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Charnwood Forest
Charnwood Forest is a hilly tract in north-western Leicestershire, England, bounded by Leicester, Loughborough and Coalville. The area is undulating, rocky and picturesque, with barren areas. It also has some extensive tracts of woodland; its elevation is generally and upwards, the area exceeding this height being about . The highest point, Bardon Hill, is . On its western flank lies an abandoned coalfield, with Coalville and other former mining villages, now being regenerated and replanted as part of the National Forest. The M1 motorway, between junctions 22 and 23, cuts through Charnwood Forest. The hard stone of Charnwood Forest has been quarried for centuries, and was a source of whetstones and quern-stones. The granite quarries at Bardon Hill, Buddon Hill and Whitwick supply crushed aggregate to a wide area of southern Britain. The forest is an important recreational area with woodland walks, noted for their displays of bluebells in the early spring, rock ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Beacon Hill, Leicestershire
Beacon Hill, near Loughborough, in Leicestershire, England, is a popular country park. It is one of several beacon hills in the United Kingdom. It is part of Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods Site of Special Scientific Interest. Description The park consists of over of grassland and woodland and offers recreational walking, and some short climbs. With a maximum height of , it is the second highest point in Leicestershire after Bardon Hill, although the OS map shows Birch Hill, which is near Copt Oak to be 254m. An extinct volcano, in Whitwick, to the west, was responsible for the fine-grained igneous rocks that the hill consists of. Beacon Hill was the site of a Bronze Age hill fort. Today a toposcope indicates landmarks which can be seen from the summit. These include Lincoln Cathedral and the hills of the Peak District. Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station is aligned so that, seen from the summit, only two of its eight cooling towers are visible. On a clear day Belvoir ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Granite
Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies underground. It is common in the continental crust of Earth, where it is found in igneous intrusions. These range in size from dikes only a few centimeters across to batholiths exposed over hundreds of square kilometers. Granite is typical of a larger family of ''granitic rocks'', or '' granitoids'', that are composed mostly of coarse-grained quartz and feldspars in varying proportions. These rocks are classified by the relative percentages of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase (the QAPF classification), with true granite representing granitic rocks rich in quartz and alkali feldspar. Most granitic rocks also contain mica or amphibole minerals, though a few (known as leucogranites) contain almost no dark minerals. Granite is near ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pꞒ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the Phanerozoic Eon, which is named after Cambria, the Latinised name for Wales, where rocks from this age were first studied. The Precambrian accounts for 88% of the Earth's geologic time. The Precambrian is an informal unit of geologic time, subdivided into three eons ( Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic) of the geologic time scale. It spans from the formation of Earth about 4.6 billion years ago ( Ga) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about million years ago ( Ma), when hard-shelled creatures first appeared in abundance. Overview Relatively little is known about the Precambrian, despite it making up roughly seven-eighths of the Earth's history, and what is known has largely been discovered from the 1960s onwards. The Precambrian fos ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natural England
Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, freshwater and marine environments, geology and soils, are protected and improved. It also has a responsibility to help people enjoy, understand and access the natural environment. Natural England focuses its activities and resources on four strategic outcomes: * a healthy natural environment * enjoyment of the natural environment * sustainable use of the natural environment * a secure environmental future Roles and responsibilities As a non-departmental public body (NDPB), Natural England is independent of government. However, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs has the legal power to issue guidance to Natural England on various matters, a constraint that was not placed on its predecessor NDPBs. Its powers in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Forest
A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the original medieval sense was closer to the modern idea of a "preserve" – i.e. land legally set aside for specific purposes such as royal hunting – with less emphasis on its composition. There are also differing and contextual interpretations in Continental Europe derived from the Carolingian and Merovingian legal systems. In Anglo-Saxon England, though the kings were great huntsmen, they never set aside areas declared to be "outside" (Latin ''foris'') the law of the land.H. R. Loyn, ''Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest'' 2nd ed. 1991:378-82. Historians find no evidence of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs (c. 500 to 1066) creating forests. However, under the Norman kings (after 1066), by royal prerogative forest law was widely applied. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Royal Forest
A royal forest, occasionally known as a kingswood (), is an area of land with different definitions in England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The term ''forest'' in the ordinary modern understanding refers to an area of wooded land; however, the original medieval sense was closer to the modern idea of a "preserve" – i.e. land legally set aside for specific purposes such as royal hunting – with less emphasis on its composition. There are also differing and contextual interpretations in Continental Europe derived from the Carolingian and Merovingian legal systems. In Anglo-Saxon England, though the kings were great huntsmen, they never set aside areas declared to be "outside" (Latin ''foris'') the law of the land.H. R. Loyn, ''Anglo-Saxon England and the Norman Conquest'' 2nd ed. 1991:378-82. Historians find no evidence of the Anglo-Saxon monarchs (c. 500 to 1066) creating forests. However, under the Norman kings (after 1066), by royal prerogative forest law was widely applied. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Borough Of Charnwood
The Borough of Charnwood is a local government district with borough status in the north of Leicestershire, England, which has a population of 166,100 as of the 2011 census. It borders Melton to the east, Harborough to the south east, Leicester and Blaby to the south, Hinckley and Bosworth to the south west, North West Leicestershire to the west and Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire to the north. It is named after Charnwood Forest, an area which the borough contains much of. The administrative centre of the borough is located in Loughborough, which is also the district's largest town and its main commercial centre. The town is also the location of Loughborough University. Other notable settlements include Shepshed, Syston, Birstall and Thurmaston. History The district of Charnwood was formed on 1 April 1974 as a merger of the municipal borough of Loughborough, the Shepshed urban district and the Barrow upon Soar Rural District. It was then granted borough status on 15 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Outwoods, Leicestershire
The Outwoods is a ancient wood and visitor attraction overlooking Loughborough and the Soar Valley in Leicestershire, England. It has rare rock outcrops, many species of woodland plants and substantial wildlife, and it is part of Beacon Hill, Hangingstone and Outwoods Site of Special Scientific Interest. Situated within Charnwood Forest the Outwoods stands on some of the oldest exposed rocks in Britain, being formed in the Precambrian era. The Outwoods is open all year round and the car park and toilets are open from approximately 7am until dusk. Adjacent to the Outwoods is the smaller Jubilee Wood and close by is Beacon Hill Beacon Hill may refer to: Places Canada * Beacon Hill, Ottawa, Ontario, a neighbourhood * Beacon Hill Park, a park in Victoria, British Columbia * Beacon Hill, Saskatchewan * Beacon Hill, Montreal, a neighbourhood in Beaconsfield, Quebec United .... Tourist attractions in Leicestershire Parks and open spaces in Leicestershire {{Leicester ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Swithland Wood
Swithland Wood and The Brand is a biological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Woodhouse Eaves in Leicestershire. Swithland Wood is a Nature Conservation Review site, Grade II. The Brand is designated a Precambrian site in the Geological Conservation Review, but the dating has been changed due to the discovery of trace fossils from the succeeding Cambrian period. Swithland Wood is a public woodland in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire. Although close to the village of Swithland, it is almost entirely within the parish of Newtown Linford, just north of Bradgate Park and also near Woodhouse Eaves and Cropston. The wood is Leicestershire's most important ancient woodland for nature conservation. Quarries within the wood were a source of the distinctive ''Swithland Slate'' roofs found on many local buildings as well as the slate gravestones common in Leicestershire churchyards. Swithland Wood has been a public woodland since 1925, upon its acquisition by th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bradgate Park
Bradgate Park () is a public park in Charnwood Forest, in Leicestershire, England, northwest of Leicester. It covers . The park lies between the villages of Newtown Linford, Anstey, Cropston, Woodhouse Eaves and Swithland. The River Lin runs through the park, flowing into Cropston Reservoir which was constructed on part of the park. To the north-east lies Swithland Wood. The park's two well known landmarks, Old John and the war memorial, both lie just above the contour. The park is part of the 399.3 hectare Bradgate Park and Cropston Reservoir Site of Special Scientific Interest, which has been designated under both biological and geological criteria. Following a fire in April 2017, the owners Bradgate Trust advised that all visitors are expected to be alert to the risk of causing fire, though another fire in June destroyed one of the ancient oaks. History The area now enclosed as Bradgate Park was one of a number of parks surrounding Charnwood Forest. Since medieval t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hillwalking
Walking is one of the most popular outdoor recreational activities in the United Kingdom, and within England and Wales there is a comprehensive network of rights of way that permits access to the countryside. Furthermore, access to much uncultivated and unenclosed land has opened up since the enactment of the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. In Scotland the ancient tradition of universal access to land was formally codified under the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003. In Northern Ireland, however, there are few rights of way, or other access to land. Walking is used in the United Kingdom to describe a range of activity, from a walk in the park to trekking in the Alps. The word "hiking" is used in the UK, but less often than walking; the word rambling (akin to ''roam'') is also used, and the main organisation that supports walking is called The Ramblers. Walking in mountainous areas in the UK is called hillwalking, or in Northern England, including the Lake District and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
