Blaby

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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, although some records indicate origin of the village's name was from the first vicar, these can be found in the Blaby Library.

While there are few buildings of outstanding historical or architectural interest, old Blaby is a conservation area, it 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). The other Public houses to be found in Blaby are The George, The Bulls Head, The Queen, The Black Horse and The Tom Thumb.

To the South of the Bakers Arms stands Bouskell Park - a park with a 19th Century ice house and free car parking.

There are to further park areas these are Northfield Park used for football, cricket, fetes and fairs.

The other Park is off Hospital Lane. Again this is used for football and has some play equipment.

With most shops and amenities standing on the old 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.

The shops that can be found in Blaby are a Post Office, Waitrose, Aldi , a couple of hairdressers, Butchers, Hardware Shop, 3 Travel agents, 4 Newsagents, 3 Restaurants, Petrol Station, 3 Off Licences, Car Spares shop, 2 Bookies, 3 Charity Shops, 3 Banks, 2 Building Societies, 6 Estate Agents, 2 Chinese Takeaways, Fish and Chip Shop, 2 Chemists, 2 bakers, Taxi company 2 Opticians, Police Station, Printers and General electric shop, Dentist, Pet Shop, Service Shop and a funeral parlour.

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 Member of Parliament 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]