East Midlands

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the region. For the airport, see East Midlands Airport. For the European constituency, see East Midlands (European Parliament constituency).
East Midlands
East Midlands
East Midlands region shown within England
Geography
Status Region
Area
— Total		 Ranked 4th
15,627 km²
6,033 sq mi
NUTS 1 UKF
Demographics
Population
— Total
— Density		 Ranked 8th
4,172,179 (2001)
267/km²
GDP per capita £15,097 (6th)
Government
HQ Melton Mowbray[1]
Assembly
— Type		 East Midlands
not directly elected
Regional development EMDA
European parliament East Midlands
Website

The East Midlands is one of the regions of England and consists of most of the eastern half of the traditional region of the Midlands. It encompasses the combined area of Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Rutland, Northampton­shire, Nottingham­shire and most of Lincolnshire, although people often speak of the "East Midlands" with only Derbyshire, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire in mind. The point where the three counties meet is known as Trent Lock.

The highest point in the region is Kinder Scout, in the Derbyshire Peak District at 2,088 ft (636 m). A looser definition of the East Midlands would include the City of Peterborough and Burton upon Trent in Staffordshire.

Financial funding decisions for the East Midlands (usually public construction schemes) are taken at the East Midlands Regional Assembly, based in Melton Mowbray. It is not an elected chamber, but a quango.

Contents

[edit] Population and settlement

See also: East Midlands English

Its main settlements are Nottingham, Leicester, Lincoln, Derby, Northampton, Mansfield and Chesterfield. Leicester is officially the largest city in the region, although the largest conurbation is the Nottingham Urban Area. Links with and relations between the three cities is good; there have been Government proposals to call the three cities and the local area in between (which includes Loughborough) the "Greater Nottingham" area.[citation needed] This plan was proposed by Ruth Kelly and was fiercely opposed, particularly by people from Derby and Leicester.

[edit] Transport links

[edit] Road

The M1 motorway also serves the three largest conurbations. In the east, the A1 is an important, often overcrowded route for the east coast ports and is important for supplying much of the UK's agricultural production. The A46 since Roman times provided a connection between the south west and north east of the region, although around Newark, it has difficulty coping with capacity. East-west routes by road in the region are essentially single-carriageway roads, with only the dual-carriageway A14 skirting the northern part of Northamptonshire.

[edit] Airports

East Midlands Airport in North West Leicestershire is situated between the three main cities of Derby, Leicester and Nottingham.

[edit] Railway

Two of the north-south mainline railways serve the region, The Midland Main Line (operated by East Midlands Trains) in the west and the East Coast Mainline (operated by NXEC) in the east. Both companies operate high-speed trains to London. The main south west-north east Cross Country Route (MR) (operated by Arriva plc) run through Birmingham and Derby. East-west routes are provided by the Nottingham - Skegness, Liverpool - Norwich (through Nottingham), and Birmingham - Stansted Airport (through Leicester) routes; these last two routes are the essentially the only east-west routes in the section of England between Sheffield and London, both routes meeting at Peterborough.

[edit] History

A historical basis for such an area exists in the territory of the Corieltauvi tribe. When the Romans took control of the region, they made Leicester its capital, then named Ratae Corieltauvorum. The region also corresponds to the later Five Burghs of the Danelaw. The current government office region was created in 1994.

[edit] Local government

The official region consists of the following subdivisions:

Map Ceremonial county Shire county
/unitary		 Districts
Image:EnglandEastMidlandsNumbered.png Derbyshire 1. Derbyshire a.) High Peak, b.) Derbyshire Dales, c.) South Derbyshire, d.) Erewash, e.) Amber Valley, f.) North East Derbyshire, g.) Chesterfield, h.) Bolsover
2. Derby U.A.
Nottinghamshire 3. Nottinghamshire a.) Rushcliffe, b.) Broxtowe, c.) Ashfield, d.) Gedling, e.) Newark and Sherwood, f.) Mansfield, g.) Bassetlaw
4. Nottingham U.A.
Lincolnshire (part only)
 5. Lincolnshire a.) Lincoln, b.) North Kesteven, c.) South Kesteven, d.) South Holland, e.) Boston, f.) East Lindsey, g.) West Lindsey
Leicestershire 6. Leicestershire a.) Charnwood, b.) Melton, c.) Harborough, d.) Oadby and Wigston, e.) Blaby, f.) Hinckley and Bosworth, g.) North West Leicestershire
7. Leicester U.A.
8. Rutland
9. Northamptonshire a.) South Northamptonshire, b.) Northampton, c.) Daventry, d.) Wellingborough, e.) Kettering, f.) Corby, g.) East Northamptonshire

[edit] MEPs

Further information: East Midlands (European Parliament constituency)

The East Midlands is also a six-member constituency for the European Parliament.

[edit] Economy

Main employers in the region include Weetabix at Burton Latimer. For engineering, there is Rolls-Royce in Derby, Siemens in Lincoln, Triumph Motorcycles in Hinckley, and Caterpillar has a large factory on an old airfield near Desford. The jet engine was first developed in the region in Lutterworth, and the first practical demonstration of radar was in Daventry. The north part of Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire used to have many coal mines, and there are two pits still producing in Nottinghamshire near Mansfield. Now Thorntons is a big employer at Alfreton, and Wilkinson is at Worksop. Boots is based in Lenton in Nottingham, as well as the head office of Games Workshop, the producers of Warhammer miniatures. Capital One, the Virginia-based credit card company, has its UK HQ in Nottingham's city centre next to the train station, and Dublin-based Experian, one of two UK credit-referencing companies, was founded and has a large UK HQ to the south-west of the city, on the A453 near the River Trent. Many footwear companies such as Shoe Zone and Stead and Simpson, are based in Leicester, as is the clothing company, Next, the photographic equipment company Jessops (both based near each other on the Braunstone Frith estate), and the crisp company Walkers (owned by PepsiCo). Alliance & Leicester is based in Narborough. Carlsberg is brewed in Northampton, Barclaycard is headquartered in the town, and Nationwide has a large administrative centre at Moulton Park; and the Black Leisure Group (owner of Blacks and Millets) is based in Duston, to the west of the town. East Midlands Trains has its head office in Derby. Lincolnshire and Rutland are very agricultural, with much of the UK's arable crops grown in this area. The RAF have many bases in this area too, with the main RAF College at Cranwell near Sleaford. Interflora has its UK HQ in Sleaford. Skegness provides seaside entertainment for many people in the East Midlands with its Butlins resort. Nottingham is a popular night time destination (often for people outside of the East Midlands). The former East Midlands Electricity is now owned by E.ON UK (supply) and Central Networks (distribution).

[edit] Education

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There is a mixture of education across the East Midlands - mostly comprehensive secondary schools, except Lincolnshire has fifteen state grammar schools (as well as some comprehensive schools). For GCSE results, City of Nottingham schools are the worst performing, with Leicester schools a close second. Rutland (the best area for GCSEs) has one of the highest percentages of pupils (Buckinghamshire is the highest) reaching the threshold of five grades A-C (including Maths and English) in England; it is almost twice the percentage value of schools in Leicester, although the highest performing district council area is Derbyshire Dales. Leicestershire and Lincolnshire also have GCSE results above the UK average. At A level, Lincolnshire performs the best, and with schools in Nottingham, has results above the UK average; Nottingham has much better results at A level than those at GCSE on average. This describes the city quite accurately - it has the largest group of under-achieving school pupils in the East Midlands, but yet has one of the highest achieving groups of school pupils as well, giving a salient socio-economic diversity of almost chasmic proportions.

[edit] Top twenty state schools in the East Midlands (2007 A level results)

[edit] Local Media

[edit] Television

[edit] Radio

[edit] Newspapers

There are several newspapers, the largest of which include:-Derby Evening Telegraph, Derbyshire Times, Leicester Mercury, Lincolnshire Echo, Northampton Chronicle and Echo, and Nottingham Evening Post.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland 
v • d • e
Flag of England Districts of the East Midlands

Amber Valley • Ashfield • Bassetlaw • Blaby • Bolsover • Boston • Broxtowe • Charnwood • Chesterfield • Corby • Daventry • Derby • Derbyshire Dales • East Lindsey • East Northamptonshire • Erewash • Gedling • Harborough • High Peak • Hinckley and Bosworth • Kettering • Leicester • Lincoln • Mansfield • Melton • Newark and Sherwood • Northampton • North East Derbyshire • North Kesteven • North West Leicestershire • Nottingham • Oadby and Wigston • Rushcliffe • Rutland • South Derbyshire • South Holland • South Kesteven • South Northamptonshire • Wellingborough • West Lindsey

Counties with multiple districts: Derbyshire • Leicestershire • Lincolnshire • Northamptonshire • Nottinghamshire