Ashley Heath

Ashley Heath Halt was a railway station on the Southampton and Dorchester Railway formerly in the county of Hampshire (now part of Dorset). Opened in 1927, it served the areas of St Leonards and St Ives as well as the village of Ashley Heath itself. This was an emerging residential area, the northern part of what is now the South East Dorset conurbation. The halt consisted of two concrete platforms each with a shelter. There was also a public siding for goods traffic behind the down (south) side platform. The halt was closed during the Beeching Axe, losing its passenger trains in 1964.

St Leonards and St Ives is a civil parish in Dorset, England. The parish contains the settlements of Ashley Heath, St Ives and St Leonards, which have merged to form a single urban area.

St Leonards is a village in south east Dorset, England, situated on the A31 road approximately 2.5 miles (4.0 km) south-west of Ringwood, Hampshire, 8 miles (13 km) north of Bournemouth and 3 miles (4.8 km) north-east of Ferndown. With adjacent St Ives and Ashley Heath, it forms the civil parish of St Leonards and St Ives, which had a population of 6,859 in 2011. The village is part of the historic county of Hampshire (it was transferred to Dorset for administrative purposes following the Local Government Act 1972). The village has a youth club for ages 10–18 on a Monday and Wednesday, situated in Braeside Park near the village hall and by the scout hut.

Lions Hill (grid reference SU106040) is a 42.9 hectare biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset, notified in 1985.

Moors Valley Country Park, officially Moors Valley Country Park and Forest, is a Country Park jointly managed by Dorset Council and Forestry England situated in Ashley Heath, Dorset on the border with Hampshire, in the south of England. The park has adventure play equipment, a tree top walkway, a 'Go Ape!' high ropes course, a visitor centre and restaurant. There is also a narrow gauge steam railway (the Moors Valley Railway), a golf course, lakes, cycle hire, waymarked walks and cycle routes. A ranger service provides a wide range of events and an educational programme. A parkrun event takes place every Saturday morning at 9am on the park.

St Ives is a village in the county of Dorset in the south of England. It lies close to the border between Dorset and Hampshire, near Ringwood, Verwood and Ferndown. The village is adjacent to St Leonards and Ashley Heath. The parish of St Leonards and St Ives has a population of 6,672 (2001); 41.6% are retired. The joint population including two electoral wards (east & west) had risen to 6,859 at the 2011 Census.The village has a shop and post office, a doctor's surgery, an ex-services club and two public houses. A youth club is situated in Braeside Park, St Leonards, next to the scout hut and the village hall. St Ives First School has 128 students between the ages of 4–9 years old. In 2008 Ofsted described the school as "outstanding". The school contains a swimming pool which is open to the public during the summer months, and holds several community events such as the strawberry fair and Easter fair. To the north is Moors Valley Country Park which has many attractions such as train rides, cycle tracks, a fishing lake and a café. To the south is Avon Heath Country Park which has a large visitor centre, play park and picnic area. To the east of the park, by the river Avon, is Avon Castle, a country house built about 1872 and now divided into apartments.

The Moors Valley Railway is a 7+1⁄4 in (184 mm) narrow gauge passenger railway, in the Moors Valley Country Park at Ashley Heath, Dorset, England near Ringwood in Hampshire. There are 20 steam engines and 2 diesel engines. The railway is fully signalled, with two signal boxes, one in a Great Western Railway style and one in a British Rail Southern Region style. The latter box also contains a mini lever frame and push button panel, for the control of the Lakeside area. The railway was constructed at its present location in 1985/86 and opened to the public in July 1986, after the closure in 1985 of its predecessor at Tucktonia in nearby Christchurch, which had run since 1979. Moors Valley uses a narrow gauge prototype to produce tank engines in which one may sit, allowing running during the harshest of conditions, so much so that it runs throughout the year. A further benefit of the style of locomotives built to this prototype is that, unlike models, and standard gauge 71⁄4 inch locomotives, the locomotives used on the Moors Valley Railway are considerably more powerful due to the increased boiler size that can be achieved through almost freelance prototypes.Roger Marsh was a pioneer of this principle and built Tinkerbell; when this was spotted a tank locomotive, Talos, was ordered and so started the Tinkerbell-class of locomotives. Coincidentally, when Tinkerbell was seen for sale, it was purchased by the then Tucktonia Railway, becoming its second locomotive. Several more were built at Tucktonia, several far more powerful than previous engines, before everything was moved to Moors Valley Railway. Moors Valley Railway owns approximately 12 locomotives and a further 7 are privately owned. Hartfield is the most recent addition, being purchased from an owner who rarely used the loco. 'Hartfield' follows the general idea of Jason (a Tinkerbell variation) as per many other private locomotives. There are many other tender locomotives such as Offa, almost certainly the most powerful 71⁄4 inch gauge locomotive in existence until recently. The carriages at Moors Valley have no roof, but have a bench in the centre to sit on. Each carriage is approximately eight feet long. There are four rakes of eight carriages, in green, brown, olive and red liveries.

Avon Heath Country Park is a Green Flag–awarded park located in St Leonards, Dorset, approx 10 miles north of Bournemouth. The park is dominated by acres of lowland and wetland heath, grassland and heather, while pine and birch woodlands make up much of the rest of the scenery. The park contains internationally important wildlife, including rare species such as sand lizards, smooth snakes, Dartford warblers, woodlarks and the silver-studded blue butterfly. Facilities including a discovery centre, a café that's open daily, picnic areas, a children's adventure playground, and barbecues to hire.

Ebblake Bog is a 11.3-hectare (28-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Dorset and Hampshire, located west of Ringwood. It is part of Dorset Heathlands Ramsar site and Special Protection Area, and of Dorset Heaths Special Area of Conservation,This mire in the valley of the Moors River has a deep layer of peat. It is dominated by willow, bog myrtle, purple moor grass and Sphagnum mosses and there are several shallow pools.

The River Crane is a river in Dorset, United Kingdom. It flows past Cranborne Manor. Near Verwood it becomes the Moors River. The name is a shortening of Cranbourne, meaning a stream frequented by cranes (or herons).

St Leonard's Hospital is a health facility in Ferndown, Dorset, England. It is managed by Dorset HealthCare University NHS Foundation Trust.

Woolsbridge is a village in Dorset, England. Woolsbridge was formerly under the control of the Earl of Normanton and is a part of the civil parish of Cranbourne. It is located near the New Forest.