Leicestershire (like Derbyshire) lays claim to having a village furthest from the sea. This quiet county (also full of canals) is the ‘county of firsts’. It’s the birthplace of the English language and the motor car (good or bad, you decide).
the county where ‘Sir David’ was raised
98-year old Sir David Attenborough is England’s national treasure, and when he does one day leave our beautiful planet, he leaves behind a beautiful legacy on caring for the natural world. It’s safe to say that his TV programs are the reason why every website these days has a ‘sustainability page’, as people now ask how items are packaged. He has done more to help the planet, than any MP.
Born in London, Sir David was raised on campus at Leicester University (his father was the Principal), which is where his love of learning stemmed from. He has always lived simply (he sends letters over emails and never learned to drive), and has a degree in natural sciences (and also studied geology and zoology at Cambridge University).
birthplace of the Quaker religious movement
Leicestershire is where the Quaker (Society of Friends) took off. Quakers broke away from the Church of England, after George Fox and friends became disillusion and preferred to focus on the real peace & simplicity message of Jesus Christ (most are vegetarian pacifists who campaign for environmental & animal welfare issues, world peace and prison reform).
birthplace of England’s vegan lifestyle movement
Although the Vegan Society was for years situated in Hastings (East Sussex) and now operates from Birmingham, it began here in Leicestershire, when Donald Watson first coined the term, after witnessing a terrified pig being slaughtered on a relative’s farm. His sister and brother soon followed suit, with his mother remarking she felt ‘like a hen who had hatched a cluck of duck eggs!’
Donald and his wife were passionate about nature, and lived the later years of their lives in Cumbria, where they enjoyed fell walking (he lived to the ripe old age of 95).
