Charnwood Forest Canal

The A512 is an A road entirely in Leicestershire, UK. It links the primary destination of Loughborough with the M1, A42 road, and the town of Ashby de la Zouch. The road begins just outside Loughborough Town Centre, near to The Rushes (52.7724°N 1.2078°W / 52.7724; -1.2078 (A512 road (eastern end))). It heads out of town, crossing the A6004 Epinal Way and passing Loughborough University. On leaving the town, there is a short dual carriageway section, leading to the junction with Snells Nook Lane to Nanpantan and Woodhouse. After this junction, the road returns to single carriageway for about 1 mile (1.6 km), to Junction 23 of the M1. At this junction, much of the traffic from Loughborough turns off, and it is a much quieter A512 that enters Shepshed. After Shepshed, the road passes through Northern Charnwood Forest, near the villages of Peggs Green, Thringstone, Griffydam, Belton and Osgathorpe. Shortly before Ashby it passes Coleorton Hall on the right – a house which has played host to Scott, Wordsworth, Coleridge and others – now converted to apartments. The road ends at the junction with the A42 and A511 (formerly the A50), on the edge of Ashby (52.7491°N 1.4456°W / 52.7491; -1.4456 (A512 road (western end))). The A512 is 11 miles (18 km) long, with the M1 junction 8 miles (13 km) from the southern end.

West Goscote was a hundred of Leicestershire, that arose from the division of the ancient Goscote hundred into two. It covers the north west of the county, an area broadly corresponding to the western part of Charnwood district along with North West Leicestershire. The hundred's main town was Loughborough. Other settlements include Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Coalville and Overseal (now in Derbyshire). The hundred was created by the subdivision of the Goscote hundred in 1346.

Blackbrook Reservoir is a 33.4-hectare (83-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Shepshed and Whitwick in Leicestershire.The reservoir was constructed in 1796 in order to feed the Charnwood Forest Canal, which has long since vanished. The first dam constructed was an earthworks one, and this failed on 20 February 1799. In eleven minutes the reservoir was empty and as a result local farmland was ruined, sheep were drowned, and much of Shepshed and nearby Loughborough were affected by flood waters. The dam was repaired in 1801, but the canal was no longer commercially viable. The present gravity dam was constructed in 1906 and was officially opened by the first Mayor of Loughborough Joseph Griggs. In 1957 the dam felt the effects of a magnitude 5.3 earthquake. The tremors caused heavy coping stones to shift and cracks appeared in the faces of the dam. The reservoir has a plant community on its margins which is unique in the Midlands and only found in a few northern sites. Its unusual mix of flora includes Juncus filiformis at its most southern locations, and the lake itself has native white-clawed crayfish, where it is isolated from the invasive American signal crayfish.One Barrow Lane crosses the south-eastern end of the reservoir. The lane is carried by the One Barrow Viaduct, a blue brick construction consisting of three arches. Previously it served as the entranceway drive to the now demolished One Barrow Lodge Farm. This is a public footpath which eventually leads you out on the Oaks Road, near Mount St Bernard Abbey. The dam and reservoir is managed by Severn Trent and is currently in a redundant state. There is strictly no access to the dam which is on private land - a part of the Grace Dieu & Longcliffe Estate.

Shepshed Cutting is a 6.0 hectares (15 acres) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest west of Shepshed in Leicestershire.The Triassic deposits in Shepshed Cutting are unique, with a flat sheet of galena resting on red clay, and the whole enclosed in sandstone. The site is described by Natural England as "of international importance for developing a better understanding of the origins of mineral deposits and the processes which form them".A public footpath runs through the site.

Grace-Dieu () is a placename situated in Leicestershire, England. Its toponymy, meaning "Grace (of) God" in French, is from nearby Grace Dieu Priory, which was established in the 13th century but was left in disrepair after the Dissolution of the Monasteries by King Henry VIII. The priory ruins are visible from the main road to Loughborough. Grace Dieu Manor, located in close proximity to Thringstone, was initially a private residence and later served as a preparatory school, known as Grace Dieu Manor School. At present, the population is recorded in the civil parish of Belton. Gracedieu Vineyard is situated in Charnwood Forest, facing south. It was established in 1991 and has gained a reputation for producing high-quality wine, particularly its "Green Man" wine, which is made from the Madeleine Angevine grape and is noted for its fragrant floral aroma.

Mount St Bernard Abbey is a Roman Catholic, Trappist monastery near Coalville, Leicestershire, England, founded in 1835 in the parish of Whitwick and now in that of Charley. The abbey was the first permanent monastery to be founded in England since the Reformation and is the sole Trappist house in England. The monks brew the only Trappist beer in Britain.

Grace Dieu Manor School was a private Catholic preparatory school at Grace-Dieu, near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded in May 1933 by the Rosminians as a prep school for Ratcliffe College, and occupied the 19th-century Grace Dieu Manor, which has about 120 acres (50 hectares) of grounds. The school closed in July 2020 and the site placed on the market.

Grace Dieu Manor is a 19th-century country house near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England, occupied by Grace Dieu Manor School until 2020. It is a Grade II listed building.

One Barrow Plantation is a 1.8 hectares (4.4 acres) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) south-west of Shepshed in Leicestershire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site. Part of the site is in the Blackbrook Reservoir biological SSSI.This site exposes rocks dating to the late Precambrian, around 600 million years ago. The deposits are mainly volcanic ash, thought to have been deposited in the sea from volcanoes on neighbouring islands similar to those now found on the western edge of the Pacific Ocean.The site is private land with no public access. No geology is visible.

Grace Dieu and High Sharpley is an 86 hectare biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Coalville and Shepshed in Leicestershire. Grace Dieu Quarry is a Geological Conservation Review site.This site is composed of several fragments of the formerly extensive Charnwood Forest, and it has diverse habitats of heath, woodland, rock, scrub and acid grassland. Grace Dieu Quarry exhibits a thin marine Lower Carboniferous layer of Carboniferous Limestone, close to the Midland shoreline around 340 million years ago.Roads and footpaths go through some areas of the site.

Grace Dieu Halt railway station was a station on the Charnwood Forest Railway. At 52.761485°N 1.354311°E near the hamlet of Grace-Dieu, Leicestershire. On the outskirts of Whitwick. Opened in 1907 as a stop on the line between Loughborough Derby Road and Coalville East. The station closed in 1931 when passenger services on the line with withdrawn. Today, nothing remains of the halt and the trackbed is now a footpath. Nearby is also Grace Dieu Priory and Manor School, which were served by the halt.

The Grace Dieu Priory was an independent Augustinian priory near Thringstone in Leicestershire, England. It was founded around 1235-1241 by Roesia de Verdun and dissolved in October 1538. It was dedicated to the Holy Trinity and St Mary. Today the site is managed by the Friends of Grace Dieu Priory, a charitable group of volunteers who fundraise to care for the site, and keep it open to the public for free.