Rushey Mead

Rushey Mead is an area, suburb, electoral ward and administrative division of the city of Leicester, England. The population of the ward at the 2011 census was 15,962.[1] It comprises the northern Leicester suburb of Rushey Mead in its entirety, as well as historical parts of Northfields and Thurmaston.

Rushey Mead
Rushey Mead
Location within Leicestershire
Population15,962 (2011)
Unitary authority
Ceremonial county
Region
CountryEngland
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townLEICESTER
Postcode districtLE4
Dialling code0116
PoliceLeicestershire
FireLeicestershire
AmbulanceEast Midlands
UK Parliament

The electoral ward of Rushey Mead includes parts of the neighbouring suburb and Leicester area of Belgrave.

Geography
Rushey Mead within Leicester

Rushey Mead is bounded by the wards of Humberstone & Hamilton and Charnwood to the east and south-east and Belgrave to the south and west.[2] North and north-west of Rushey Mead are the Leicestershire villages of Thurmaston and Birstall in the borough of Charnwood.

History

Rushey Mead was originally a part of the Thurmaston civil parish during the 19th century. The modern day suburb was split from Thurmaston and gazetted as a "Thurmaston Urban District" in 1894, before being annexed to the City of Leicester in 1935, when it was renamed Rushey Mead.

The GE Thorn Lighting Factory on Melton Road opened in 1946 producing light bulbs.

Former GE Lighting Factory on Melton Road

The site of the Former GE Thorn Lighting Factory is now occupied by a Sainsbury’s Supermarket. There is now a large metallic tree built opposite the former site on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way called The World Tree, wiry there being a map of the world on the base of the tree. This was built in honour of the former factory.

Jesse Jackson, the American politician who was twice a Democratic Party candidate for nomination in elections to be President of the United States visited Rushey Mead on 5 December 2015 to open a park named in his honour.[3]

Education

Schools in the area

Primary schools: Wyvern Primary, Herrick Primary, Sandfield Primary and Rushey Mead Primary.

Rushey Mead Academy

Secondary schools: Rushey Mead Academy, which is the best state-funded secondary school in Leicester and Leicestershire[4] and Soar Valley College.

Gleneagles Avenue, where in which Soar Valley College is located

The World Tree

Located in Rushey Mead, on the corner of Melton Road and Troon Way, is a 5m high steel tree sculpture with bronze light bulbs on the branches. It stands opposite the former site of the GE-Thorn Lighting factory, which a Sainsbury's supermarket now occupies. It cost £62,000 and was paid for by Sainsbury's. It was unveiled on the 4th of March 2016 by the Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow in the attendance of Mayor of Leicester Peter Soulsby and Leicester East MP Keith Vaz.[5][6]

Places of Interest

Area

The electoral ward of Rushey Mead contains parts of the neighbouring area and suburb of Belgrave meaning that despite them street’s actually geographical location they may also be classed as being in Rushey Mead by virtue of the electoral ward mapping.

Agar Street in the neighbouring area of Belgrave is within the Rushey Mead electoral ward

Shopping

There is a large Sainsbury’s supermarket on Melton Road including a garage and café.

Transport

Bus

The Number 22 First bus travels from Leicester City Centre through neighbouring area Belgrave on the A607 Belgrave Road and then Melton Road, then turning onto Marfitt Street, carrying on to Gipsy Lane and then Barkby Road before entering Rushey Mead on Wyvern Avenue and carrying on up Gleneagles Avenue before turning around on Trevino Drive, just before the Leicestershire county boundary and the village of Thurmaston.

The Number 21 First service travels from Leicester City Centre and through the St Matthew's estate before getting on to Catherine Street and then passing through Rushey Mead and then on to Charnwood before eventually reaching its terminus in the nearby county village of Thurmaston.

Arriva services 5, 5A and 6 travelling to and from Thurmaston, East Goscote and Melton Mowbray in Leicestershire travel through Rushey Mead on the A607 Belgrave and Melton Roads.

The nearest bus stations, both located in Leicester City Centre are The Haymarket Bus Station, where buses to or from Rushey Mead start and terminate at and St Margaret's Bus Station, which is mostly used for trips.

Train

The nearest Train Station is Syston Railway Station, located in Syston, 2.2 miles away from Rushey Mead.

Airport

The nearest airport is East Midlands Airport, located in Leicestershire and 19.8 miles away from Rushey Mead.

Politics

Rushey Mead is located within the Leicester East parliament constituency, a seat held by the Labour Party consistently since 1987 albeit with a significantly reduced majority in the General Election of 2019 though reflecting a widespread national trend for the Labour Party in that particular election.

Rushey Mead is represented on Leicester City Council by Labour Councillors Ross Willmott, a former leader of the city council and the Labour Party candidate for Leicestershire Police and Crime Commissioner, Piara Singh Clair MBE, the deputy city mayor and cabinet member for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Services and Rita Patel, the assistant city mayor and cabinet member for Equalities and Special Projects and founder of the Peepul Centre, located in the neighbouring area of Belgrave and close to Leicester City Centre.

Rushey Mead was represented within the East Midlands parliamentary constituency in the European Parliament.

Council Election Results

Rushey Mead 2019
Rushey Mead[7]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rita Patel 4,118
Labour Piara Singh Clair 3,786
Labour Ross Willmott 3,320
Conservative Geeta Mahesh Karavadra 1166
Conservative Sudhir Odedra 998
Conservative Heten Tejura 883
Liberal Democrats Hash Chandarana 556
Liberal Democrats Nitesh Pravin Dave 554
Green Anne Louise Scott 451
Majority
Turnout

Rushey Mead 2015
Rushey Mead
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Rita Patel 4,597
Labour Piara Singh Clair 4,584
Labour Ross Willmott 4,390
Conservative Hemubhai Chandarana 1797
Conservative Rashmi Vyas 1702
Conservative Sarban Singh 1389
Liberal Democrats Hash Chandarana 586
Green Nimit Jethwa 513
UKIP Keith Agius 472
UKIP Adam Barker 399
UKIP Kyle Perkins 353
Liberal Democrats Nitesh Dave 327
Liberal Democrats Jaswinder Kaur 305
LICC Leila Khamis 117
Majority
Turnout 66.4
Labour hold Swing

Sport

Highfield Rangers F.C. is based in Rushey Mead. They are currently members of the Leicestershire Senior League Division One.

Notable people

Actresses Parminder Nagra and Rakhee Thakrar went to Soar Valley College within Rushey Mead.

References
  1. "City of Leicester ward population 2011". Neighbourhood Statistics. Office for National Statistics. Retrieved 5 June 2016.
  2. Leicester City Council. "Ward Maps". Retrieved 11 October 2011.
  3. "Jesse Jackson visits Rushey Mead to open Park named in his honour". BBC. 5 December 2013. Retrieved 19 June 2020.
  4. "Best Schools in Leicestershire". Leicestershire Live. 25 June 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  5. "Leicester gets World Tree". Asian Lite News. 10 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  6. "World Tree Leicester". Geograph. 13 March 2016. Retrieved 6 March 2019.
  7. "Rushey Mead statement of persons nominated" (PDF). Retrieved 17 April 2019.
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