91-505: The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England . It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands . It consists of Derbyshire , Leicestershire , Lincolnshire (except for North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire ), Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire , and Rutland . The region has a land area of 15,624 km (6,032 sq mi), with an estimated population 4,934,939 in 2022. With
182-595: A dynamometer car . The national electric-train speed record (pre- High Speed 1 ) of 162 mph (261 km/h) was set on the same stretch as the Mallard record, on 17 September 1989 by Class 91 91010. There were plans to bring a new high-speed rail line through the East Midlands as part of the High Speed 2 project, of which Phase 2 would have brought a new line connecting Birmingham to Leeds , with
273-438: A national nature reserve (NNR), 19 SSSIs (Some subdivided in the list of sites below), 4 Geological Conservation Review (GCR) sites of international geological importance plus a further 6 GCR sites, 13 regionally important geological sites (RIGS), five local nature reserves (LNRs), seven Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust (LRWT) nature reserves, and one Woodland Trust woodland. Seventeen sites have open access to
364-687: A sufficiency-level world city ranking, Nottingham is the only settlement in the region to be classified by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network . The region is primarily served by East Midlands Airport , which lies between Derby, Leicester and Nottingham. The main cities in the region are Derby , Leicester , Lincoln and Nottingham . The largest towns in these counties are Boston , Chesterfield , Coalville , Corby , Glossop , Grantham , Kettering , Loughborough , Northampton , Mansfield , Oakham , Swadlincote and Wellingborough . The highest point at 636 m (2,087 ft)
455-403: A "Sub-National Review of Economic Development and Regeneration". Most of their functions transferred to the relevant regional development agency and to local authority leaders' boards . In June 2010, the incoming Coalition Government announced its intentions to abolish regional strategies and return spatial planning powers to local government. These plans include the withdrawal of funding to
546-401: A county level. As a region today, there is no overriding body with significant financial or planning powers for the East Midlands. The East Midlands Combined Authority will be established in 2024. The East Midlands region contains many urban areas which include: Major towns and cities in the East Midlands region include: 9% of all jobs in the region are in logistics . Traffic in
637-752: A decade later the Labour administration also founded the Regional Improvement and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) with £185m of devolved funding to enhance councils' capacity to improve and take the lead in their own improvement. The Maastricht Treaty encouraged the creation of regional boundaries for selection of members for the Committee of the Regions of the European Union : Wales , Scotland and Northern Ireland had each constituted
728-627: A joint LTP in collaboration with their respective local county councils. A historical basis for such a region exists in the territory of the Corieltauvi tribe. When the Romans took control, they made Leicester ( Ratae Corieltauvorum ) one of their main forts. The main town in the region in Roman times was Lincoln , at the confluence of the Fosse Way and Ermine Street . After the withdrawal of
819-593: A mere 450 million years ago. These are extensively quarried in the areas near Mountsorrel . The earliest form of the name Charnwood is probably derived from cerne woda , from the Celtic carn , meaning cairn , and the Old English wudu , meaning wood. Some sources give cwern as the derivation, meaning a tool used to grind grain and other materials by hand. The area was a source of stone for these tools, called quern-stones . Archeological evidence has shown that
910-828: A proposed station in Toton known as the East Midlands Hub It would also have served the region via "classic-compatible" tracks serving Chesterfield and Sheffield , the latter of which is just outside the region in Yorkshire & the Humber . The Trent is a navigable river used to transport goods to the Humber , as well as passing by many power stations. The Trent is the only river in England able to supply cooling water for power stations for most of its length; it has
1001-500: A radio receiver installed in a van at Litchborough (just off the A5 about 6 miles (9.7 km) south of Daventry) to receive signals bounced off a metal-clad Handley Page Heyford bomber flying across the radio transmissions. The interference picked up from the aircraft allowed its approximate navigational position to be estimated, and therefore proved that it was possible to detect the position of aircraft using radio waves. The success of
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#17327651867811092-735: A region, but England represents such a large proportion of the population of the United Kingdom that further division was thought necessary. The English regions, which initially numbered ten, also replaced the Standard Statistical Regions . Merseyside originally constituted a region in itself, but in 1998 it was merged into the North West England region, creating the nine present-day regions. The nine regions were used as England's European Parliament constituencies from 1999 until Britain's departure from
1183-440: A regional local authority leaders' board on a smaller scale), but which also receive additional delegated functions from central government relating to transport and economic policy. Regional development agencies were public bodies established in all nine regions in 1998 to promote economic development. They had certain delegated functions, including administering European Union regional development funds, and received funding from
1274-721: A series of referendums were planned to establish elected regional assemblies in some of the regions. The first was held in London in 1998 and was passed. The London Assembly and Mayor of London of the Greater London Authority were created in 2000. A referendum was held in North East England on 4 November 2004, but the proposal for an elected assembly was rejected. In 2007, a Treasury Review for new Prime Minister Gordon Brown recommended that greater powers should be given to local authorities and that
1365-536: Is BBC Radio Sheffield . In 2016 Bassetlaw District Council voted to become part of the Sheffield City Region because of the strong local ties. Regions of England The regions of England , formerly known as the government office regions , are the highest tier of sub-national division in England . They were established in 1994 and follow the 1974–96 county borders. They are a continuation of
1456-748: Is Kinder Scout , in the Peak District of the southern Pennines in northwest Derbyshire near Glossop . Other hilly areas of 95 to 280 m (312 to 919 ft) in altitude, together with lakes and reservoirs, rise in and around the Charnwood Forest north of Peterborough , Leicester , and in the Lincolnshire Wolds . The region's major rivers, the Nene , the Soar , the Trent , and
1547-499: Is an ancient and well-established locality, it has only recently been officially defined, by the Natural England National Character Area (NCA) process, which takes a somewhat wider definition than many previous attempts to define the area. Many of the craggy rocks of Charnwood Forest are of volcanic origin and are very old, dating back through 600 million years to Precambrian times. It
1638-403: Is an environmental project in central England run by The National Forest Company. Areas of north Leicestershire, south Derbyshire and south-east Staffordshire covering around 200 square miles (520 km; 52,000 ha) are being planted in an attempt to blend ancient woodland with new plantings. It stretches from the western outskirts of Leicester in the east to Burton upon Trent in the west, and
1729-568: Is generally 600 feet (180 m)and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about 6,100 acres (25 km ). The highest point, Bardon Hill , is 912 feet (278 m). On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield , with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest . The M1 motorway , between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest. The hard stone of Charnwood Forest has been quarried for centuries, and
1820-470: Is known for Simpson's rule . Roger Cotes invented the concept of the radian in 1714, but the term was not so-named until 1873. Henry Cavendish , loosely connected with Derbyshire, discovered hydrogen in 1766 (although the element's name came from Antoine Lavoisier ), and Cavendish was the first to estimate an accurate mass of the Earth in 1798 in his Cavendish experiment . The Cavendish Laboratory at
1911-600: Is planned to link the ancient forests of Needwood and Charnwood. Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire attracts many visitors, and is perhaps best known for its ties with the legend of Robin Hood . Regional financial funding decisions for the East Midlands are taken by East Midlands Councils , based in Melton Mowbray . East Midlands Councils is an unelected body made up of representatives of local government in
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#17327651867812002-601: Is the main route carrier at EMA by far with 20 flights per night, UPS have 6, and TNT have 2 (Belfast and Liège); for hubs in Europe, DHL flies to Leipzig , UPS to Cologne , and TNT at Liège . Smaller airports in the region include Retford Gamston Airport , Nottingham Airport , Leicester Airport , Hucknall Airfield , Sywell Aerodrome , Bruntingthorpe Aerodrome and Humberside Airport . Robin Hood Airport Doncaster Sheffield lies just outside
2093-448: Is the region's biggest public airport, used by over 4 million passengers annually. Rivalry between the region's three biggest cities has led to a long-running discussion about the identity of both the airport, and region, with the East Midlands rarely found on any non-political map of the UK. The name was at one point changed to Nottingham East Midlands Airport so as to include the name of
2184-661: Is the second-largest freight airport in the UK after Heathrow , but most freight from EMA is carried on dedicated planes, whereas most freight from Heathrow is carried on passenger planes (bellyhold). Royal Mail have their main airport hubs at Heathrow and EMA, as EMA is conveniently near the M1 , A42 and A50 . Heathrow takes some 60 per cent of UK air freight, and EMA some 10 per cent, with Stansted, Manchester and Gatwick next. Air freight has grown at EMA from 1994 to 2004 from about 10,000 to over 250,000 tonnes. The main hours of cargo flying are from 20:00–05:00; domestic cargo flies into
2275-588: The Committee of the Regions , with members drawn from the elected councillors of the local authorities in the region. The final nominations were made by central government. Although they were publicly funded, one of the Regional Assemblies claimed not to be a public authority and therefore not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000 . As power was to be devolved to Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales without corresponding devolution in England,
2366-713: The English Civil War were the Battle of Naseby in northern Northamptonshire on 14 June 1645, and the Battle of Winceby on 11 October 1643 in eastern Lincolnshire. Isaac Newton , born in Grantham in 1642, is perhaps the most prolific scientist. His accomplishments include calculus , Newton's laws of motion , and Newton's law of universal gravitation , among many others. There is a shopping centre named in his honour in Grantham. Thomas Simpson from Leicestershire
2457-499: The European Union , which in 2021 were superseded by International Territorial Level (ITL) regions ("ITL 1 regions"). The London Region has a directly elected Mayor and Assembly . Six regions have local authority leaders' boards to assist with correlating the headline policies of local authorities. The remaining two regions no longer have any administrative functions, having abolished their regional local authority leaders' boards. In 1998, regional chambers were established in
2548-734: The First World War . In 1912, the Third Home Rule Bill was passing through parliament. The Bill was expected to introduce a devolved parliament for Ireland, and as a consequence calls were made for similar structures to be introduced in Great Britain or "Home Rule All Round". On 12 September the First Lord of the Admiralty , Winston Churchill , gave a speech in which he proposed 10 or 12 regional parliaments for
2639-497: The Fosse Way , which has linked the south-western and north-eastern parts of England since Roman times. The A43 dual carriageway connects the East Midlands via the M40 motorway corridor with the university city of Oxford , as well as South of England and Solent ports further afield. The historically important A5 runs along the south-west Leicestershire boundary to the south of Lutterworth and Hinckley . The A14 runs through
2730-747: The National Inventors Hall of Fame . Don Grierson at the University of Nottingham was the first to produce a Genetically modified tomato , which became the first GM food on sale in the UK and in the United States. Louis Essen , a Nottingham physicist, made advances in the quartz clock in the 1930s at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington, to produce the quartz ring clock in 1938, and
2821-589: The North Midlands has been proposed, but this has not taken off. In Bassetlaw , the most northern local authority in the East Midlands area, many of the shared services such as NHS are with South Yorkshire, not with other Midlands areas. The television signal comes mainly from the Emley Moor transmitting station , which broadcasts local news from BBC Look North and Calendar News. And its officially designated BBC Local Radio station in terms of radio coverage
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2912-611: The Northampton Loop of the West Coast Main Line . England's primary south-west to north-east Cross Country Route runs through Derby and Chesterfield. Worksop , Mansfield , Lincoln , Matlock , Melton Mowbray , Skegness , Boston , Spalding and Oakham are served by regional services The Chiltern Main Line also serves the western fringe of the region, at Kings's Sutton . A land speed record for trains
3003-520: The Outwoods and Stoneywell cottage (National Trust). The area of hills and open land known as Charnwood Forest has no jurisdictional boundary (the Borough of Charnwood covers roughly two thirds of Charnwood Forest, and the eastern half of the borough is not part of the forest). Furthermore, despite its name, Charnwood was never a royal forest , and was never subject to forest law . So although it
3094-631: The University of Cambridge is named after a relative . Herbert Spencer coined the term " survival of the fittest " in 1864, which was once strongly linked with social Darwinism . Sir John Flamsteed was the first Astronomer Royal of the Royal Observatory, Greenwich in 1675. Robert Bakewell , of Dishley in Leicestershire and known for his English Leicester sheep , arrived at selective breeding ; his English Longhorn were
3185-873: The Welland , flow in a northeasterly direction towards the Humber and the Wash . The Derwent , conversely, rises in the High Peak before flowing south to join the Trent some 2 miles (3 km) before its conflux with the Soar, and the Witham flows in an arch, first north to Lincoln before heading south to the Wash. The centre of the East Midlands area lies roughly between Bingham , Nottinghamshire and Bottesford , Leicestershire. The geographical centre of England lies in Higham on
3276-473: The caesium-133 atom. Coordinated Universal Time (UTC), in Paris, takes the average of 300 atomic clocks around the world. On the early morning of Tuesday 26 February 1935 the radio transmitter at Daventry was used for what became known as the " Daventry Experiment " which involved the first-ever practical demonstration of radar , by its inventor Robert Watson-Watt and Arnold Frederic Wilkins . They used
3367-588: The heptarchy . The boundaries of some of these, which later unified as the Kingdom of England , roughly coincide with those of modern regions. During Oliver Cromwell 's Protectorate in the 1650s, the rule of the Major-Generals created 10 regions in England and Wales of similar size to the modern regions. Proposals for administrative regions within England were mooted by the British government prior to
3458-468: The hydrogen-bonding mechanism between DNA bases , allowing the structure of DNA to be discovered. Nottinghamshire's Ken Richardson was in charge of the team at Pfizer in Sandwich, Kent that in 1981 discovered Fluconazole (Diflucan), the world's leading antifungal medication , especially useful for those with weakened immune systems . It has few side effects. Richardson is now one of the few Britons in
3549-461: The new county structure ". A minority report by Lord Crowther-Hunt and Alan T. Peacock suggested instead seven regional assemblies and governments within Great Britain (five within England), which would take over substantial amounts of the central government. Some elements of regional development and economic planning began to be established in England from the mid-1960s onwards. In most of
3640-593: The 1986 Government Green Paper and 1989 White Paper on The Future of Development Plans , which proposed the introduction of strong regional guidance within the planning system, and by the Government's issuing of Strategic Guidance at a regional level, from 1986 onwards. In April 1994, the John Major ministry created a set of ten Government Office Regions for England. Prior to 1994, although various central government departments had different regional offices,
3731-884: The East Midlands in South Yorkshire . Three of the United Kingdom's mainline railways serve the region: the Midland Main Line , the East Coast Main Line , and the West Coast Main Line ( Northampton Loop ) providing services terminating at London St Pancras , London King's Cross and London Euston respectively. The three lines provide regular high-speed services to London , at up to 125 mph (200 km/h), serving Wellingborough , Kettering , Corby , Market Harborough , Leicester , Loughborough , Derby , East Midlands Parkway , Nottingham , Chesterfield , Grantham , Newark North Gate and Retford . Northampton and Long Buckby are served by
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3822-496: The East Midlands tend to identify themselves either on a county or town basis, regarding the East Midlands as simply a bureaucratic area that lumps together dissimilar places. In the North of the region, in areas such as North Nottinghamshire and North Derbyshire, people culturally identify as Northerners. For example, a study by YouGov in 2018 found that a quarter of the inhabitants of the region identified as Northerners. A new area of
3913-586: The European Union ; and as statistical NUTS level 1 regions. Since 1 July 2006, there have also been ten strategic health authorities , each of which corresponds to a region, except for South East England , which is divided into western and eastern parts. In 1998, regional chambers were created in the eight English regions outside London under the provisions of the Regional Development Agencies Act 1998 . The powers of
4004-575: The Hill in west Leicestershire , close to the boundary between the Leicestershire and Warwickshire. Some 88 per cent of the land is rural in character, although agriculture accounts for less than three per cent of the region's jobs. Church Flatts Farm in Coton in the Elms , South Derbyshire, is the furthest place from the sea in the UK (70 miles; 110 km). In April 1936 the first Ordnance Survey trig point
4095-504: The Regional Chambers should be phased out of existence by 2010. The same year, nine Regional Ministers were appointed by the incoming Brown ministry . Their primary goal was stated as being to improve communication between central government and the regions of England. The assemblies were effectively replaced by smaller local authority leaders' boards between 2008 and 2010, and formally abolished on 31 March 2010, as part of
4186-649: The Romans, the area was settled by Angles , a Germanic people who gave the East Midlands most of the place-names it has today. They eventually founded the Kingdom of Mercia, meaning "borderlands," as it borders the Welsh people to the west. The region also corresponds to the later Five Boroughs of the Danelaw , the area that Vikings from Denmark controlled. In about 917 the region was subdivided between Danelaw (Vikings) to
4277-443: The UK was UK and the NUTS standard had hierarchy of three levels, with 12 first level regions, which are currently mirrored by the ITL classification, of which 9 regions are in England . The sub-structure corresponds to administrative divisions within the country. Formerly, the further NUTS divisions IV and V existed; these have now been replaced by Local Administrative Units (LAU-1 and LAU-2 respectively). Between 1994 and 2011,
4368-401: The UK's cement is manufactured in the region, at three sites in Hope and Tunstead in Derbyshire, and Ketton Cement Works in Rutland . Of the aggregates produced in the region, 25 per cent are from Derbyshire and four per cent from Leicestershire. Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire each produce around 30 per cent of the region's sand and gravel output. Barwell in Leicestershire was
4459-476: The United Kingdom. Within England, he suggested that London, Lancashire, Yorkshire, and the Midlands would make natural regions . While the creation of regional parliaments never became official policy, it was for a while widely anticipated and various schemes for dividing England devised. By the 1930s, several competing systems of regions were adopted by central government for such purposes as census of population, agriculture, electricity supply, civil defence and
4550-452: The airport in the evening, then from 23:30 to 01:30 cargo flies to European capitals and from 03:00–05:00 from Europe to EMA. It is the UK's twelfth-largest passenger airport; the runway is the UK's sixth-longest at 2,900 metres (9,500 ft). Royal Mail flights from EMA go to Belfast , Edinburgh , Inverness , Aberdeen , Newcastle , Exeter and Bournemouth , and it is the largest UK Royal Mail air hub, with eleven flights per night. DHL
4641-403: The area was inhabited as far back as the Neolithic period, approximately 4,000–2,000 BC. Beacon Hill is the site of a Bronze Age hill fort, dating from between 600 BC and 43 AD. This forms one of the last surviving visible features in the landscape known to the Coritani , the tribe who occupied most of the East Midlands area at the time of the Roman Conquest. According to Domesday Book , there
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#17327651867814732-408: The assemblies were limited, and members were appointed, largely by local authorities, rather than being directly elected. The functions of the English regions were essentially devolved to them from Government departments or were taken over from pre-existing regional bodies, such as regional planning conferences and regional employers' organisations. Each assembly also made proposals for the UK members of
4823-412: The beginnings of Received Pronunciation and southern England accents. However, spoken dialect and accent in the northern area of the East Midlands is far more similar to Northern English. Identity There is no modern Midlander, or East Midlander, identity. As Robert Shore wrote: "no one is more sceptical about the existence of an overarching Midland identity than Midlanders themselves." Inhabitants of
4914-399: The caesium clock, known as the atomic clock , in 1955. During the war he invented the cavity resonance wavemeter to find the first accurate value of the speed of light. The atomic clock works on differences in magnetic spin . Before Essen's invention, the second was defined in terms of the orbit of the Earth round the Sun ; he changed it in 1967 to be based on the hyperfine structure of
5005-485: The central government as well. These were abolished in 2012, with statutory functions returning to local authorities and central government; however, smaller scale local enterprise partnerships were voluntarily established to take on some functions relating to coordinating economic priorities and development. After about 500 AD, England comprised seven Anglo-Saxon territories— Northumbria , Mercia , East Anglia , Essex , Kent , Sussex and Wessex —often referred to as
5096-460: The city that is supposedly most internationally recognisable. However, the airport has a Derby phone number and postcode, and is in Leicestershire, but is officially assigned to Nottingham by IATA . As a result of the dispute, the name change reverted. Three of the world's four main international air-freight companies (integrators) have their UK operations at EMA: DHL , UPS and TNT Express (TNT bought by UPS); FedEx have theirs at Stansted . It
5187-629: The construction of the M1 motorway through the area. The area was the inspiration for "Charnwood Poems", a collection of poems by the author, playwright and poet Albert Francis Cross (1863–1940). It is also the setting for the speculative fiction novel Some Kind of Fairy Tale by Graham Joyce (2012), in which it is depicted as a possible portal to the realm of fairies . Charnwood Forest covers approx 67 sq mi (170 km ) of Leicestershire , split over three local government districts: Charnwood Borough , North West Leicestershire District and Hinckley and Bosworth District. It includes
5278-418: The creation of eight provinces in England, which would see power devolved from central government. Edward Heath 's administration in the 1970s did not create a regional structure in the Local Government Act 1972 , waiting for the Royal Commission on the Constitution , after which government efforts were concentrated on a constitutional settlement in Scotland and Wales for the rest of the decade. In England,
5369-475: The eight regions outside London, which produced strategic plans and recommendations to local authorities. Each of the regions also had an associated (central) Government Office with some responsibility for coordinating policy, and, from 2007, a part-time regional minister within the Government. House of Commons regional Select Committees were established in 2009. However, the chambers and select committees were abolished in May 2010, restoring these functions to
5460-420: The existing eight Local Authority Leaders' Boards, with their statutory functions also being assumed by local councils. The boards in most cases continue to exist as voluntary associations of council leaders, funded by the local authorities themselves. No appointments as Regional Ministers were made by the incoming UK government in 2010. These changes did not affect the directly elected London Assembly , which
5551-400: The experiment persuaded the British government to fund the development of a network of full scale radar stations on the south coast of England, which became known as Chain Home , which provided a decisive advantage to the RAF in the Battle of Britain in 1940. Language and dialect Parts of the East Midlands use a distinctive form of spoken dialect and accent. It also has some history in
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#17327651867815642-434: The first ever cattle bred for beef . George Boole , pioneer of Boolean logic (upon which all digital electronics and computers depend), was born in Lincoln in 1815. The application of Boole's theory to digital circuit design would come in 1937 by Claude Shannon . Boole's grandson, the physicist G. I. Taylor , made significant experimental contributions to quantum mechanics . The first practical demonstration of radar
5733-490: The forest has older rocks still. These are sedimentary and are very variable in character, They were formed by material from volcanoes, settling in deep water, and it is in these beds that the fossils are found. Uplifting, tilting and erosion have produced the distinctive jagged exposures found across the highest parts of Charnwood. On the eastern side, a much more recent series of rocks are found. Again igneous diorites, that formed deep underground, but these are Ordovician , from
5824-554: The former 1940s standard regions which followed the 1889–1974 administrative county borders. Between 1994 and 2011, all nine regions had partly devolved functions; they no longer fulfil this role, continuing to be used for limited statistical purposes. While the UK was a member of the European Union , they defined areas ( constituencies ) for the purposes of elections to the European Parliament . Eurostat also used them to demarcate first level Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) regions ("NUTS 1 regions") within
5915-401: The largest water capacity in England, although it is not the longest. Several rivers in the region gave their name to early Rolls-Royce jet engines, namely the Nene , the Welland , and the Soar . Nottingham is the only city in the region served by a light railway system, operated by Nottingham Express Transit . As part of the transport planning system, the now defunct Regional Assembly
6006-439: The main tier of local government, with limited functions transferred to the regional local authority leaders' boards created in 2009. Regional ministers were not reappointed by the incoming Coalition Government , and the Government Offices were abolished in 2011. From 2011, combined authorities have been introduced in some city regions , with similar responsibilities to the former regional chambers (and in some cases, replacing
6097-456: The majority of the Commission "suggested regional coordinating and advisory councils for England, consisting largely of indirectly elected representatives of local authorities and operating along the lines of the Welsh advisory council". One-fifth of the advisory councils would be nominees from central government. The boundaries suggested were the "eight now [in 1973] existing for economic planning purposes, modified to make boundaries to conform with
6188-413: The nationally designated Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty are: Several towns in the southern part of the region, including Market Harborough, Desborough, Rothwell, Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, Oundle and Stamford, lie within the boundaries of what was once Rockingham Forest – designated a royal forest by William the Conqueror and was long hunted by English kings and queens. The National Forest
6279-713: The nine regions had an administrative role in the implementation of UK Government policy, and as the areas covered by (mostly indirectly) elected bodies. Local government in England does not follow a uniform structure. Therefore, each region is divided into a range of further subdivisions . London is divided into London boroughs and the City of London , while the other regions are divided into metropolitan counties , shire counties and unitary authorities . Counties are further divided into districts and some areas are also yet further divided into civil parishes . Regions are also divided into sub-regions, which usually group socio-economically linked local authorities together. However,
6370-551: The north of Northamptonshire , serving the settlements of Kettering and Corby alongside surrounding areas, and is a major route between the region and the East of England , including the university city of Cambridge , and the major port of Felixstowe . East Midlands Airport in North West Leicestershire is situated in proximity to the region's largest cities; some 14 miles from the centres of Derby and Nottingham , with central Leicester being some 21 miles away and Lincoln further north east being 43 miles away. The airport
6461-408: The north, and Mercia (Anglo-Saxons) to the south. By 920 this border had moved north to the River Humber . Evidence of the Danelaw can be seen in place-name endings of the region's villages, particularly towards the east. The Danes under Canute recaptured the area between about 1016 and 1035, but it came back under English control after Canute's death that same year. The region's two main battles in
6552-411: The post Medieval period, until the demand for timber and charcoal for the early Industrial Revolution contributed to a further loss of woodland. By the end of the 18th century, most of the woodland had disappeared leaving large areas of moorland and pasture. In 1957, Charnwood Forest was considered for designation as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but the designation was not made due to
6643-773: The public. Footpaths and bridleways give views and limited access to the other sites listed, and to the rest of the Charnwood Forest landscape. Over half of Charnwood Forest is included within the English National Forest . It is also crossed by two waymarked long distance walking routes—the Leicestershire Round and the Ivanhoe Way. The 45 sites listed here include sites with statutory wildlife or geological designations, plus other sites included in published lists of notable sites. On both
6734-604: The purposes of statistical analysis, simply as Regions. International Territorial Level (ITL) is a geocode standard for referencing the subdivisions of the United Kingdom for statistical purposes, used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Between 2003 and 2021, as part of the European Union and European Statistical System , the geocode standard used for the United Kingdom were Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics or NUTS . The NUTS code for
6825-529: The region is growing at 2% per year – the highest growth rate of all UK regions. It is estimated that about 140,000 heavy goods vehicle journeys are made inside the region each day. The M1 (part of the E13 European route) serves the four largest urban areas in the region and affords a motorway link between London , Yorkshire , and North East England . Additionally, the M6 begins on the south-western edge of
6916-604: The region, providing links to the West Midlands and North West England . Both connect to other major routes providing further links to other parts of the UK. To the east of the largest cities lies the A1 (part of the European route E15 ), which is important for journeys to and from ports on England's north-east coast and the capital, and is a major artery for the United Kingdom's agricultural industry. The A46 largely follows
7007-601: The region. The defunct East Midlands Development Agency was headquartered next to the BBC 's East Midlands office in Nottingham and made financial decisions regarding economic development in the region. Since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government launched its austerity programme after the 2010 general election , regional bodies such as those have been devolved to smaller groups now on
7098-627: The regions they used tended to be different and ad hoc . The stated purpose was as a way of co-ordinating the various regional offices more effectively: they initially involved the Department of Trade and Industry , Department of Employment , Department of Transport and the Department for the Environment . Following the Labour Party 's victory in the 1997 general election , the government created regional development agencies . Around
7189-418: The regulation of road traffic. Nine "standard regions" were set up in 1946, in which central government bodies, statutory undertakings and regional bodies were expected to cooperate. However, these had declined in importance by the late 1950s. Creation of some form of provinces or regions for England was an intermittent theme of post- Second World War British governments. The Redcliffe-Maud Report proposed
7280-511: The site of Britain's largest meteorite (7 kg; 15 lb) on 24 December 1965. The 2008 Lincolnshire earthquake was 5.2 in magnitude . Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Conservation Areas include: Areas of the East Midlands designated by the East Midlands Biodiversity Partnership as Biodiversity Enhancement Areas include: Two of
7371-561: The standard regions, Economic Planning Councils and Boards were set up, comprising appointed members from local authorities, business, trade unions and universities, and in the early 1970s, these produced a number of regional and sub-regional planning studies. These institutions continued to operate until they were abolished by the incoming Conservative government in 1979. However, by the mid-1980s local authorities in most regions had jointly established standing conferences to consider regional planning issues. Regional initiatives were bolstered by
7462-439: The sub-regions have no official status and are little used other than for strategic planning purposes. Charnwood Forest Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire , England , bounded by Leicester , Loughborough and Coalville . The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland , and significant Precambrian geology. Its elevation
7553-412: The world. Along the western edge of Charnwood Forest the rocks are mainly Precambrian igneous diorites . These formed from molten lava deep within the sedimentary rocks, cooling slowly to produce hard, blocky rock with large crystals. This is extensively quarried for roadstone around Groby , Markfield and Whitwick , and is known as granite (formerly also called Markfieldite). The central area of
7644-448: Was a source of whetstones and quern-stones . The granite quarries at Bardon Hill , Buddon Hill and Whitwick supply crushed aggregate to a wide area of southern Britain. The forest is an important recreational area with woodland walks, noted for their displays of bluebells in the early spring, rock climbing and hillwalking . Popular places with public access include Bardon Hill , Beacon Hill , Bradgate Park , Swithland Wood ,
7735-606: Was broken in the region. Although the record was set in 1938, the current world speed record for steam trains is held by 4468 Mallard , which clocked 126 mph (203 km/h) between Grantham and Peterborough , pulling six coaches on the East Coast Main Line near Little Bytham in Lincolnshire, on 3 July 1938. The Mallard record was unbroken by any British rail train until 6 June 1973, when an InterCity 125 between Northallerton and Thirsk reached 131 mph (211 km/h). Mallard in 1938 had six carriages and
7826-556: Was established by separate legislation as part of the Greater London Authority . In 2011, Greater London remains administered by the Greater London Authority, which consists of an elected London Assembly and a separately elected Mayor of London . Following the abolition of the Government Offices in 2011, it was announced that the former Government Office Regions (GOR) would henceforth be known, for
7917-610: Was near Daventry in 1935. Robert Robinson , of Chesterfield in Derbyshire, invented the circular symbol in 1925 for the pi bonds of the benzene ring, as found on all structural diagrams of aromatic compounds . Nicola Pellow , a maths undergraduate at Leicester Polytechnic, whilst at CERN in November 1990, wrote the world's second web browser. Silicone was discovered in 1899 by Prof Frederic Kipping at University College, Nottingham. Michael Creeth of Northampton discovered
8008-544: Was only one settlement in Charnwood Forest in 1086, at Charley whose name would appear to come from the same root, with the suffix -ley denoting open land, rather than forest. In the 200 years after the Norman conquest , newly created settlements took major areas of land out of the forest for use in agriculture. Quorn was established between 1086 and 1153, and all the land up to Woodhouse had been deforested by 1228. There were comparatively few major changes in land use in
8099-704: Was sited at Cold Ashby in Northamptonshire . The Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and The Wildlife Trusts are based next to the River Trent and Newark Castle railway station. The National Centre for Earth Observation is at the University of Leicester. The region is home to large quantities of limestone , and the East Midlands Oil Province . Charnwood Forest is noted for its abundant levels of volcanic rock, estimated to be approximately 600 million years old. A quarter of
8190-518: Was the site of the first-ever recorded discovery of Charnia masoni , the earliest-known large, complex fossilised species on record, recovered from a quarry near the Charnwood village of Woodhouse Eaves . It was discovered separately in 1956 & 1957 by local schoolchildren Tina Negus and Roger Mason , although it was Mason who received the credit (thus masoni ). Since this find in Charnwood Forest, Precambrian fossils have been discovered across
8281-731: Was under statutory requirement to produce a Regional Transport Strategy to provide long term planning for transport in the region. This involved region wide transport schemes such as those carried out by the Highways Agency and Network Rail . Local transport authorities in the region carry out planning through a Local Transport Plan (LTP) . The most recent LTPs are for the period 2006–11. The following East Midland transport authorities published an LTP online: Derbyshire , Leicestershire . Lincolnshire , Northamptonshire , Nottinghamshire and Rutland U.A. The unitary authorities of Derby , Leicester and Nottingham They have each written
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