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Blackbrook Reservoir

Canal reservoirs in EnglandLeicestershire geography stubsReservoirs in LeicestershireShepshedSites of Special Scientific Interest in Leicestershire
United Kingdom canal stubsUse British English from February 2017
Blackbrook Reservoir from near Poacher's Corner geograph.org.uk 329372
Blackbrook Reservoir from near Poacher's Corner geograph.org.uk 329372

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.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Blackbrook Reservoir (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Blackbrook Reservoir
Sandhole Lane, Charnwood Shepshed

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Wikipedia: Blackbrook ReservoirContinue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 52.751 ° E -1.322 °
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Blackbrook (STW)

Sandhole Lane
LE12 9EW Charnwood, Shepshed
England, United Kingdom
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Blackbrook Reservoir from near Poacher's Corner geograph.org.uk 329372
Blackbrook Reservoir from near Poacher's Corner geograph.org.uk 329372
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Nearby Places

Coalville Meadows
Coalville Meadows

Coalville Meadows is a 6.0 hectares (15 acres) biological Site of Special Scientific Interest between Whitwick and Coalville in Leicestershire. It is managed by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood.It is one of the best examples of neutral grassland that has developed on the somewhat leached clay soils of Leicestershire and is representative of such grassland in Central and Eastern England. It is bounded on the West by a former minerals railway line, to the South by social housing, the east by Holly Hayes Woodland, and to the North by an aggregate storage area, and have developed on soils derived from the clays of the Triassic Keuper Marl. The grassland is poorly drained and is dominated by tufted hair-grass Deschampsia caespitosa, Yorkshire fog Holcus lanatus, red fescue Festuca rubra and great burnet Sanguisorba officinalis. Additionally, flora typical of relatively base-poor clay soils, such as pignut Conopodium majus, betony Betonica officinalis, heath bedstraw Galium saxatile, tormentil Potentilla erecta, devil's-bit scabious Succisa pratensis, and mat grass Nardus stricta, are present. The grassland also includes typical meadow species as saw-wort Serratula tinctoria, meadow thistle Cirsium dissectum, knapweed Centaurea nigra and lady's smock Cardamine pratensis. In 2008, the site was bought by the Friends of Holly Hayes Wood who wanted to see the meadow land restored to its former glory. The group is working with Natural England to re-establish appropriate maintenance which it hoped will lead to a more appropriate 'favourable' status and to ensure that the meadow is meeting its conservation objectives. There is access to the site from the Ivanhoe Way footpath.