Blaby

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blaby is a village in central Leicestershire, England, some five miles south of Leicester city centre and with a population of around 6,240 (2001 figures).

Its name probably came Old Norse Blábýr = "farmstead or village belonging to a man named Blár". The -r is a case ending. There seems to have been a dense patch of Viking settlement in Leicestershire.

While there are few buildings of outstanding historical or architectural interest, old Blaby contains some ancient and picturesque dwellings and has a charming 'olde worlde' feel. Old Blaby also contains The Baker's Arms, a thatched public house that dates back to 1485 and is thus the second oldest pub in Britain (after Ye Olde Trip To Jerusalem in Nottingham).

Otherwise 'new' Blaby is less a village than a suburb of Greater Leicester, with most shops and amenitites standing on the A426 between Leicester to the north and Lutterworth to the south. Fosse Park shopping centre and the M1 and M69 motorways are just a few miles away.

It gives its name to the Blaby district and also to the Parliamentary constituency that was held by former Chancellor of the Exchequer Nigel Lawson between 1974 and 1992. Since 1992 its MP has been Andrew Robathan.

The Blaby Special heirloom tomato variety originates from the Shoults' Tomato Farm, which was located in Blaby from circa 1908 until the 1950s. [1]