A Slightly Obscure Tour of Leicestershire Online Quiz | Geography

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. Leicester horse racing track is situated south of the city of Leicester, at Oadby. The original course, though, was on which Leicester park which is home to Lutyens' War Memorial?

Answer: Victoria Park

Victoria Park was the original venue for Leicester racecourse, from 1806 till 1883 when the switch was made to the site at Oadby.

2. Newcomers to Leicester might be surprised by a statue in the centre of the Swan Gyratory roundabout, overlooking the River Soar. What recognisable figure can they see?

Answer: Statue of Liberty

The Statue Of Liberty. This statue was originally nearby, on the roof of the Lennard's Shoes factory. In 1920 the factory's directors made a trip to New York. They were so impressed by The Statue Of Liberty they commissioned a copy. The company eventually became known as Liberty Shoes. After the building fell out of use it, and the statue, were vandalised. The statue was renovated and resited, being unveiled at its present position on December 17, 2008.
All the other people mentioned have statues in Leicester.
A bronze statue of Mahatma Gandhi was funded by the Indian charity Samanvaya Parivar. This bronze statue was created in Calcutta, India. It was unveiled in June 2009 close to Belgrave Road.
Cardinal Wolsey passed away in 1530 while staying at Leicester Abbey. The ruined abbey and its grounds are now Abbey Park. A staue of the Cardinal was commissioned in the 1920`s by hosiery firm, Wolsey Ltd, and stood on their premises. In 1979 the company donated the statue to Leicester City Council. The council immediately re-erected the statue in the cafe garden of Abbey Park.
A bronze statue of King Richard, commissioned by the Richard The Third Soceity, stands in Castle Gardens, Leicester, following its unveiling in July 1980.
On August 22, 1485 Richard The Third was killed at The Battle Of Bosworth. He had stayed in Leicester on the night prior to the battle. His body was returned to Leicester and eventually buried at, the now long demolished, Greyfriars church. On September 12th, 2012 a skeleton was unearthed beneath a car park at the site of the this church. On February 4th, 2013 it was announced at leicester University that D.N.A tests had proved beyond reasonable doubt that this was the remains of Richard. His remains are now to be re-interred at Leicester Cathedral.

3. The town of Syston has a particular type of fruit originating in the area. Called the Syston White it is quite a rarity. Rather than white, the fruit has a yellowish appearance and is quite sweet. What type of fruit is it?

Answer: Plum

The Syston White Plum is difficult to find. Syston Town Council have planted some of these trees in the town's De Ville park. There is also one of these trees in an orchard described later in the quiz.

4. In May 2012 English Heritage assigned listed building status to a site in Birstall. This place was designed by an American architect, built in the 1960s and the last one of its type left in the country. The most striking feature are the six large, flat, disc shaped canopies (each supported by large metal poles) that cover the structure. What type of building is this?

Answer: Petrol Station

In the 1960s architect Elliot Noyes was commissioned, by Mobil, to design an instantly recognisable petrol station. The design was used worldwide. The Birstall site is a Grade 2 listed building.

5. A Leicestershire country house near the town of Loughborough was demolished in the early 1960s. One of the reasons for the demolition was the imminent building of the M1 motorway. Afterwards much of the masonry was used as hardcore in the construction of that same road. Formerly owned by The De Lisle family, what was this place?

Answer: Garendon Hall

All the houses mentioned in this question are Leicestershire homes that are no longer in existence.

6. One particular Leicestershire village, in the Vale Of Belvoir, undertook a green millenium project. In 2001 the village began development of some wasteland into an orchard, and 53 trees were planted. Each was a differing variety of fruit or nut. In many cases they were local varieties. Which village started this orchard?

Answer: Hose

Each tree in the orchard was sponsored by a villager, but the orchard is for the whole village. A plaque in front of each tree denotes the sponsor of the tree. In 2012 the orchard was flourishing. The few trees that failed to develop have always been replaced.

Full details (including a map of the orchard) can be found on www.hosevillage.org.uk/hco-web/story.html

7. On April 28th, 2012 the church rooms of this Leicestershire village hosted a show by The Midlands Rat Club, along with their rodents. Where was this event?

Answer: Ratby

The Midlands Rat Club (MRC) hold regular shows around the English Midlands. At these they show different varieties of rat and will chat to the public about keeping rats as pets.

8. Waltham-On-The-Wolds is home to an operational television transmitter mast. However it is not the original. That collapsed in high winds on the night of November 16, 1966. The 950 foot structure was still under construction. What remained of the original mast was later used, on the same site, for a different purpose. What was this?

Answer: Pig Shelters

The 950 foot mast fell at approximately 2.25 am on November 16th; the fortunate thing being no-one was at the site, thus no fatalities. There was no damage to the village of Waltham-On-The-Wolds as the quite substantial structure was well clear of it. In march 1969 a similar, but much taller, mast at Emley Moor, Yorkshire, collapsed with no fatalities. On this occasion though, one of the guy ropes holding the the mast sliced the village church in half.

9. Where the counties of Leicestershire, Northamptonshire and Rutland meet there is a reservoir. This stretch of water was used for practice runs by Second World War bomber crews engaged on Operation Chastise (The Dambusters Raid). What is the name of this reservoir?

Answer: Eyebrook Reservoir

The May 1943 Dambusters Raid targeted German dams on the Mohne, Eder and Sorpe rivers. Prior to this operation Eyebrook reservoir, along with Abberton Reservoir (Essex), Derwent Reservoir (Derbyshire) and Fleet Lagoon at Chesil Bank (Dorset)were all practice sites for the bomber crews.

10. There are plenty of music venues around Leicestershire. One has, from 1990 to 2012, hosted a number of well-known acts. Maggie Bell, Canned Heat, Roger Chapman, The Jools Holland Rhythm And Blues Orchestra, Ian Hunter, Wilko Johnson, Nils Lofgren, Pat Travers, Robin Trower and Walter Trout are amongst many who have played there. Very surprisingly this venue is a village hall in the south-east of the county. Where can this hotbed of music be?

Answer: Wilbarston

"The village hall that thinks it`s a stadium" announces their publicity. Wilbarston has a bigger stage than you would expect a village hall to have. An indicator to this is The Jools Holland Orchestra playing at the venue, as they normally consist of twenty or more musicians.

Source: Author pjm161

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor spanishliz before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

A Slightly Obscure Tour of Leicestershire Quiz

The most obvious questions relating to Leicestershire have probably been covered already on the website. I don`t think any of these questions cross over into previous quizzes.

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