Rushey Mead | |
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Location within Leicestershire | |
Population | 15,962 (2011) |
Unitary authority | |
Ceremonial county | |
Region | |
Country | England |
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Post town | LEICESTER |
Postcode district | LE4 |
Dialling code | 0116 |
Police | Leicestershire |
Fire | Leicestershire |
Ambulance | East Midlands |
UK Parliament | |
Rushey Mead is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 15,962. [1] It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as a part of the neighbouring area, suburb and electoral ward of Belgrave and historical parts of neighbouring Northfields and Thurmaston.
Rushey Mead is bounded by the wards and areas of Belgrave to the south and west and Humberstone & Hamilton and Northfields to the east and south-east on the other side of the Midland Main Line. [2] North and north-west of Rushey Mead are the Leicestershire villages of Thurmaston and Birstall at the Leicestershire county border and in the Borough of Charnwood at the start of the Leicester Urban Area in that direction.
Rushey Mead was originally a part of the Thurmaston civil parish during the 19th century. The modern day suburb was split from Thurmaston and gazetted as a "Thurmaston Urban District" in 1894, before being annexed to the City of Leicester in 1935, when it was renamed Rushey Mead.
Jesse Jackson, the American politician who was twice a Democratic Party candidate for nomination in elections to be President of the United States visited Rushey Mead on 5 December 2015 to open a park named in his honour. [3]
The GE Thorn Lighting Factory on Melton Road opened in 1946 producing light bulbs. GE, one of the world's biggest companies, took over the Thorn Lighting company in 1991.
Further details concerning the history of the lamp factory on Melton Road, Rushey Mead, Leicester
In 1946 British Thomson-Houston (BTH) opened what was then called the Mazda Lamps Factory on Melton Road, Leicester, producing electric lamps of many kinds [4] . BTH had licensed the 'Mazda' brand name from General Electric of USA (GE). In 1964 the lamp factory was renamed as Thorn Lighting after the merger of Thorn Lighting with AEI.
In 1928 BTH was amalgamated with its rival, the Metropolitan-Vickers company, to form Associated Electrical Industries (AEI). The two companies' brand identities were maintained until the 1960's until, soon after 1967, the holding company, AEI, was taken over by one of the UK's biggest companies, the General Electric Company (GEC), which is distinct from — and should never be confused with — the giant US company General Electric (GE).
At Christmas time, for many years, there had been a public Christmas Lights Display on the site of the lamp factory.
The site of the former Thorn Lighting factory is now occupied by a Sainsbury’s Supermarket. There is now a large metallic tree built opposite the former site on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way called The World Tree, there being a map of the world on the base of the tree. This was built in honour of the former factory.
Like neighbouring Belgrave, Rushey Mead has a large Asian population.
The population of Rushey Mead was 15,962 and was made up of approximately 51% females and 49% males.
The average age of people in Rushey Mead is 39, while the median age is lower at 38.
53.9% of people living in Rushey Mead were born in England. Other top answers for country of birth were 18.7% India, 6.6% Kenya, 1.7% Sri Lanka, 1.2% Africa not otherwise specified, 1.0% Pakistan, 0.5% Ireland, 0.4% Zimbabwe, 0.4% Scotland, 0.3% Somalia.
61.0% of people living in Rushey Mead speak English. The other top languages spoken are 23.6% Gujarati, 5.5% Punjabi, 1.8% Tamil, 1.3% Polish, 0.9% Urdu, 0.9% Slovak, 0.9% South Asian Language, 0.5% Portuguese, 0.4% Hindi.
The religious make up of Rushey Mead is 43.1% Hindu, 21.7% Christian, 10.5% Muslim, 9.8% Sikh, 9.2% No religion, 0.3% Buddhist, 0.1% Jewish. 668 people did not state a religion. 18 people identified as Jedi knights and 2 people said they believe in Heavy Metal.
54.2% of people are married, 5.4% cohabit with a member of the opposite sex, 0.4% live with a partner of the same sex, 24.5% are single and have never married or been in a registered same sex partnership, 6.0% are separated or divorced. There are 552 widowed people living in Rushey Mead.
The top occupations listed by people in Rushey Mead are Process, plant and machine operatives 15.0%, Administrative and secretarial 13.6%, Elementary 13.3%, Sales and customer service 12.2%, Administrative 11.3%, Process, plant and machine operatives 10.9%, Professional 10.6%, Skilled trades 10.0%, Elementary administration and service 9.5%, Sales 9.4%.
Primary schools: Wyvern Primary, Herrick Primary, Sandfield Primary and Rushey Mead Primary.
Secondary schools: Rushey Mead Academy, which is the best state-funded secondary school in Leicester and Leicestershire [5] and Soar Valley College.
Located in Rushey Mead, on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way, is a 5m high steel tree sculpture with bronze light bulbs on the branches. It stands opposite the former site of the GE-Thorn Lighting factory, which a Sainsbury's supermarket now occupies. It cost £62,000 and was paid for by Sainsbury's. It was unveiled on the 4th of March 2016 by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in the attendance of Mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby and Leicester East MP Keith Vaz. [6] [7]
The River Soar runs along the west of Rushey Mead and up to Watermead Country Park.
The electoral ward of Rushey Mead contains parts of the neighbouring area and suburb of Belgrave meaning that despite the actual geographical location that specific area may also be classed as being in Rushey Mead by virtue of the electoral ward mapping.
There is a large Sainsbury’s supermarket on Melton Road including a garage and café.
First Leicester service 4 serves Rushey Mead on Glenagles Avenue and Trevino Drive and Arriva Midlands services 5, 5A and 6 all serve Rushey Mead along the A607.
All bus services operate along the Golden Mile from and into Leicester City Centre.
The nearest bus stations, both in Leicester City Centre are the Haymarket and St Margaret's.
The nearest train stations are Leicester railway station and Syston railway station.
The Midland Main Line runs along at the east of Rushey Mead.
The nearest airport is East Midlands Airport, located in Leicestershire and 19.8 miles (31.9 km) away from Rushey Mead.
Rushey Mead is located within the Leicester East parliament constituency, a seat held by the Labour Party consistently since 1987 albeit with a significantly reduced majority in the 2019 United Kingdom general election, though reflecting a widespread national trend for the Labour Party in that particular election.
The electoral ward of Rushey Mead includes parts of the neighbouring suburb and Leicester area of Belgrave.
Rushey Mead is represented on Leicester City Council by Labour Councillors Ross Willmott, a former leader of the city council and the Labour Party candidate for Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Piara Singh Clair MBE, the deputy city mayor and cabinet member for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services and Rita Patel, the assistant city mayor and cabinet member for Equalities and Special Projects and founder of the Peepul Centre, located in the neighbouring area of Belgrave and close to Leicester City Centre.
Rushey Mead was represented within the East Midlands parliamentary constituency in the European Parliament.
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rita Patel | 4,118 | |||
Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 3,786 | |||
Labour | Ross Willmott | 3,320 | |||
Conservative | Geeta Mahesh Karavadra | 1166 | |||
Conservative | Sudhir Odedra | 998 | |||
Conservative | Heten Tejura | 883 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 556 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Pravin Dave | 554 | |||
Green | Anne Louise Scott | 451 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout |
Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | Rita Patel | 4,597 | |||
Labour | Piara Singh Clair | 4,584 | |||
Labour | Ross Willmott | 4,390 | |||
Conservative | Hemubhai Chandarana | 1797 | |||
Conservative | Rashmi Vyas | 1702 | |||
Conservative | Sarban Singh | 1389 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Hash Chandarana | 586 | |||
Green | Nimit Jethwa | 513 | |||
UKIP | Keith Agius | 472 | |||
UKIP | Adam Barker | 399 | |||
UKIP | Kyle Perkins | 353 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Nitesh Dave | 327 | |||
Liberal Democrats | Jaswinder Kaur | 305 | |||
LICC | Leila Khamis | 117 | |||
Majority | |||||
Turnout | 66.4 | ||||
Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Highfield Rangers F.C. is based in Rushey Mead. They are currently members of the Leicestershire Senior League Division One.
Actresses Parminder Nagra and Rakhee Thakrar went to Soar Valley College within Rushey Mead.
Leicester is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England.
The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire and Rutland. The region has an area of 15,627 km2 (6,034 sq mi), with a population over 4.5 million in 2011. The most populous settlements in the region are Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Mansfield, Northampton and Nottingham. Other notable settlements include Boston, Buxton, Chesterfield, Corby, Gainsborough, Glossop, Grantham, Hinckley, Kettering, Loughborough, Louth, Mansfield, Market Harborough, Matlock, Newark-on-Trent, Oakham, Skegness, Wellingborough and Worksop.
Leicestershire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the East Midlands, England. The county borders Nottinghamshire to the north, Lincolnshire to the north-east, Rutland to the east, Northamptonshire to the south-east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west, and Derbyshire to the north-west. The border with most of Warwickshire is Watling Street, the modern A5 road.
Thorn Lighting Ltd, a subsidiary of the Austrian company Zumtobel Group, is a global supplier of both outdoor and indoor luminaires and integrated controls.
British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were known primarily for their electrical systems and steam turbines.
Belgrave is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. Belgrave is the location of and known for the National Space Centre, Space Park Leicester, the Golden Mile and Belgrave Hall.
Thurmaston is a village and civil parish in Leicestershire, England, located within the Borough of Charnwood. At the 2011 census, it had a population of 9,668.
Rutland and Melton is a county constituency spanning Leicestershire and Rutland, represented in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom since 2019 by Alicia Kearns, a Conservative. It elects one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first-past-the-post system of election.
The Thomson-Houston Electric Company was a manufacturing company which was one of the precursors of the General Electric company.
Charnwood is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2015 by Edward Argar, a Conservative.
Leicester East is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since December 2019 by Claudia Webbe, who was elected as a Labour MP, but now sits as an Independent due to her suspension and subsequent expulsion from the party in November 2021 after she was convicted of harassment.
North Evington is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England.
The Watermead Country Park is a network of artificial lakes in the valley of the River Soar and the old Grand Union Canal, in and to the north of Leicester and in and to the south of the Borough of Charnwood in Leicestershire. The southern part of the park, which includes the Hill and the Mammoth is located in Rushey Mead. It runs north to south along the path of the watercourses, with Birstall to the west and Thurmaston to the east. The parks provide bird watching, fishing and watersports facilities, and are managed by a partnership of Leicestershire County Council, Leicester City Council and Charnwood Borough Council.
Leicester is a unitary authority in Leicestershire, England. Until 1 April 1997 it was a non-metropolitan district. Since 2011 it has also had a directly elected mayor.
The A607 is an A road in England that starts in Belgrave, Leicester and heads northeastwards through Leicestershire and the town of Grantham, Lincolnshire, terminating at Bracebridge Heath, a village on the outskirts of Lincoln. It is a primary route from Thurmaston to the A1 junction at Grantham.
The Great Northern and London and North Western Joint Railway was a British railway line, almost entirely within Leicestershire. Authorised by the same Act of Parliament, the Great Northern Railway Leicester Branch was built, branching from the Joint Line; on the same basis the Newark to Bottesford Line was built. The lines opened progressively between 1879 and 1883. The dominant traffic was iron ore, and the agricultural produce of the area served also generated considerable business. The passenger usage was never considerable, although some unusual through services were attempted at first.
Humberstone and Hamilton is an electoral ward and administrative division of the City of Leicester, England. It comprises the north-eastern Leicester suburbs of Humberstone, Humberstone Garden City, Hamilton and Netherhall.
Charnwood was an electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 13,291. It comprised the northern Leicester suburb of Northfields and its Tailby and Morton ex-council estates. Northfields has had a bad reputation for criminal activities. Despite being only 3 small estates it was responsible for 30% of the crime rate within the Leicester area. In response The Northfields Project was set upin order to help to combat crime and make Northfields a safer place to live. The scheme improved areas such as security fencing, lighting and public recreational spaces.
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