Guide

Coordinates: 52°46′14″N 1°12′17″W / 52.7705, -1.2046

Loughborough (pronounced locally as either /lɘf.bɘɹɘ/, "LUFF-burra", /lɘf.bɹɘ/, listen (help·info), or "LUFF-bruh"(/ˈlʌfˌb(ə)ɹə/) is a town in Leicestershire, central England with a population of 57,600 as of 2004. It is the largest town in the county (since Leicester is a city). It is the administrative centre for the Charnwood district and home to Loughborough University.

In 1841 Loughborough was the destination for the first ever package tour organised by Thomas Cook, for a local temperance group (see Temperance movement) from Leicester. The town has the world's largest bell foundry — John Taylor Bellfounders — who made the bells for the Carillon war memorial, a landmark in the town.

To the south of the town centre lies the Shelthorpe Estate - a large council estate which was the largest in the country when it was built in the 1920s and 1930s. On the edge of Loughborough to the north, Dishley Grange Farm was the home of agricultural revolutionist Robert Bakewell. The farm was once home to the annual Leicestershire County Show.

Loughborough has its own newspaper and guide, the Loughborough Echo and Loughborough Guide, but in common with many towns and villages in Leicestershire it is also served by the Leicester-based Leicester Mercury.

Loughborough Carillon

Loughborough parish church

The Brush engineering works

Loughborough University

Licenced under GFDL, derived from Wikipedia.