Lancashire, Leicestershire and Lincolnshire

During Roman times the area we now think of as Lancashire was considered to be part of the Brigantes tribal area and was in the military zone of Roman Britain.

The towns of Manchester, Lancaster, Ribchester, Burrow, Elslack and Castleshaw were all originally Roman forts.

In the centuries immediately following the departure of the Romans, (somewhere around 410 AD) the northern parts of the county probably formed part of the Brythonic Kingdom of Rheged, a successor entity of the Brigantes tribe of northern Britain.

During the mid 8th Century this area was incorporated into the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria which itself became a part of England in the 10th Century.

The county of Lancashire was established in 1182, later than many other counties. Once its initial boundaries were established, it bordered Cumberland, Westmorland, Yorkshire and Cheshire.  A county of historic origin in the North West of England, it takes its name from the city of Lancaster, and is still sometimes referred to as the County of Lancaster. And although Lancaster is still considered to be the county town, Lancashire County Council is based in Preston.

During the Industrial Revolution, Lancashire became a major commercial and industrial region, encompassing several hundred mill towns and collieries. By the 1830s, approximately 85% of all cotton manufactured worldwide was processed in Lancashire! Preston, Accrington, Blackburn, Bolton, Rochdale, Oldham, Chorley, Darwen, Nelson, Colne and Burnley were major cotton mill towns during this time. On the coast there was also fishing and, historically, the docks in Preston. The world renowned port of Liverpool is also located here while the town of Blackpool was, and still is, a major centre for tourism for the county.
Lancashire is also home to such culinary delights as the Lancashire Hot-pot! (I had promised myself NOT to mention tripe & onions, disgusting stuff, but it has just crept in on the right here!)

Leicestershire is a landlocked county in the English Midlands. It takes its name from the City of Leicester, traditionally its administrative centre. The county borders Derbyshire to the north-west, Nottinghamshire to the north, Rutland to the east, Warwickshire to the south-west, Staffordshire to the west, Lincolnshire to the north-east, and Northamptonshire to the south-east.

Leicestershire was recorded in the Domesday Book in four wapentakes: Guthlaxton, Framland, Goscote and Gartree. These later became hundreds, with the division of Goscote into West Goscote and East Goscote, and the addition of Sparkenhoe hundred.
In 1087, the first recorded use of the name was as Laegrecastrescir.

Leicestershire’s external boundaries have changed little since the Domesday Survey.
And then, in 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 abolished the county borough status of Leicester city and the county status of neighbouring Rutland, converting both to administrative districts of Leicestershire. These actions were reversed on 1 April 1997, when Rutland and the City of Leicester became unitary authorities. Rutland became a distinct Ceremonial County once again, although it continues to be policed by Leicestershire Constabulary.

The symbol of the county council, Leicestershire County Cricket Club and Leicester City FC, is the fox. Leicestershire is considered to be the birthplace of fox hunting as it is known today. (Or not, as the case may currently be!)

Hugo Meynell, who lived in Quorn (coincidentally Quorn is also the brand name of a ‘meat-free’ vegetarian product!) is known as the father of fox hunting. Melton Mowbray, home to that world famous English institution, the pork pie, and Market Harborough have long held associations with fox hunting, as has neighbouring Rutland.

Leicestershire also contributes Red Leicester & Blue Stilton cheeses to the counties culinary heriatage.

And unusually enough I have been unable to find any Leicestershire recipes in the archive!

Failed miserably in fact! But there is a recipe here for pork pie anyway!

Lincolnshire derived from the merging of the territory of the ancient Kingdom of Lindsey with that controlled by the Danelaw borough of Stamford. For some time the entire county was called “Lindsey”, and it is recorded as such in the Domesday Book.

Later, Lindsey was applied to the northern core, around Lincoln, and emerged as one of the three Parts of Lincolnshire, along with the Parts of Holland in the south-east and the Parts of Kesteven in the south-west, which each had separate Quarter Sessions as their county administrations. In 1888 when county councils were set up, Lindsey, Holland and Kesteven each received their own separate one.

These survived until 1974, when Holland, Kesteven, and most of Lindsey were unified into Lincolnshire.

Lincolnshire is situated in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the northwest, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north.
The county town is Lincoln, where the county council has its headquarters.

The county is the second largest of the English counties and is predominantly agricultural, though fishing is also a factor in its economy, being on the North Sea coast where the towns of Grimsby and Scunthorpe are situated.

The majority of tourism in Lincolnshire relies on the coastal resorts and towns which lie to the east of the Lincolnshire Wolds. The county is home to some of the most well known seaside resorts within the United Kingdom and is a major attraction to visitors from across England, especially the East Midlands and parts of Yorkshire.

There are three main coastal resorts within Lincolnshire along with a number of smaller village resorts, namely Skegness, Cleethorpes and Mablethorpe.

Lincolnshire has produced a number of notables including King Henry IV, John Wesley, (a founder of the methodist church) Alfred Lord Tennyson and more recently one Prime Minister : Margaret Thatcher!