Moira between woodland trails and canal history

A stay in Moira can bring several distinct themes into focus: a trip on the Ashby Canal, the Heart of the Forest Trail, the history of Moira Furnace and activities at CONKERS. If you are looking for a hotel for your trip, you can organise your days around these specific interests. The options range from a boat trip with a clearly stated duration to trails with well-known stops and insights into early ironmaking.

Trips and connections

The Joseph Wilkes offers 15-minute trips along part of the restored Ashby Canal. The duration gives you a specific time frame for this individual activity. At CONKERS, the CONKERCHOO Train runs regular family trips between the Discovery Centre and the Waterside Centre. Here, the two centres are the reference points for the journey. For your planning, these are two distinct offerings: a trip of a stated duration on the canal and regular journeys between two CONKERS facilities.

There is also a specific connection for route planning: a cycle path links Moira Furnace with CONKERS and Hicks Lodge. If you would like to include these destinations by bike, you can use this connection as a guide. It complements the individual trips with a route linking the named places to visit.

Moira Furnace and ironmaking

Moira Furnace is a 19th-century iron-smelting blast furnace on the banks of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal. In the Bridge Loft at Moira Furnace Museum, visitors can learn how three materials extracted from the ground were combined to make iron. This brings the production process into focus alongside the structure itself: the explanation shows the role played by combining the materials in ironmaking.

The museum also includes reconstructions of small industries that once operated on the site and in its buildings. Moira Furnace therefore offers a look at both iron smelting and other former commercial activities. The reconstructed small industries provide a separate perspective on the history of the site, while the explanation in the Bridge Loft covers the ironmaking process.

Heart of the Forest Trail

The Heart of the Forest Trail leads from Moira Furnace via Moira Junction South, Albert Village Lake and Bath Yard Basin, then back to the Furnace. The named sequence gives you specific reference points for the route, with the starting point also serving as the return point. This makes it possible to factor the trail into your plans using its stops, rather than viewing it only as a trail name.

The trail runs along pavements, surfaced paths and tracks. The tracks can become muddy after rain. This variation in surface is a practical point to bear in mind when preparing for your walk: in wet weather, you should expect some sections to be muddy. The precise route and the way conditions may change after rain are two separate considerations: the stops describe the route, while the surfaces indicate the walking conditions.

Activities at CONKERS

The CONKERS high ropes course has 15 sections with climbing nets and elevated walkways. These details describe the course and give you a clear idea of the elements it includes. Another activity at CONKERS is a ride on the water on the largest lake at the Discovery site; a group of four can ride together.

CONKERS therefore offers a range of different activities: the course is defined by its sections, climbing nets and elevated walkways, while the water ride is described in terms of the lake at the Discovery site and the group size. Together with the CONKERCHOO Train’s regular family trips, this provides a selection of different activities at CONKERS without conflating them into a single activity.

Discover more destinations

Discover more destinations: Redmile, Ibstock, Markfield, Croxton Kerrial, Old Dalby, Shepshed, Buckminster, Hathern

For the overview of the wider region: Leicestershire.