Being serious I suspect it will be a mix of history and culture .. Leicester (as all 'cesters') was a Roman settlement and there are a number of architectural Roman remnants throughout the city (indeed the Fosse Way - is a Roman road that runs through the City) and we have two or three quite impressive museums. The City was also significant in both English Civil wars as the recent excavation of Richard III's remains have evidenced. We also have some impressive architecture - eg the train station is a smaller version of St Pancras (designed by the same architect) - we also have one of the first permanent markets established in England which has always encouraged thriving commerce etc. I suspect that a lot will be made of the redevelopment of the town centre and the swish café quarter and surrounding shops. Whether we can win the award or not, I really have no idea - but I think that it's good that it's between Hull, Leicester and Swansea - may have mentioned that my Missus comes from near Swansea before? - what I can say is that Swansea has undergone phenomenal redevelopment in the 18 or so years that we have been together and the region along the bay is incredibly swish ... should make for an interesting contest.
[video=youtube;EzKD_qrE1lQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzKD_qrE1lQ[/video] The real Hull......as it was early 80s.
Richard IIIs remains however should be buried in York. Regardless of whether he was dug up in a council car park in Leicester.
Yes he is originally from Scunthorpe but literally THE main element of this film is about people moving to Hull and choosing to stay, just like he did. Did you actually even watch it?!? Surely the fact he CHOSE to move to Hull rather than being born here is even better. And he didn't / doesn't hate Hull at all.
hmmm sure you have your reasons for that ... personally I'm rather ambivalent but whilst admittedly he was of the 'House Of York' he was born in Northamptonshire, died in Leicestershire and spent most of his adult life as the Duke of Gloucester ... if pushed, I'd say he ought to be buried in Westminster Abbey as befits a King of the realm ... but as I said, I can't get over excited about it... Leicester historically has commemorated him in many ways with road and place names also schools ...
Something that I found out recently about Richard. After his exile with Edward IV in 1471, they landed back in England in East Yorkshire (they had intended Norfolk but storms pushed the ships further north). They were refused admission to Kingston upon Hull but were able to convince York to let them in (on the grounds that Edward was Duke of York).
I think it was also that Edward suckered them into thinking that he was only after reclaiming his Dukedom rather than the Crown itself ...
Ww were Leicester Fosse up to the outbreak of WWI - when football resumed after the war the old club found itself in financial straights and unable to recommence in the league - Leicester had just been granted 'City' status - so the club was reformed as 'Leicester City' ... when the club once more got into financial difficulties and was in administration in the early part of this century there was a poll to decide on a new entity name - there was quite a lot of support for 'Leicester Fosse' (including my vote ) but the majority wanted to retain 'City' ... something you'll appreciate
Only just had a chance to see this great video about a city that has been kicked from pillar to post since the Luftwaffe finally left us alone but only for various governments to carry on with the destruction ever since. Investment has mostly gone further down the M62, which incidentally didn't ever reach Hull, and we sometimes got the crumbs, and more often not even the crumbs. One thing I have learned and in fact seen through these forums was what an elegant place Hull was before WW2, fine buildings fine architecture, and some of the pictures on other threads have been absolutely stunning. Yes there were slums east, west and north of the city but still very little help from any government to replace them. We did get new housing the results were a disaster, in a word Bransholme. Knocking down the slum areas of Hessle Road and moving everyone and their way of life to an area totally alien to them led, I believe, to some of the problems that arose in later years. Yes modern housing more or less in the countryside but nothing else, no shops no facilities for anyone so for all those displaced people it was a daily trek back down to Hessle Road to do the same things and use the same shops they had used for years. Bransholme has had a bad press for many years but for many the lure of inside toilets, bathrooms, proper heating were not sufficient compensation for the loneliness many suffered when their menfolk went back to sea, Bransholme was not the problem in itself but the whole planning and implementation was. Of course there were other estates built, Boothferry, Bilton Grange, Lonhill, Greatfield, over a period of time but none had the problems to begin with that Branshomle had and I have to say that even though they knocked the slums down on Hessle Road it is now a shadow of its former shopping mecca self. Ironically Bransholme now has its own shopping area, which if had been built in the first place might have helped people adjust more to the move but it wasn't and I can only hope that things like this bid is the start of better things for the city, shame Maureen Lipman couldn't be persuaded to appear along with Tom or maybe she was unavailable. On another note the Hessle Road video was an eye opener as well but I still see rag and bone men around the streets of Hull no goldfish in jam jars though.
