Former name(s) | A46 |
---|---|
Part of | A5460 |
Length | 2.68 km (1.67 mi) |
Location | Leicester |
Postal code | LE3 |
Coordinates | 52°37′33″N1°09′05″W / 52.6259°N 1.1515°W |
south end | Braunstone Lane junction |
Major junctions | Upperton Road, Braunstone Gate |
north end | A47 King Richard's Road |
Other | |
Known for | Most diverse shopping street |
Narborough Road is a street in the British city of Leicester. A road since Roman times and one of the principal routes for Leicester to the M1 and M69 motorways, it is also a busy shopping street. In February 2016, it was named the UK's "most diverse" road in a research project by the London School of Economics (LSE).
Narborough Road is a 2.7 kilometres (1.7 mi)-long road on the west of Leicester. [1] It stretches from Braunstone Lane/Middleton Street in the south to King Richard's Road (A46) in the north, and runs through the Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields and the Westcotes electoral wards of Leicester. It is a section of the A5460 leading from the M1 motorway towards the city centre. [2] According to the 2015 Index of Multiple Deprivation, Narborough Road is located within areas that are among the 10–20% most deprived in England. [1]
Narborough Road follows the line of the Roman Fosse Way, the longest of Britain's Roman roads, linking Bath and the south-west to Lincoln and the east coast. [3] The route left the Roman (and Medieval) town via the West Bridge before heading south-west for some 270 kilometres (170 mi) to Exeter, and was the main route towards the nearby city of Coventry. However in 1769, when a Turnpike road was established by act of parliament, it chose to connect to the road already running from Hinckley to Coventry, and thus took a more northerley line, via the Hinckley Road. The Fosse Way route was also included in the same act, but only over the 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) to Narborough. [4] It would appear to be this that gave the name to the short stretch of toll-road serving local traffic through much of the 19th century.
By the 1870s the railways had established themselves as the main movers of goods traffic. This undermined the economics of the tollroads, and disturnpiking was in full swing across the country. The Turnpike act for the Narborough Road finally expired in November 1874, ending any responsibility for the upkeep of the road. [4] The turnpike had its northern end where it met Braunstone Gate and Hinckley Road. An early suburb for the city grew up around these three roads, west of the river, and by this period terraced housing was being built out from both sides of the Narborough Road. In 1835 the boundaries of the city had undergone a major expansion, so the town corporation became responsible for a one-mile length of the former turnpike, the town boundary being close to what would later become the junction with Evesham Road and Fullhurst Road, but at that time was still fields. [5]
In the mid-20th century, Narborough Road was closer to being a residential area; it then became a fashion street, with its retail units mainly selling clothes and fabrics. The opening of a number of restaurants and bars brought in students from the city's two universities, University of Leicester and De Montfort University. [6] As of December 2015 [update] , 204 of the 222 units along the street (92%) are non-residential. [1] [7]
In 2015, a research project titled "Super Diverse Streets", funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), was undertaken by the LSE. Led by urban ethnographer Suzanne Hall, the project sought to "explore how urban retail economies and spaces are shaped by and shape migrant practices". [8] Four streets were selected to be studied by the project: Rookery Road in Birmingham, Stapleton Road in Bristol, Cheetham Hill in Manchester, and Narborough Road. These four streets were selected for their ethnic diversity and their deprived urban locale. [8] After surveying a sample of shopkeepers from each of the four streets, the project concluded that Narborough Road's 108 surveyed proprietors came from a total of 22 countries of birth, over four continents. [1] [6] The street was thus named the most diverse in the UK. [9] [6]
The sampled shopkeepers observed that the ethnic make-up of the street had changed quickly. Tajinder Reehal, a Kenyan-born owner of an accessories shop, remarked: "I've seen the street change in the past 16 years. ... It's much more vibrant." Hairdresser Dipak Maru, also Kenyan-born, agreed, and felt that "in the last ten years [the road has] become lively and vibrant". [10] The researchers observed that, despite its high levels of economic deprivation, the high levels of diversity in the street had enabled business owners to trade skills with one another – for example, a Canadian couple who ran a book shop helped others with filling in forms in exchange for a free meal or a free haircut. [9] Speaking about the street's community, half-English, half-Polish music shop owner Lloyd Wright noted: "There's no tension. It's a very relaxed atmosphere." [11]
As a result of the conclusions of the project, in July 2016 the TV channel Channel 4 invited some of the shopkeepers of Narborough Road to provide voiceovers for announcements for their programmes. [12] A total of 21 residents and shopkeepers were invited to provide announcements, which took four days to record. [13] [14] These announcements were broadcast on Channel 4 during the week beginning 23 July. [14]
Leicester is a city, unitary authority area, unparished area and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a population of 373,399 in 2022. The greater Leicester urban area had a population of 559,017 in 2021, making it the 11th most populous in England, and the 13th most populous in the United Kingdom. A 2023 report ranked Leicester 16th out of the 50 largest UK cities on a range of economic measures, and the first of seven East Midlands cities.
Watling Street is a historic route in England that crosses the River Thames at London and which was used in Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity, and throughout the Middle Ages. It was used by the ancient Britons and paved as one of the main Roman roads in Britannia. The route linked Dover and London in the southeast, and continued northwest via St Albans to Wroxeter. The line of the road was later the southwestern border of the Danelaw with Wessex and Mercia, and Watling Street was numbered as one of the major highways of medieval England.
The Fosse Way was a Roman road built in Britain during the first and second centuries AD that linked Isca Dumnoniorum (Exeter) in the southwest and Lindum Colonia (Lincoln) to the northeast, via Lindinis (Ilchester), Aquae Sulis (Bath), Corinium (Cirencester), and Ratae Corieltauvorum (Leicester).
Blaby is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The district is named after the village of Blaby, although the council is based in Narborough. The district covers an area lying south-west of the city of Leicester. Several of the district's settlements form part of the wider Leicester Urban Area, including Glenfield, where Leicestershire County Council has its headquarters at County Hall, and the town of Braunstone.
Hinckley is a market town in south-west Leicestershire, England. It is administered by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council. Hinckley is the third largest settlement in the non-metropolitan county of Leicestershire, after Leicester and Loughborough. Hinckley is about halfway between Leicester and Coventry and borders Nuneaton in Warwickshire. Watling Street forms part of the Hinckley/Nuneaton border.
Leicester Forest East (LFE) is a large suburban village in Leicestershire, England, west of Leicester, straddling the M1 motorway. It is part of the Blaby district.
Narborough is a large village and civil parish in the Blaby district of Leicestershire, England, around six miles southwest of Leicester. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 8,498.
The Coventry Telegraph is a local English tabloid newspaper. It was founded as The Midland Daily Telegraph in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe, and was Coventry's first daily newspaper. Sold for half a penny, it was a four-page broadsheet newspaper. It changed its name to the Coventry Evening Telegraph on 17 November 1941. On 2 October 2006, the Telegraph simply became the Coventry Telegraph, reflecting its switch to a morning publication.
Leicester City Centre is Leicester's historical commercial, cultural and transport hub and is home to its central business district. Its inner core is roughly delineated by the A594, Leicester's inner ring road, although the various central campuses of the University of Leicester, De Monfort University and Leicester College are adjacent to the inner ring road and could be considered to be a continuation of the City centre. In a similar way, the Leicester Royal Infirmary precinct, the New Walk business district (Southfields), the Welford Road Stadium of Leicester Tigers' RUFC and the King Power Stadium of Leicester City to the south, and the Golden Mile to the north could also be deemed to be extensions to the central core.
Leicestershire Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the counties of Leicestershire and Rutland in England. Its headquarters are at Enderby, Leicestershire.
Braunstone is a town and civil parish in the district of Blaby in Leicestershire, England. At the 2011 census the population of the town was 16,850.
Enderby is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, on the southwest outskirts of the city of Leicester. The parish includes the neighbourhood of St John's, which is east of the village separated from it by the M1 motorway. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 6,314.
South Leicestershire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Alberto Costa, a member of the Conservative Party.
Westcotes is an area to the west of the city of Leicester. It is also a ward of the City of Leicester whose population at the 2011 census was 11,644. It is also known as the West End of Leicester. The area is quite small in comparison with other areas of the city, but it is well known as it has many shops, bars and restaurants and is a popular choice for students and young professionals.
Braunstone Park & Rowley Fields is an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. It comprises the western Leicester suburbs of Braunstone Frith, Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields.
The identification of Deserted Villages and Lost Places in Leicestershire owes much to the pioneering work of William George Hoskins during his time at the University of Leicester.
The Hinckley Times is a weekly paid-for tabloid newspaper which is distributed every Wednesday and mainly serves the area of Hinckley. The paper further serves the surrounding areas in Leicestershire, including Market Bosworth, Coalville and Lutterworth.
Suzanne Hall is Professor in the Department of Sociology at the London School of Economics and Political Science, where she directed the Cities Programme. Her work explores intersections of global migration and urban marginalisation. Hall formerly practised as an architect in South Africa focusing on public projects for the first democratically elected state. She has been recognised for her work in both fields, receiving the Philip Leverhulme Prize in Sociology in 2017, and the Rome Scholarship in Architecture Prize in 1998. Hall was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, in 1969.
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