Moira is a former mining village

Pit village

A pit village is a term used in the UK for the village serving a deep coal mine.Many of the workers lived in houses that were provided by the colliery. Many villages have experienced depopulation after colliery closures forced people to move to other towns and cities where there are jobs for them...

 about 2.5 miles (4 km) west of Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Ashby-de-la-Zouch

Ashby-de-la-Zouch, — Zouch being pronounced "Zoosh" — often shortened to Ashby, is a small market town and civil parish in North West Leicestershire, England, within the National Forest. It is twinned with Pithiviers in north-central France....

 in North West Leicestershire

North West Leicestershire

North West Leicestershire is a local government district in Leicestershire, England. Its main towns are Ashby-de-la-Zouch and Coalville.The district contains East Midlands Airport, which operates flights to the rest of Britain and to various places in Europe...

, England. The village is about 3 miles (5 km) miles south of the Derbyshire

Derbyshire

Derbyshire is a county in the East Midlands of England. A substantial portion of the Peak District National Park lies within Derbyshire. The northern part of Derbyshire overlaps with the Pennines, a famous chain of hills and mountains. The county contains within its boundary of approx...

 town of Swadlincote

Swadlincote

Swadlincote is a town and unparished area in South Derbyshire, about southeast of Burton-upon-Trent and about south of Derby. It is the main town of South Derbyshire and the seat of South Derbyshire District Council....

 and is close to the county boundary.

Moira's toponym

Toponymy

Toponymy is the scientific study of place names , their origins, meanings, use and typology. The word "toponymy" is derived from the Greek words tópos and ónoma . Toponymy is itself a branch of onomastics, the study of names of all kinds...

 is derived from the Irish earldom of Moira

Moira, County Down

Moira is a village in County Down, Northern Ireland. It is in the northwest of the county, near the borders with counties Antrim and Armagh. The M1 motorway and Dublin–Belfast railway line are nearby. The settlement has existed since time immemorial...

, one of the titles of the Hastings

Marquess of Hastings

Marquess of Hastings was a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 6 December 1816 for Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 2nd Earl of Moira. The Rawdon family descended from Francis Rawdon , of Rawdon, Yorkshire. His son George Rawdon settled in the village of Moira in Downshire, and...

 family, which held castle

Ashby de la Zouch Castle

Ashby de la Zouch Castle is in the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire, England . The ruins have been designated by English Heritage as a Grade I listed building, and they are a Scheduled Ancient Monument...

. The former local colliery, Rawdon

Rawdon

Rawdon is a village in the metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.-Early beginnings:With William the Conqueror was a commander of archers named Paulyn who rendered such faithful and courageous service to the Norman cause that he was rewarded with lands, a portion of...

 Colliery, also bore a Hastings family name. Moira is one of the few place names in England to end in an "a

A

A is the first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is similar to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives.- Origins :...

".

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 as the site for the National Forest

National Forest, England

The National Forest is one of England’s most ambitious environmental projects. Across parts of Leicestershire, Derbyshire and Staffordshire, are being transformed, blending ancient woodland with new planting to create a new national forest...

, which is part of a Government-funded programme to create more woodland.

History

The Midland Railway

Midland Railway

The Midland Railway was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844 to 1922, when it became part of the London, Midland and Scottish Railway....

 opened its Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line

Leicester to Burton upon Trent Line

The Leicester to Burton-Upon-Trent Line is a freight-only railway line in England linking the Midland Main Line south of to the Cross Country Route at...

 through Moira in 1845. Moira railway station

Moira railway station

Moira railway station serves Moira in County Down, Northern Ireland. Despite the station serving the County Down town, the station itself is located in County Antrim, the neighbouring Lagan Canal being the boundary. Moira station is the oldest building on the NIR network today having been opened on...

 served the village until British Rail

British Rail

British Railways , which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was the operator of most of the rail transport in Great Britain between 1948 and 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the "Big Four" British railway companies and lasted until the gradual privatisation of British Rail, in stages...

ways closed it in 1964. The building still survives and the line remains open as a freight route.

Rawdon Colliery was worked for about 150 years. Its seams

Stratum

In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...

 extended 6 miles (10 km) 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 miners' strike, but ran out of viable coal seams. Gases were rarely a hazard, but spontaneous combustion of coal dust

Coal dust

Coal dust is a fine powdered form of coal, which is created by the crushing, grinding, or pulverizing of coal. Because of the brittle nature of coal, coal dust can be created during mining, transportation, or by mechanically handling coal.-Explosions:...

 was a potential problem.

Amenities

The 120 acres (48.6 ha) 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

Local Nature Reserve

Local nature reserve or LNR is a designation for nature reserves in the United Kingdom. The designation has its origin in the recommendations of the Wild Life Conservation Special Committee which established the framework for nature conservation in the United Kingdom and suggested a national suite...

 occupies 8.5 acres (3.4 ha) of former railway sidings nearby.

Moira Furnace

Moira Furnace

Moira Furnace is a nineteenth-century iron-making blast furnace located in Moira, Leicestershire on the banks of the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal...

 is a restored 19th century blast furnace. A 1.5 miles (2.4 km) section of the Ashby Canal

Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal

The Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal is a long canal in England which connected the mining district around Moira, just outside the town of Ashby-de-la-Zouch, with the Coventry Canal at Bedworth in Warwickshire. It was opened in 1804, and a number of tramways were constructed at its northern end, to service...

 adjacent to the furnace has also been restored and refilled, although it lacks a navigable link to the rest of the system due to the A42 road

A42 road

The A42 is a major trunk road in the East Midlands region of the United Kingdom. It links junction 23A of the M1 motorway to junction 11 of the M42 motorway. The A42 is in effect a continuation of the M42, and its junctions are numbered accordingly....

 having been built across its line. The furnace site also includes craft workshops and a small nature reserve

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora, fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for conservation and to provide special opportunities for study or research...

.

Both the Youth Hostels Association's

Youth Hostels Association (England & Wales)

The Youth Hostels Association is a charitable organisation, registered with the Charity Commission, providing youth hostel accommodation in England and Wales...

 National Forest youth hostel and the Camping and Caravanning Club

Camping and Caravanning Club

The Camping and Caravanning Club is a United Kingdom not-for-profit organisation involved with all aspects of camping.-History:The Camping and Caravanning Club started in 1901 as the Association of Cycle Campers. Thomas Hiram Holding was one of the founders and is considered by many to be the...

's National Forest campsite are in Moira and opened in 2008.