Ashby de la Zouch, sometimes hyphenated as Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and shortened locally to Ashby, is a market town and civil parish in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. The town is near to the Derbyshire and Staffordshire borders. Its 2001 census population of 11,410 rose to 12,370 in 2011. The castle in the town was an important fort in the 15th–17th centuries. In the 19th century the town's main industries were ribbon manufacture, coal mining, and brickmaking.
The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a 31-mile (50 km) long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch in Leicestershire, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, and a number of tramways were constructed at its northern end, to service collieries. The canal was taken over by the Midland Railway in 1846, but remained profitable until the 1890s, after which it steadily declined. Around 9 miles (14 km) passed through the Leicestershire coal field, and was heavily affected by subsidence, with the result that this section from Moira, southwards to Snarestone, was progressively closed in 1944, 1957 and 1966, leaving 22 miles (35 km) of navigable canal.
Donisthorpe is a village in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England, historically an exclave of Derbyshire.
Rannoch Moor is an expanse of around 50 square miles (130 km2) of boggy moorland to the west of Loch Rannoch in Scotland, where it extends from and into westerly Perth and Kinross, northerly Lochaber, and the area of Highland Scotland toward its south-west, northern Argyll and Bute. Rannoch Moor is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation. Much of the western part of the moor lies within the Ben Nevis and Glen Coe National Scenic Area, one of 40 such areas in Scotland.
North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. The population of the Local Authority at the 2011 census was 93,348. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Castle Donington, Coalville and Ibstock.
Measham is a large village in the North West Leicestershire district in Leicestershire, England, near the Derbyshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire boundaries. It lies off the A42, 4+1⁄2 miles (7.2 km) south of Ashby de la Zouch, in the National Forest. Historically it was in an exclave of Derbyshire absorbed into Leicestershire in 1897. The name is thought to mean "homestead on the River Mease". The village was once part of Derbyshire before being transferred to Leicestershire.
Willesley is a village and former civil parish, now in the parish of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, in the North West Leicestershire district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It was originally in Derbyshire. Willesley Hall was the home of the Abney and later the Abney-Hastings family. In 1931 the parish had a population of 80.
Snarestone is a small rural village in North West Leicestershire, England.
Oakthorpe is a village in north-west Leicestershire, England.
Joseph Wilkes (1733–1805) was an 18th-century English industrialist and agricultural improver born in the village of Overseal in Derbyshire but more commonly associated with the village of Measham in Leicestershire.
Overseal is a village and civil parish in South Derbyshire district of Derbyshire, England. It is 3 miles (4.8 km) south of Swadlincote, 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch and 13 miles (21 km) south-southwest of Derby. It had a population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 2,450. Situated within the National Forest area, it is near the villages of Netherseal and Lullington as well as being close to the border with Leicestershire. It is one of the southernmost settlements in Derbyshire.
The Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway was a pre-grouping railway company in the English Midlands, built to serve the Leicestershire coalfield. Both the Midland Railway and the London and North Western Railway (LNWR) wished to build a line on similar alignments, and they agreed to build jointly. Construction began in 1869 and the railway was opened in 1873. It linked Moira and Coalville with Nuneaton. Mineral traffic was busy, and the line formed a useful link for through goods trains. Some long distance passenger operation took place over the line, but it was never successful in carrying passengers.
The River Mease is a lowland clay river in the Midlands area of England. It flows through the counties of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire and forms the administrative border between these counties for parts of its length.
Ashby de la Zouch railway station is a former railway station at Ashby de la Zouch in Leicestershire on the Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line. The Midland Railway opened it in 1849 and British Railways closed it in 1964.
The Ashby Woulds Heritage Trail is a footpath and cycleway along what was formerly the Ashby and Nuneaton railway line between Spring Cottage and Measham, Leicestershire, England, a distance of some 6 km (3.7 mi). There are links to Donisthorpe woodland park, Moira Furnace and Conkers, the main visitor centre for The National Forest, in which the trail now lies.
National Cycle Route 63 is a route of the National Cycle Network, running from Burton on Trent to Wisbech.
Saltersford Wood or Saltersford Valley is a 5.7-hectare (14-acre) Local Nature Reserve north-west of Measham in Leicestershire. It is owned and managed by Leicestershire County Council, and it part of The National Forest. The wood is situated 1 km (0.62 mi) South East of the Saltersford Valley Picnic Area, a twinned Local Nature Reserve also administered by Leicestershire County Council. The two are now separated by Ashby Road and the Donisthorpe Cemetery.
Donisthorpe railway station is a disused railway station that formerly served the village of Donisthorpe, North West Leicestershire, from 1874 to 1931. The station was on the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The site has since been filled in and is now a footpath to Measham and Moira. The only trace of the former railway is the footpath to Measham.
Snarestone railway station is a disused railway station that formerly served the village of Snarestone, North West Leicestershire from 1873 to 1931. The station was on the Ashby and Nuneaton Joint Railway. The station building has since been demolished but the station master's house and goods shed survive as private dwellings. Platforms are also evident but inaccessible.
