Market Harborough is located in a rural part of south Leicestershire, in a valley across which runs the river Welland. The town grew as the result of being a convenient spot for coaches to change horses on journeys between London and York, and places beyond. Market Harborough also became a central and popular place within the Fox Hunting scene, and the Fernie Hunt still have kennels nearby. With the rise of the cannal transport system the town also provided narrow boat building and chandlery for the Grand Union Canal (the service 'basin' for which has now been redeveloped with shops and flats, and still plays host to leisure boating). The nearby Foxton Locks are a popular tourist attraction. Many of the high street buildings are descended from Coaching Inns, and several streets are named after long - since - gone Public Houses. During the 19th. Century, the town became famous for Symingtons (inventors and manufacturers of the once popular 'Liberty Boddice') and during the early part of the 20th.Century it played a key part in the local shoe industry (Dainite Rubber) and battery production. Both these industries have now ceased. Being on the Midland Mainline Railway route, Market Harborough became a popular spot for commuting London business people to live, and also offered a peaceful rural retreat for many of the industrial rich from nearby Leicester (with money made from the fabric and garment industry during the first half of the 20th. century - an industry which has now fallen into decline with the competition of cheap clothing imports from the far east etc.) With the boom in house prices within the Market Harborough area, came significant new house building, and the population of the town doubled in only a period of 25 years. Unfortunatly the town has fallen behind in it's provision of entertainment for the younger population which resulted from this population increase. Instead, the local council has seemed more concerned with making money from ill conceived 'Paid Parking' schemes, and over zealous traffic control projects. The worst of which is a one-way traffic system that routes all traffic through the town centre, and has numerous conflicting traffic light controls, which result in slow moving traffic jams at key times of day. Previous self regulating, and decorative, roundabouts in the town centre were removed, and two way streets restricted to one way, making a mockery of Abbey Street, Fairfield Road, and Coventry Road as previously sensible ways of filtering traffic away from the town centre. The perfectly adequate car parking, and convenient short-stay street parking, were converted to 'Pay & Display Parking' which is zealously policed at great cost. This system has placed a virtual £15 per week 'tax' on town workers, with the council giving scant thought to the provision of affordable (or reliable) local public transport. Happy to take the money, the council has ignored the transport needs of the local villages, from where many town centre workers are forced to travel by car. Justified by poorly conceived 'eco - friendly' mantras, the council are happy to see queues of standing vehicles giving off far more pollution than the previously swift flowing self-regulating traffic from times before their self indulgent schemes. Local Chamber of Commerce and public views were largely ignored by the town planners and elected officials, many of whom do not live in the town, and to whom the scheme was seen mostly with personal career enhancing motives. More on Market Harborough 

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