Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
cells with waxworks of notorious local pickpockets. Host to a busy program of music,
theatre, comedy, and kids' events, the Guildhall is open Saturday to Wednesday 11am
to 4:30pm, Sunday 1 to 4:30pm, plus some school-holiday Thursdays and Fridays;
basic admission is free. Nearby
Leicester Cathedral,
21 St. Martin's Lane
(
&
0116/248-7400;
www.cathedral.leicester.anglican.org), also free (Mon-Sat
8am-6pm and Sun 7am-5pm), has unusual oak vaulting beneath its north porch.
From here it's a 10- to 15-minute walk south to the New Walk
Museum & Art Gal-
lery (see below).
A 15-minute walk north of the center brings you to
Abbey
Park
(
&
0116/252-
7000;
www.leicester.gov.uk) and the evocative remains of the richest Augustinian
monastery in England, built in 1132. It was at this abbey that, in 1530, Cardinal
Wolsey died, demoralized and broken after his conflicts with Henry VIII. The park,
open dawn to dusk, has a minirailway, pets' corner, boating lake, lavender maze, and
state-of-the-art playground, opened by local hero, soccer player Gary Lineker.
Next up (accessible by bus no. 54 from the center) is the
National Space Centre
(see below) and, continuing the scientific theme next door, the
Abbey Pumping
Station
,
Leicester's Museum of Science and Technology
, Corporation Road
(
&
0116/299-5111;
www.leicester.gov.uk), is an imposing red-brick Victorian sew-
age pumping station with displays on light and optics, historic transport, and public
health, plus restored pump engines in action on Steam Days. Admission is free,
except for special events, and it's open daily February to October 11am to 4:30pm.
West Leicestershire is distinguished by its being home to the
Bosworth Battle-
field Heritage Centre and Country Park
(see below), while north of Leicester,
at Loughborough, the
Great Central Railway
(
&
01509/230726;
www.
gcrailway.co.uk) is not only the U.K.'s only double-track mainline heritage railway but
the only place in the world where full-size steam engines can be seen passing each
other. Trains run weekends and bank holidays, and daily in summer; special events
includes a Drive a Train Experience for kids and Santa trains. You can also dine
aboard (in First Class). Prices vary by event; an All Line Day Runabout on non-event
days is £14 for adults, £9 children 5 to 15. East of Loughborough is
Melton Mow-
bray,
which has a reputation as a foodie hub (p. 558), plus a small theme-park,
Twin
Lakes
(
&
01664/567777;
www.twinlakespark.co.uk). Carry on 14 miles northeast
to reach
Belvoir Castle
on Leicestershire's northern border with Lincolnshire.
Belvoir Castle
CASTLE This seat of the dukes of Rutland since the
time of Henry VII, rebuilt by Wyatt in 1816, contains paintings by Holbein, Reynolds,
and Gainsborough, as well as tapestries in its staterooms. The location for the movies
Little Lord Fauntleroy
and
Young Sherlock Holmes,
it hosts
medieval jousting tourna-
ments in summer, plus, on selected weekends, “historical cameos” performed by its
costumed guides about local events such as the trial of the Belvoir Witches. For kids
there's a quiz and treasure trail, an Old Nursery and School Room where they can
play as children did in Regency times, plus gardens and woodlands.
Belvoir, 36 miles northeast of Leicester.
&
01476/871002.
www.belvoircastle.com. Admission castle
and gardens £12, £7 children 5-16. May-Aug Mon and Sun; gardens open 11am-5pm, castle open for
guided tours at 11:15am, 1:15, and 3:15pm.
Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre & Country Park
HISTORIC
SITE This site commemorates the 1485 battle that ended one of England's most
important conflicts, the War of the Roses between the houses of York and Lancaster.
When the fighting subsided, King Richard III, last of the Yorkists, lay dead, and
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