Merry Lees railway station

Merry Lees is a small settlement and industrial park located in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. It forms as part of the Bagworth and Thornton civil parish. According to the 2001 census, the parish had a population of 1,836.Merry Lees is best known for its industrial estate. There are very few housing estates, however, various farms are situated in and around the area. Notable nearby places include Thornton, Desford, Botcheston, and Newbold Verdon. There are 2 housing groups: the old Merry lees pit houses of the miners from the mine that was there until the early-1970s, and the private houses on Merry lees Road on the road to Thornton. When the railway line used to take passengers (closed for passengers in 1968) there was a halt at the bridge in Merry Lees.

Thornton is a village in and former civil parish, now in the parish of Bagworth and Thornton, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in the county of Leicestershire, England. It is a linear village lying along a scarp overlooking Thornton Reservoir. The Church of England parish church of St Peter was built in the 13th century. The church door was originally at Ulverscroft Priory. The priory door is inside the church and not its main external door. It is believed that the door was the only compensation received for the loss of tithes due to the Reformation of Henry VIII. It was reported in November 2011 that the church is being split in two by subsidence. In 1931 the parish had a population of 711. On 1 April 1935 the parish was abolished and merged with Bagworth.The first historical notice of Thornton, otherwise called "Torinton" is that in the Domesday Book completed in 1086 AD. In it Thornton, or Torentum, comes under the manor of Bagworde (Bagworth).Benefactions. There were many in the parish but the following 2 are most significant. 1. In 1630 Luke Jackson gave by will one third of the tithes of Stanton Under Bardon in the parish of Thornton to the poor of the parish for ever. This benefitted the vicar of Thornton to the tune of £2 for preaching 2 sermons on 28 July each year in remembrance of the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 and on 5 November in commemoration of deliverance from the Gunpowder Plot of 1605. This benefaction comes from the fact that Mr Jackson acquired the tithes at the time of the Reformation when in fact they were rightly belonging to the Church. 2. William Grundy of Thornton, gentlemen, gave by will, a house and garden in Thornton to the poor forever.Railway From 1832 until 1871 Thornton was served partly by Merry Lees railway station on the Leicester and Swannington Railway. The Stag and Castle Inn built in 1832 served as a station in Thornton Hollow, part way between Thornton and Bagworth until 1865.On 4 May 1833 an accident occurred at Thornton Lane level crossing (now a bridge). The gates had been left open and a train ran into a horse and cart, the driver of which had not heard the engine driver's bugle. The Company had to pay for a new horse and cart along with fifty pounds of butter and eighty dozen eggs. George Stephenson, the line being laid out by Robert Stephenson in 1832, devised the steam whistle. It was constructed by a Leicester musical instrument maker and of course it became standard equipment on most steam trains afterwards.Thornton Reservoir has an area of 75 acres (30 ha). It was constructed in 1851 and during excavation traces of a presumed Roman road were seen. It is no longer used as a source of drinking water and was opened for trout fishing in the mid 1970s. Severn Trent Water opened it to the public for walking in 1997. There is 1 public house here, The Bricklayers Arms., along with a Working Men's Club. The Bulls Head, laterly known as the Reservoir Inn closed for good in 2019. It was once the site of a slaughter house though it is unclear whether this was at the same time that it was a drinking establishment. The building is being converted into a number of apartments. Thornton was originally a farming village but, with the coming of the collieries in Bagworth and the Coalville area, many miners lived in Thornton too. There was no colliery or mine workings in Thornton and it is understood that underground faults made any coal under Thornton unworkable. Some believe that the collieries of Desford and Bagworth failed to mine below Thornton, and thus deny it the ravages of subsidence, as it may have caused severe damage to the railway or drained the reservoir, this is hearsay. Bagworth Heath Woods now stands on the site of Desford colliery. Desford Colliery being the nearest one to Thornton closed in 1984 Nearby is Brown's Wood, formerly Manor Farm Woodland, which was planted in part due to the heavy metal group Iron Maiden liaising with The Carbon Neutral Company to plant enough saplings to offset the carbon dioxide generated by the production and distribution of their 2003 album Dance of Death.

Thornton Reservoir is a small reservoir situated in the National Forest near the village of Thornton in Leicestershire. It has a surface area of 75 acres (300,000 m2) and a perimeter of 2.45 miles (3.94 km). It was originally built in 1854 when it had its own treatment works which were situated to the south of the current dam. It is now owned by Severn Trent and the water is treated a few miles away at Cropston Reservoir to which it runs via Rothley Brook. The reservoir is fed by two small streams which enter from the north via two weirs. Rothley Brook takes water away from the south. Since 1997 the reservoir and the surrounding land has been open to the public. Facilities include a small visitor centre, a sculpture trail, a woodland walk and a game fishery. Within the visitor centre is a small cafe and a bait shop which opens at 7.30am daily. Boats can be hired from 8.30am and the most common species of fish are trout. The National Cycle Network also runs around the reservoir.Planning for the reservoir began in 1847. The design included a dam where Locky Bridge had previously stood, the reservoir fed by Carr Brook and Thornton Brook. Behind the dam were two filtration tanks, and from there the water was carried via gravitation to a storage reservoir in Oadby. Supply from the reservoir began in 1853, with Thomas Cook's Temperance Hall the first building to receive water from it. The reservoir was thought sufficient to serve Leicester's population of 58,000 at the time, delivering 1.6 million gallons per day, and was the main source of water for the city until the opening of Bradgate Reservoir in 1871. The surface area was originally calculated at 55 acres with the capacity 229 million gallons. The estimated cost of building the reservoir was £80,000.The reservoir was taken out of use in 1982, but was opened up to the public in 1997, with paths around the edge and a trout fishery on the west bank.

Tropical Birdland in the north of the village of Desford, Leicestershire, England, is a visitor attraction that has many bird species including parrots, toucans, hornbills and owls on display. Some of the birds are allowed to fly out-of-doors during visiting hours.

Bagworth Heath Woods is a 75-hectare (185-acre) country park on the location of the former Desford Colliery, in Leicestershire, England consisting of woodland, grassland, heathland, lakes and ponds. The site was built on the land of a reclaimed coal mine. The site is linked to Thornton and Bagworth by the 100-mile circular walk around Leicestershire called the Leicestershire Round.

Botcheston is a hamlet in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire about 6.5 miles (10.5 km) west of Leicester. It is in the civil parish of Desford and about a mile north of the village. The population is included in the civil parish of Desford. Botcheston's only Grade II* listed building is the War Memorial North of Polebrook House commemorating 36 attendees of the hamlet's former Industrial School for Boys who gave their lives during World War One, which now functions as a residential home.Records of Botcheston date back to 1846, when it was regarded as a 37 person hamlet. The hamlet's history can be further dated back to 1575, albeit as footnote. Botcheston has about 200 households, a public house dating back to 1863 and a village hall. The Greyhound is credited with being a venue for numerous up-and-coming Leicestershire-based bands over the years, and has seen Kasabian, Perfume and The Young Knives perform. Included amongst Botcheston's other amenities are the Botcheston Bog a noted Site of Special Scientific Interest, Botcheston Wicksteed Park Stadium a leisure park frequently used by local amateur football teams, and Forest Hill Golf Course on the backdrop of the National Forest.

Botcheston Bog is a 2.9-hectare (7.2-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest near Botcheston, west of Leicester.This grazed marsh on peaty soil is dominated by carnation sedge, hard rush, creeping bent and meadowsweet. Other plants include several which are rare in the county.The site is private land with no public access.

Desford is a village and civil parish in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of England, 7 miles (11 km) west of the centre of Leicester and around 7 miles north east of Hinckley. Situated on a hill approximately 400 feet above sea level, the parish includes the hamlets of Botcheston and Newtown Unthank and a scattered settlement at Lindridge. The population at the 2021 census had increased to 4,592. Desford is in the Doomsday Book of 1086 but the name itself is older than that meaning Deor's Ford suggesting an Anglo Saxon origin. Another suggestion is that it means 'ford frequented with wild animals'.

Desford railway station was a railway station in Leicestershire, England on the Leicester and Swannington Railway, which later became part of the Midland Railway's Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line.

Bosworth Academy (formerly Bosworth Community College) is a coeducational secondary school located in Desford, Leicester, England and is part of the LiFE Multi-Academy Trust. It was a Sports College under the UK's Specialist School Programme, a status which was attained in 2003. The majority of students transfer to the school at the age of 11 from Primary Schools within the catchment area. The Executive Headteacher of the LiFE Multi-Academy Trust is Chris Parkinson and the Head of School for Bosworth Academy is Simon Brown.

Newtown Unthank is a hamlet in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire about 6 miles (10 km) west of Leicester. It is in the civil parish of Desford and about a mile northeast of the village. Newtown Unthank was the site of Desford railway station on the Leicester and Swannington Railway, which became part of the Leicester to Burton-upon-Trent Line. The station was closed in the 20th century; the railway between Leicester and Burton-upon-Trent remains open for freight trains.

South Charnwood High School is a mixed secondary school located between the villages of Markfield and Thornton in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire. The school was established in 1935 thus various additions to the school have been made since. The current headmaster is Mr Simon Andrews. In 1975, the school began enrolling pupils at the school one year prior than the usual transfer system. Pupils transfer from locations situated in the catchment area, such as; Markfield, Thornton Many pupils are also from Bagworth, Stanton-under-Bardon, and Leicester Forest East. However, the school admits youngsters from areas outside catchment. Students used to leave when aged 14, and usually transferred to Bosworth Academy or Groby Community College. An inspection early in 2005 described the school to be good as of gathering the idea that the school has high standards and achievement, as well as student support. In 2010, the school was rated 'outstanding' overall by Ofsted. From September 2014, the school changed to become an 11-16 secondary school. Morris' predecessor - James Etchingham - is the father of ITV News at Ten newsreader Julie Etchingham.