Cliffe Hill Mineral Railway

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.

Cliffe Hill Quarry is a 19.2 hectares (47 acres) geological Site of Special Scientific Interest on the western outskirts of Markfield in Leicestershire. It is a Geological Conservation Review site.This quarry exposes volcanic and sedimentary Charnian rocks dating to the Precambrian eon. It was probably then a volcanic island. An unusually homogeneous form of the rock diorite is sometimes called markfieldite because it is found in the village.The site is private land with no public access.

Stanton-under-Bardon is a village and civil parish about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of Coalville, in the Hinckley and Bosworth district, in Leicestershire, England. The 2011 Census recorded the parish's population as 634.Most of the houses are red brick, and many on Main Street are terraced and have long, thin gardens. The village is set in farmland and open fields and is near Junction 22 of the M1 motorway. The village is near Markfield, with which it shares a local newspaper, the Markfield and Stanton Under Bardon Herald. The village has a thatched pub, two churches and a primary school. Bardon Quarry is nearby.

Altar Stones is a 3.7-hectare (9.1-acre) nature reserve in Markfield in Leicestershire. It is owned and managed by the Leicestershire and Rutland Wildlife Trust.This site has outcrops of Precambrian volcanic rocks, which have uncommon lichens growing on them. The main habitat is heath grassland, and there are the remains of drystone walls and an old mill.There is access from Altar Stones Lane.

Billa Barra Hill is a 20.7 hectares (51 acres) Local Nature Reserve north of Stanton under Bardon in Leicestershire. It is owned and managed by Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council.The top of the hill is a former quarry, leaving exposed rocks which provide a habitat for a variety of mosses and lichens. Lower down there are areas of acid grassland, and locally sourced trees have been planted on the lower slopes.There is access from Billa Barra Lane.

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.

Markfield is a large village in both the National Forest and Charnwood Forest and in the Hinckley and Bosworth district of Leicestershire, England. The settlement dates back to at least the time of the Norman conquest and is mentioned in the Domesday Book under the name Merchenefeld. A variant of this is still used as the name for the village primary school, Mercenfeld. It is to the south-east of Junction 22 of the M1, and to the south of the A50. The highest point in Markfield is shown on OS sheet 129 at 222 metres above sea level. Nearby places are Newtown Linford, Groby, Field Head, and Stanton under Bardon. In the 1841 census its population was recorded at 1,203. In the 2011 census the parish had a population of 5681. In 2012 Hinckley & Bosworth Borough Council published an overview of Markfield conservation area.

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.

The Islamic Foundation (Urdu: موَسسہَ اسلامی, also called the Islamic Foundation UK) is Jamaat-e-Islami's research and publishing house in the United Kingdom. It was established in 1973 by two high-ranking Pakistani activists of Jamaat-e-Islami, Khurshid Ahmad and Khurram Murad. Its objectives are to research into the implementation of Islam in the modern world, to project the image of Islam in Britain and Europe, and to meet the educational needs of Muslims.

The Markfield Institute of Higher Education is an educational institution based in Leicestershire, in the United Kingdom. Specialising in Islamic subjects, the institute runs part-time and full-time courses, awarding BA and MA degrees validated by Newman University, and PhD degrees validated by the University of Gloucestershire. The institute is accredited by the British Accreditation Council, reviewed by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, and registered with the Higher Education Funding Council for England.Currently, the fees are £4,500 a year for UK and EU students, and £7,500 a year for international students.The institute was established in 2000 and inaugurated by the Prince of Wales. In 2015, the institute was shortlisted for The Muslim News Award for Excellence in Education.

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").

Bardon Park Chapel is a 300-year-old Christian meeting house at Bardon, Leicestershire, England. It stands back from the A511 road (Shaw Lane), between Coalville and Markfield, about 1.3 miles (2.1 km) west of M1 junction 22. At the time of its construction, the meeting house was set within a medieval deer park.The chapel is a Grade II Listed building. It may be the oldest non-conformist place of worship in Leicestershire and indeed across a wide area of the East Midlands.For details of how to find the chapel, see Section 6 (Location) below.