Bagworth Heath Woods

Roy Davenport

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This woodland park is managed by Leicestershire County Council and covers 75 hectares of woodland, grassland, heathland, lakes and pools within the National Forest. The site is a marked contrast to its mining past and bears testimony to the success of reclamation work carried out by British Coal in the early 1990s and Leicestershire CC between 1997 and 2000. A sculpture celebrating the park's industrial history and woodland future may be seen near the car park.

The land now occupied by the lakes had suffered from mining subsidence which resulted in the creation of a 'subsidence flash'. In the early 1990s British Coal redesigned this area to create the three lakes and control flooding. The lakes gather water from the stream that runs through Bagworth Heath Woods.

Before mining subsidence, 18 semi-detached houses stood between the lakes and the road. The pit winding-wheel relocated onto the island in the main lake came from Desford Colliery, which once occupied this site. Mining started here in 1902 and was the last mine to be opened; it finished in early 1984. Two main shafts were sunk to the Lower Main coal seam at a depth of 218 metres. Concrete marker-posts can be found near the car park area.

England - Central England - Leicestershire - Countryside

Features

Birds, Butterflies, Flowers, Good for Kids, Great Views, Hills or Fells, Industrial Archaeology, Lake/Loch, Moor, Mostly Flat, Play Area, Wildlife, Woodland