Leicestershire

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire. The county borders onto Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Rutland, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire.

The River Soar rises to the east of Hinckley, in the far south of the county, and flows northward through Leicester before emptying into the River Trent at the point where Derbyshire, Leicestershire, and Nottinghamshire meet. A large part of the northwest of the county, around Coalville, forms part of the new National Forest area extending into Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

As part of a 2002 marketing campaign, the plant conservation charity Plantlife chose the Foxglove as the county flower.

Pennbury
Shortlisted location for an Eco town. 12-15,000 homes on a development incorporating brownfield, greenfield and surplus public sector land. Four miles south east of Leicester. This proposal could include 4,000 new affordable houses in an area of high affordability pressure. Pennbury, Leicestershire on Wikipedia

Farmers' markets
A list of FARMA certified Farmers Markets in Leicestershire is here.

Food UK
A list of smaller country markets, supported by members of the Women's Institute, is here. Leicester Market is the largest outdoor covered marketplace in Europe and among the products on sale are fruit and vegetables sold by enthusiastic market stallholders who shout out their prices, and fresh fish and meat in the Indoor Market.

The annual East Midlands Food & Drink Festival held in Melton Mowbray had over 200 exhibitors and 20,000 visitors attending in 2007 making it the largest British regional food festival.

Leicestershire food links, set up by the Soil Association and Leicestershire County Council, provides information for and about Leicestershire farmers and food producers. It is currently running projects aimed at publicising farmers markets, using local food in schools, and improving distribution.