Editing Moira, Leicestershire

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2015}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2011}}
{{infobox UK place
| official_name = Moira
| static_image_name = Ashby Road in Moira, Leicestershire - geograph.org.uk - 821023.jpg
| static_image_caption = Ashby Road in Moira, Leicestershire
| coordinates = {{coord|52.736|-1.535|display=inline,title}}
| population = 
| population_ref = 
| civil_parish = [[Ashby Woulds]]
| shire_district = [[North West Leicestershire]]
| shire_county = [[Leicestershire]]
| region = East Midlands
| country = England
| constituency_westminster = [[North West Leicestershire (UK Parliament constituency)|North West Leicestershire]]
| post_town = [[Swadlincote]]
| postcode_district = DE12
| postcode_area = DE
| dial_code = 01283
| os_grid_reference = SK315155
| website = [http://ashbywoulds.leicestershireparishcouncils.org/ Ashby Woulds Town Council]
| type = Village
}}

'''Moira''' is a former [[Pit village|mining village]] about {{convert|2.5|mi|0}} south-west of [[Ashby-de-la-Zouch]] in [[North West Leicestershire]], England. The village is about {{convert|3|mi|0}} south of [[Swadlincote]] and is close to the boundary with [[Derbyshire]]. The population is included in the [[civil parish]] of [[Ashby Woulds]].

For centuries North West Leicestershire has been quarried and mined for coal, limestone, granite and brick clay, and its environmental damage was one of the reasons that it was chosen in the 1990s as the site for the [[National Forest, England|National Forest]], which is part of a Government-funded programme to create more woodland. Proximate villages include [[Donisthorpe]], [[Overseal]], [[Oakthorpe]] and Spring Cottage.

==Etymology==
Moira's [[Toponymy|toponym]] is derived from the Irish earldom of [[Moira, County Down|Moira]], one of the titles of the [[Marquess of Hastings|Hastings]] family, which held [[Ashby de la Zouch Castle]]. The former local coal pit, Rawdon Colliery, also bore a Hastings family name.

In 2022, residents were amused when a road sign spelled the name '[[Moria (Middle-earth)|Moria]]', suggesting a link with Tolkien's fictional [[Middle-earth]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Garrett |first1=Lee |title=Residents uncover Leicestershire 'link' to Middle Earth after spelling error on sign |url=https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/local-news/residents-uncover-leicestershire-link-middle-7137288 |access-date=31 May 2022 |work=Leicester Mercury |date=31 May 2022}}</ref>

==History==
The [[Midland Railway]] opened its [[Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line]] through Moira in 1845. [[Moira railway station (England)|Moira station]] served the village until [[British Rail]]ways closed it in 1964. The building survives and the line remains open as a freight route.

[[Rawdon Colliery, Leicestershire|Rawdon Colliery]] was worked for about 150 years. Its [[Stratum|seams]] extended {{convert|6|mi|0}} from the shaft, and some had been worked twice, recovering lower grade coal. The pit survived Britain's pit closure programme in the mid-1980s that followed the [[1984–1985 United Kingdom miners' strike|miners' strike]], but ran out of viable coal seams. Gases were rarely a hazard, but spontaneous combustion of [[coal dust]] was a potential problem.

==Amenities==
The {{convert|120|acre}} National Forest Millennium Discovery Centre, now called 'Conkers', is on the site of Rawdon Colliery. Its visitor centre features a borehole-based heating and cooling system. Moira Junction [[Local Nature Reserve]] occupies {{convert|8.5|acre}} of former railway sidings nearby.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.lnr.naturalengland.org.uk/Special/lnr/lnr_details.asp?C=0&N=moira&ID=1390 |title= Local Nature Reserve |publisher= [[Natural England]] |accessdate= 3 February 2011}}</ref>
[[File:Moira lime kilns - geograph.org.uk - 603300.jpg|thumb|Moira [[lime kiln]]s]]
[[Moira Furnace]] is a restored 19th-century [[blast furnace]]. A {{convert|1.5|mi||abbr=|adj=on}} section of the [[Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal]] adjacent to the furnace has also been restored and rewatered, although it lacks a navigable link to the rest of the system due to the [[A42 road (England)|A42 road]] having been built across its line. The furnace site also has craft workshops and a small [[nature reserve]].

Both the [[Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales)|Youth Hostels Association's]] National Forest youth hostel and the [[Camping and Caravanning Club]]'s National Forest campsite are in Moira and opened in 2008.{{citation needed|date=August 2011}}

There is a Co-Operative supermarket on Shortheath Road, which was given a new frontage in 2016.

The Hicks Lodge nature reserve lies approximately 1 mile east of the village.

==See also==
*[[Moira Pottery]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Moira, Leicestershire}}
*[http://www.visitconkers.com Conkers Discovery Centre]

{{Towns and Villages of North West Leicestershire |state=expanded}}
{{authority control}}

[[Category:Local Nature Reserves in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:Villages in Leicestershire]]
[[Category:North West Leicestershire District]]