Birstall

? @ is a large village north of Leicester in Leicestershire, England.

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It lies on the A6 and is the last major settlement before Leicester when heading from the North. The village centre lies just off the A6, along Sibson Road. There is a supermarket, a garden centre and various other shops. There are various schools, including Riverside Primary School, Stonehill High, and Longslade Community College.

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There is a large housing estate to the North-West of the village, towards Beaumont Leys known unofficially as the Gates estate because many of the road names end in the word 'gate'.

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The Grand Union Canal runs through the bottom end of the village, separating it from Watermead Park, a series of lakes in the bottom of the Soar Valley, which have been set aside as a recreational area and country park.

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The Great Central Railway steam railway has its southern terminus near the village, where the A6 meets the Leicester outer ringroad at Red Hill Circle. The railway also forms the boundary of the southern end of Birstall Golf Club.

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To the north of the village, the A6 meets the A46 Leicester Western Bypass and then continues on towards Loughborough along the Soar Valley, and so on to the North of England.

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Birstall is twinned with Rixensart, Belgium.

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Leicester: Leicester (pronounced ) is a city in the English East Midlands, on the River Soar. It is the traditional county town of Leicestershire, and since 1997 has been a self-governing unitary authority. It lies on the edge of the National Forest. In 2002 the population of the city proper was estimated at ...

Leicestershire: Leicestershire (abbreviated Leics) is a landlocked county in central England. It takes its name from the heavily populated City of Leicester: traditionally its administrative centre, although the City of Leicester unitary authority is today administered separately from the rest of Leicestershire. T...

England: :For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology)....