by John Welford

Created on: August 03, 2011   Last Updated: December 21, 2011

The county of Leicestershire can easily be split into two, from a visitor’s perspective, by considering the part to the west of Leicester, which sits roughly at the heart of the county, separately from the part to the east. West Leicestershire is not usually on the tourist’s itinerary, but perhaps it should be, given its history and its pleasant and uncrowded scenery.

In past years this part of the world, particularly the northern half, was typified by its predominant industry of coal-mining, with its attendant spoil heaps and rural despoliation, but Leicestershire escaped the usual accompaniment of mining, namely heavy industry, and so the end of mining in the late 20th century left only rural peace in its wake. However, the countryside did suffer from the detritus of mining (as well as quarrying and clay extraction), which is why this area was designated in 1990 to form part of the new National Forest, extending westwards from here into Derbyshire and Staffordshire.

One aim of the National Forest, which will take 200 years to reach its maturity, is to encourage tourism through the provision of recreational and educational facilities. The HQ of the National Forest Company is at Moira, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch, and close by is “Conkers”, a visitor centre that is designed to appeal to all ages by providing hands-on exhibits, craft demonstrations, woodland walks, activities for children, and much else besides. This is very much a project in development, along with the Forest itself. Visitors can even help the Forest to grow by planting a tree!

Not far from Moira is the National Forest Cycling Centre, where bikes can be hired and ridden along eight miles of trails. There are many more cycle routes in different parts of the Forest, thus enabling recreation and appreciation of the Forest environment to go side by side.

A feature not to be missed in this area is the Moira Furnace, a survival of the Industrial Revolution from the early 19th century. This was an early blast furnace for iron production, but it was only used for a few years because it proved to be uneconomic. It therefore survives as a rare example of industrial archaeology from the period.

Moira Furnace was built next to the Ashby Canal, which snakes southward through the county to Hinckley and beyond. The short stretch at the northern end of the canal is separated from the main canal by a dry section and places where the old canal bed has been used for other purposes. However,

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