Charley Woods

Charley is a civil parish located in the North West Leicestershire district of Leicestershire, England. According to the 2001 census, it had a population of 203, increasing to 236 at the 2011 census. It is set within the Charnwood Forest. The name 'Charley' means 'wood/clearing with a cairn'.A quarry within the parish was the source of Charley Forest whetstones.Charley is near to Shepshed, Copt Oak and Whitwick. The parish of Charley contains Mount Saint Bernard Abbey and the hamlet of Oaks in Charnwood. The parish church of St James the Greater, Oaks in Charnwood was consecrated on 18 June 1815, the same day as the Battle of Waterloo and a selection of French lances captured from the battle can be seen inside the church, mounted on the north wall.

Charley Priory was a small former priory in Leicestershire, England.

Oaks in Charnwood is a hamlet of scattered houses in the English county of Leicestershire within the Charnwood Forest. Oaks in Charnwood is located in and is part of the Civil Parish of Charley in North West Leicestershire. The ecclesiastical Parish of Oaks in Charnwood extends to the north of the Charley civil parish boundary, into the Shepshed civil parish. The centre of this small hamlet is the Church of St. James the Greater, which lies in a valley. The church, erected in 1815 and consecrated on the day of Waterloo, was rebuilt and enlarged in 1883, it is of forest stone in the Early English style and has an embattled western tower with a small pyramid roof. A feature of the church is a collection of French lances mounted on the north wall of the church, said to have been retrieved from the field at Waterloo. The church was part of a united benefice with Saint Peter's, Copt Oak. It is linked with the church of Saint Botolph, Shepshed.Opposite the Church of St. James the Greater is Oaks and District Tennis Club, a not-for-profit club, with three tennis courts. The Oaks is also the site of a campsite for Scouts.

Charnwood Lodge is a 134.2-hectare (332-acre) biological and geological Site of Special Scientific Interest in Charnwood Forest, east of Coalville in Leicestershire. It is a national nature reserve, and contains two Geological Conservation Review sites. It is managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.This is the largest area of moorland in the East Midlands, and it is mainly covered by bracken on dry hills, while wet heath is dominated by purple moor-grass. The site is geologically important for the 'bomb' rocks, volcanic blocks dating the Ediacaran period around 600 million years ago.Part of the site is open to the public, with access from Warren Hills Road.

Abbots Oak is a hamlet near Coalville, Leicestershire, comprising a cluster of dwellings near Warren Hills, either side of the road between Whitwick and Copt Oak. There is a public house here called The Bull's Head, which claims the distinction of being the highest public house in Leicestershire, at seven hundred and eighty seven feet above sea level.The hamlet also contains the Abbots Oak Country House, which is a Grade II listed building. The house is built of Charnwood granite and has an imposing tower with a fine wooden staircase; its listing description ascribes a mid-nineteenth century origin.

Copt Oak is a hamlet in Leicestershire, England. It is located in the North West Leicestershire district near the large village of Markfield and the rural hamlets of Abbots Oak, Charley, Ulverscroft, and Nanpantan. In its name, cop is an old English word for head, i.e. "pollarded oak" (literally "[be]headed oak").

Ives Head is a 5 hectares (12 acres) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest south of Shepshed in Leicestershire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.This site exposes volcaniclastic sandstones dating to the late Precambrian, around 600 million years ago. It is important for the global understanding of the early evolution of Ediacaran environments.The site is private land with no public access.

Holly Rock Fields is a 3.9 hectares (9.6 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest east of Coalville in Leicestershire.This is a nationally important site as it is primarily the nationally scarce National Vegetation Classification type MG5, crested dog’s-tail and common knapweed grassland. The fields have not been subject to agricultural intensification, and they are floristically diverse.The site is private land with no public access.

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.

Bardon Hill is the highest Hill in Leicestershire and on a clear day the Malvern and Shropshire Hills (approx. 50–60 miles), summits in Derbyshire (approx. 30–40 miles) and Lincoln Cathedral (almost 50 miles away) can be seen. However, the Sugar Loaf in South Wales, sometimes cited as visible from Bardon, cannot be seen, being over 90 miles (140 km) away. Near the top of the hill are two radio masts; the smaller of the two was built for the BBC as a link for Outside broadcast linking into the Sutton Coldfield Transmitter. This was then moved to the now larger mast which was originally built by an electricity supply company, it is now owned by Cellnex after Arqiva sold its UK wireless business in October 2019 and provides the NOW Leicester DAB radio service.The landscape was already attracting visitors before John Curtis wrote in the 1830s: he suggests that the view extends to over 5,000 square miles (13,000 km2) or one-twelfth of England and Wales. Potter also notes of the view from Bardon Hill that "it probably commands a greater extent of surface than any other point of view on the island" and that "An outline, described from the extremity of this view, would include nearly one-fourth of England and Wales. It may be deemed one of the most extraordinary points of view in Nature." This has attracted telecommunication companies, and large transmitters and radio masts have replaced both the Summer House and Queen Adelaide's Bower. Bardon Hill is also a 13.1-hectare (32-acre) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in the civil parish of Bardon, east of Coalville in Leicestershire, England.Bardon Hill is part of the eroded remains of a volcano. It is the highest point in Leicestershire and the National Forest, 278 m (912 ft) above sea level. Due to its prominence, it is visible for many kilometres around. It adjoins Bardon Hill Quarry, a geological SSSI. At its summit are a trigonometrical point and a radio mast. The second highest hill in Leicestershire is the nearby Beacon Hill. "Bardon" or "Bardon Hill" was also the name of a village south-west of the hill. Most of the village has been demolished but the toponym "Bardon Hill" remains in use as the postal address of the remaining local properties.

Morley Quarry is a 3.1 hectares (7.7 acres) Local Nature Reserve on the southern outskirts of Shepshed in Leicestershire.The quarries are a Regionally Important Geological Site, with rocks dating to 600 million years ago. The habitat is grassland and heath, with heather and gorse. There is a pond which has breeding toads.There is access from Morley Lane.

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.