leicester is one of the oldest cities in England and lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest. The early Roman settlement here was called “Ratae Corieltauvorum” and there are still evidence of roman baths and pavements. Leicester was originally a market town which we saw was still happening today even during the week in the main square.

Old antique man selling antiques at the markets
Elton taking photos of the market square
Leicester Cathedral, or the Cathedral Church of St Martin – there has been recorded that there has been a church here since 1086 – this cathedral is of Norman Architecture
Just outside the Jewry wall outside st Nicholas’ Church – Jewry wall is were the remains of a roman bath are, it is nearly 2000 years old!
Leicester lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest

We took some photos, bought the postcards (which Elton did with magic! He ran around somewhere while Jazz waited in the car and VOILA! he comes back with 2 postcards!) and walked across the city center.

There were cute stalls and antique shops at Leicester Market and we wandered around these stalls before heading to Leicester Cathedral. After the Cathedral, we accidently stumbled upon the ruins of Jewry Wall which were next to a very old Church, The Jewry Wall is the remaining wall of the public baths of Roman Leicester and is nearly 2,000 years old! We consulted the map and walked towards “Leicester Castle Park” expecting to see an amazing castle but all that we found was a lump of dirt covered with grass and a stick… I mean… a totem pole which was placed in the area where the castle once stood, I think we were both annoyed because we were hoping for a “real” castle! there were so many people in Leicester and the main shopping street was full!

From <http://jazzventures.blogspot.com/2009/08/uk-roadtrip-day-1-leicester.html>