Market Harborough Totally Explained

Everything about Market Harborough totally explained

Market Harborough is a market town in Leicestershire, England. It has a population of 20,785 (2001 census), and is the administrative headquarters of the Harborough district.

Geography

Market Harborough is located in a rural part of south Leicestershire, upon the River Welland. It is very close to the Northamptonshire border. The town is roughly 15 miles (24 km) south of Leicester and 10 miles north of Kettering. The town is near the A14 main road and Market Harborough railway station is served, by the Midland Main Line railway. There is also a branch of the Grand Union Canal which terminates on the north side of the town. Nearby to the town are the famous Foxton Locks.

Politics

The MP for the town and district is Edward Garnier. It is currently an unparished area in the Harborough district, with no town council of its own. It is the third least populated town of this sort.

Places of interest

Foxton Locks

Not directly in the town is Foxton Locks. Foxton Locks are ten canal locks consisting of two "staircases" each of five locks, located on the Leicester line of the Grand Union Canal about 3 miles west of Market Harborough, and are named after the nearby village of Foxton in which can be found one of a very few remaining road 'swing bridges' over the canal.

The Old School

One of the town's most notable features is an unusual grammar school located in the town centre which stands on wooden stilts. This construction was due to the regular flood risk to the town, allayed only in recent years by major engineering works to the towns water system. The underside of the Grammar School was once used as a market. Market Harborough Grammar School was founded in 1607 by Robert Smyth, a poor native of the town who became Comptroller of the City of London's Chamber and member of the Merchant Taylors' Company. The school has since moved sites and now the Robert Smyth School caters for 14-18 year olds. The school badge is the arms of the City of London.

St Dionysius Church

The Church of England parish church is dedicated to Saint Dionysius, and is of a broach spire construction. It dates back to the 14th century but has been added to since.

Harborough Museum

Situated in part of what was once the old Symington's Corset Factory, the Museum shares the building with the Council offices and the Library. Since opening in 1983 the Museum has continued to collect and display objects of local interest including local Roman era archaeological finds. It is open to the public most days of the year and is free to visit.

St. Mary's Place

In 1993 the former cattle market, bus station, indoor market and several properties adjacent to the old post office & The Peacock Hotel were re-developed to form a new shopping centre called St. Mary's Place. Consisting of 26 retail units, and a new indoor market hall, it also heralded the arrival of the Sainsbury's store to the town. The original 'Settling Rooms' from the cattle market were listed as a building to preserve, and still stand as a point of interest in the centre of the Sainsbury's car park. This pedestrian friendly shopping site straddles the River Welland, joined by one large suspension style bridge, and two further smaller footbridges. It hosts the Post Office (combined with Mercury News newsagents), Boots the Chemist, Wilkinson (shop) & Argos (retailer) amongst its well balanced mix of stores. The Peacock pub still stands by the main entrance to St. Mary's Place, and continues to offer weary travellers a comforting drink and a bite to eat, as it has since the 1600s. Other attractions within the centre are the newly introduced Costa Coffee bar, Thomas Cook Group travel agents and bureau de change, Walkers Books c/w Thorntons Chocolates, Greggs the bakers, Clarks Shoes (C&J Clark), Card Factory, & Card Fair, KFC, Bon Marche fashions, now owned by Peacocks (retailer), Partners (The Stationer), Toni & Guy hair salon, Specsavers & Vision Express opticians, First Choice (travel firm) & Co-op Travel, the O2 mobile phone shop, Julian Graves for nuts & preserves, Harwayes lingerie, Rosebys for linens, and Shoe Doctor for shoe repairs and Key cutting. The Flower Shop offers fruit and vegetables, cut flowers, and floral tributes. St.Mary's Place affords shopping at a leisurely pace, and a pleasant riverside walk.

Other places

The town also has the shortest street in Europe, called Little Street, between the Red Cow public house and the old Town Hall.

Sport and leisure

Market Harborough Cricket Club has two cricket teams - Market Harborough Cricket Club, and Harborough South Cricket Club - the former playing in the Leicestershire Premier Cricket League.
   Market Harborough Football Club has two football (soccer) teams. There are three youth set ups too - Harborough Juniors, Harborough Minis and Borough Alliance.
   There is also Market Harborough Rugby Club, located near the leisure centre which was until recently known as Kibworth Rugby union Club.
   Also, Market Harborough leisure centre boasts a swimming pool, gym, sauna, steam room and cafe which is open to members and non-members.
   The town has two skateparks: one in Little Bowden and one in the grounds of the youth centre on Farndon road.
   The town once had a cinema known as The Ritz from 1939 till 1978, which is currently closed although there's a local campaign to have it re-opened (www.harboroughcinema.com) and run as a cinema for the benefit of the community again.
   The town has one nightclub called Enigma

which notoriously monopolizes the club scene.

Transport

Market Harborough station is on the Midland Mainline and is served and operated by East Midlands Trains. London St Pancras International is approximately 1hr 10 minutes away to the south, while northbound trains operate to Nottingham, Sheffield, Leeds and York. Leicester which is 15 minutes away offers connections to the east and west of England.
November 2007 saw the completion of St Pancras International station with the start of Eurostar services to the continent giving a much wider range of destinations for business and leisure passengers.

Media

HFM was formed in November 1994 with the aim to provide a local FM radio station for Market Harborough and South Leicestershire areas, as it was felt the established independent local stations and the local BBC stations failed to cater for the population of South Leicestershire. OFCOM awarded the station its fulltime licence on 15 July 2005, meaning it could broadcast 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The station is run by a mixture of freelance presenters and local residents who are trained up by station staff. John Fitzpatrick came up with the idea of a local radio station for Market Harborough; Fitzpatrick died in November 2002, aged 47. The station currently broadcasts on 102.3 FM.
The Harborough Mail is the local newspaper, which is published on Thursday each week.

Further Information

Get more info on 'Market Harborough'.

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