A straightforward puzzle cache in and about LE2
The nominal location (the big roundabout near the racecourse) is close to the centroid of the LE2 postcode area. Do not go there; the actual cache is about 1.5km away.
The district now covered by the LE2 postcode is largely part of Leicester and its suburbs. LE2 is largely residential, though there is some manufacturing, agriculture and commercial activity. It includes the grounds of two of Leicester’s hugely successful sports teams; Leicester Tigers and Leicester City. There are several secondary schools and many primary schools. De Montfort University is in the postcode area, but not Leicester University though it is almost surrounded by it. All the major supermarkets are represented.
LE2 is made up of several former villages and areas of 19th and 20th Century development as the city grew:
- Aylestone, Knighton, Oadby, Glen Parva, Stoughton and Stretton are ancient villages, most of them greatly developed as part of the urban area
- Highfields, Clarendon Park and Stoneygate are largely 19th century urban developments
There is a question about each of these areas, giving either a number or a word. If a word, just count the letters:
Clarendon Park was built up as part of the 19th and early 20th century expansion of Leicester, mostly small terraced houses for working families. It has recently become fashionable. There are several diverse places of worship in the area, the meeting house of the Leicester Society of Friends (Quakers) is at the north end of Queens Road, Clarendon Park Road has St John’s (Church of England), a very imposing Methodist church, Geeta Bhavan Hindu temple, and Guru Amar Das gurdwara. The last was converted from its former use in 19A2.
Aylestone was an Anglo-Saxon settlement. After the Norman conquest it was settled on Roger de B, who was also Earl of Leicester. Aylestone Hall, though much more recent, is well worth a visit.
Stretton at the east end of the area is still a village rather than a suburb. Well, two villages really: the very small Little Stretton and the even smaller Great Stretton (Stretton Magna). Great Stretton is even smaller because it is an abandoned village, done in during the enclosure movement. Stretton lies on the route of the Roman road that ran from Chester to Leicester to Colchester. (See also GC4HGF8 ‘Did the Romans Play Golf?*’ and GCQZ9V ‘Roman Cache’.) Its name just here is Gartree Road, but the whole road is usually known by the Latin name Via D.
Highfields, like Clarendon Park, was largely developed during the 19th century, but with mostly larger houses. For at least the last 50 years it has been less fashionable, with many houses in multiple occupancy. It includes the Leicester Collegiate School, where the famous scientist Alfred Russel Wallace taught in the 1840s (see GC4Z519 ‘Alfred Russel Wallace’). There is again a wide range of places of worship: the huge Melbourne Hall of 1881, the magnificent Leicester Synagogue of 18E8, and the more recent Leicester Central Mosque, the foundation stone of which is dated 19FF.
Stoneygate, the third of the 19th century developments, was and is somewhat more upmarket, with larger houses and gardens. It was named after a 16th century house called ‘The Stoney Gate’, which was the only earlier building in the district until, in an act of outright vandalism, it was demolished in 196G to make way for a block of flats.
Oadby is administratively outside the City of Leicester but is effectively a dormitory suburb. It has housing stock mostly from the past 70 years but has an ancient village centre and a long history: the ‘-by’ ending of the name implies a Norse settlement, and H de Grandmesnil was awarded the Manor of Oadby by William the Conqueror. More recently, John Deacon, bass player of Queen, came from Oadby. The Leicester Tigers training ground is at Oval Park in Oadby.
Glen Parva is notable as the site, until as recently as 1997, of a large eponymous barracks. On a lighter note it is the birthplace of the author Sue Townsend, born in 194J.
Knighton is another ancient village now part of the urban area and inside the administrative city boundary. The ‘-ton’ ending implies that it was a Saxon settlement, so probably older than Oadby. It was mentioned in the Domesday Book as Cnihetone, when it belonged to the Bishop of Lincoln. Notable people include chronicler Henry Knighton, who died in 1K96, and remarkable journalist Clare Hollingworth, whose dates were 19LL-2017.
Stoughton is another Saxon village that is still a village; in LE2 but not part of the urban area and with a population in 2011 of just 3M1. Leicester Airport is nearby.
You should now have 11 small numbers; A, B, D, E, F, G, H, J, K, L, M
The cache is at N52 ab.cde W001 0f.ghj, where
a = B + K - F
b = E + G - M
c = J + M - G
d = D + H - F
e = E + M - A
f = A + L - D
g = J + H - K
h = D + K - L
j = B + G - H
You can check your answer here:
If you wish to add to the Post Code series please contact fly2live2fly on dragon53lady@yahoo.co.uk for a number.