Leicester has been "home" now for over 20 years. It took a while to get used to it and I still couldn't say that the city itself is one of my favourite places. The city suffers from the English disease of too much modern planning and concrete. They have tried to put this right in recent years but there was a lot to do and I'm not convinced that they have got it right yet.

If you look beneath the modern surface there are some really nice old buildings. St Margaret's and St Mary de Castro are beautiful churches although unfortunately the Cathedral (St Martins) is far more impressive on the outside than it is inside. Around the cathedral there are a number of interesting old buildings of which the Guild Hall is probably the best example. Leicester is a city that is full of history. Things seem to happen here.

Just a few miles away in Bradgate Park there is the remains of Lady Jane Grey's family home. She was the unfortunate young girl who was placed on the throne by Protestants after Edward VI died in an attempt to keep Catholic (Bloody) Mary I from becoming queen. She paid for the Protestant schemes with her life.

After the battle of Bosworth Field at the end of the Wars of the Roses the body of Richard III was carried to Leicester and is reputedly buried in the area.

However, If you go out of the city into the country the place really comes into its own. There are some beautiful unspoilt villages that the tourists still haven't found yet. If you want to explore head out to the east towards Rutland.

Rutland Water (or Empingham Reservoir) is a man-made lake that is actually in Rutland (surprise!) not Leicestershire. Apart from water supply the lake is also used for sport and bird watching. On one bank there is a partly submerged church that is now used as a museum and there are roads that disappear into the water on one side only to reappear on the opposite shore.

Rutland is the smallest county in England.