Glenfield, Leicestershire
Encyclopedia : G : GL : GLE : Glenfield, Leicestershire
Glenfield, archaically known as Glenfields, is regarded as a village, though is effectively a suburb of Leicester, England. It is part of the Blaby district, constituting a civil parish, and has a population of about 10,000.
The village is directly to the west of Leicester and is just off junction 21A of the M1 motorway. It is the site of the headquarters of Leicestershire County Council, and of Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service. It also gives its name to Glenfield Hospital, although it is actually across the city border in Leicester.
The majority of the village was built in the 1920s-50s, when the Faire Estate was built. In the 80s and 90s another large estate was built on former farm land behind Ellis Park.
On Station Road there is a large Co-Op superstore with petrol station, Glenfield Television, Glenfield Kitchens, Numark Chemists and a few other small shops. There are also shops around the Square, Stamford Street and Faire Road.
The heart of the community is around the Square, with St Peter's Church (CofE), the church hall and the post office on Church Street, the Methodist Church and Hall and the public library (offering generous Internet access) just inside Station Road, and Park House (parish council), the Memorial Hall, Scout Hut, Playground, Glenfield Primary School and the nursery school all located just inside Stamford Street.
Stamford Street was the home of painter Brian Organ. Salcombe Drive was the home of the pundit Graham Barnfield.
There are a variety of pubs, take-aways, restaurants and hotels in the Glenfield area. In the village centre, The Nag's Head and The Forge (formerly the Griffin) serve pub food. The Railway Inn (near to the site of the former Glenfield Station) is also a popular pub. There are Chinese and fish and chip takeaways in the village. On Dominion Road, there is The Dominion Pub, with Fish and Fry and Trodo's Taverna (Greek) Restaurant directly opposite. Near County Hall is The Gynsills, a large pub and hotel. Heading out towards Groby is The Brant Inn, a traditional English Hotel and pub serving food.
Glenfield has its own village newspaper, The Glenfield Gazette, and the parish council own several areas of recreational land, including Ellis Park, Station Park and the Playing Fields. Near to the Brant is the "Millennium Green", which is managed by a local trust.
Glenfield is only 3 miles away from Leicester, and 1 1/2 miles from the Beaumont Leys Shopping Centre. The M1 can be easily accessed at Junction 21a to the South of the village (Southbound only), which makes Fosse Park accessible. The M1 North can be reached in minutes along the A50 towards Markfield, Groby and Coalville.
The A46 leads around the north of Leicester, with access to Anstey and then the A6 to Loughborough.
Glenfield was the site of the first station from Leicester West Bridge on the Leicester and Swannington Railway opened on 17 July 1832 as the world's third steam railway. Just before reaching the station the line passed through Glenfield Tunnel, which at 1 mile 36 yards long was at the time the world's longest railway tunnel and was built by Robert Stephenson. The Glenfield end of the tunnel can still be seen.
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