Aylestone village and which has housing generally built since 1875. Aylestone Meadows is a large area of playing fields and water-meadow nearby, and contributes to the semi-rural character of the suburb. In 2003 they were designated a Local Nature Reserve. Plans by Leicester City Council to bulldoze an area within the Aylestone Meadows to make way for an artificial sports pitch, single storey clubhouse and car park, were defeated on 21 March 2011 when the Planning Committee rejected the plans. Many groups including the Aylestone Meadows Appreciation Society, Leicester Friends of the Earth, Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust, the Leicester Civic Society, and the Campaign for Rural England, all helped rally support against the plans. It was the first time that an E-Petition on Leicester City Council's website had ever been used. Demography In 2001, the ward of Aylestone had a population of 10,801. The population of the village in 1871 was 450, in 1881 it was 2,546 and in 1891 it was 5,381. Culture and community The Aylestone Boathouse, a large wooden building, was built c. 1911 by Gordon Biggs on the site of a canal wharf close to Middleton Street. Rollers were installed by the side of King's Lock to allow boats to be transferred to the River Soar from the canal. Later a brick-built ballroom and restaurant, and tennis courts, were added. The building was used as an engineering works during World War II. The boathouse was demolished c.1980. The ballroom became a bingo hall, and was eventually demolished and replaced by housing. Transport From Aylestone the canalised River Soar flows northwards to the River Trent. Southwards the Soar was too shallow for navigation, and a canal was dug from a junction with the river just north of the packhorse bridge to Market Harborough, where it connected with the Grand Junction Canal. The section from Loughborough to Aylestone and Blaby was opened in 1794, and the section to Market Harborough in 1809. A horse tram service to Grace Road was started on 7 June 1878. The tramlines were extended to Belvoir Drive in 1884. Leicester Corporation took over the system in 1901, and converted it to electric traction in May 1904, at which time it was extended to a terminus at Wigston Lane. Services ceased on 5 January 1947. The Great Central Railway passed near to the village, on an embankment between and high. Although the line