Birstall, Leicestershire

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

The Village

Birstall lies on the A6 and is the last major settlement before Leicester when arriving from the north. Birstall thus forms part of the Leicester Urban Area. The village centre lies just off the A6, along Sibson Road. The village contains two supermarkets, a garden centre and a variety of other shops. There are a number of schools, including Highcliffe Primary School, Riverside Primary School, Stonehill High School, Longslade Community College. The village contains the Anglican church of St. James the Great, the St Teresa Roman Catholic church and Birstall Methodist Church.

There is a large housing estate in the north-west of the village, built off of Greengate Lane. This is known unofficially as the Gates estate due to many of the road names ending in the word 'gate'. For example Ambergate Drive, Moorgate Avenue, Holt Road and Saltersgate Drive.

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

To the north of the village, the A6 meets the A46......
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