This area of the UK is gifted with significant natural resources in the form of the Leicestershire and South Derbyshire Coalfield. Evidence of coal extraction can be found in many places including the sites of Hicks Lodge, Lount and Snibston. Even the names of the villages and towns reflect the mining history of the area.
Coal has been mined across this area for many generations. While the movement of this coal was severely limited by the nature of the terrain, some distribution beyond mining localities was possible by pack-horse and horse-drawn transport over rough tracks. In the later 1700s a network of canals was constructed which made it possible to transport coal and other goods from the Midlands to other parts of the UK.
The Coal and Canopy Way visits sections of six current and former canal routes including the well maintained and popular Trent and Mersey canal through to the forgotten Charnwood Forest canal (the other canals are Coventry, Ashby, Loughborough and Leicester Navigation, Staffordshire and Worcestershire). Canal Junctions were the equivalent of modern day motorway service stations so if you stop for a drink at Fradley junction, imagine how it or Great Haywood junction would have looked in their heyday.
After the era of canals came the railway age and you will be riding along many current and disused railways, including abandoned railway and tram lines with their historical stations, bridges and viaducts. Take time out to visit the Battlefield Line or Great Central steam railway lines which have been opened again for tourism.
This central area is also key for water distribution into the major population areas of the Midlands. The route will take you past (and sometimes over!) seven reservoirs, some dating back to Victorian times. These are also valued now for their extensive bird and animal life as well as for recreation. Quarrying has also been a focus for the area with many abandoned and current quarries such the one to be found carving away the hillside at Breedon on the hill.
Access to these raw materials and its central location has made the Midlands an industrial power house for the UK. You will see evidence of the ever changing industrial landscape such as the Armitage Shanks factory that has been producing sanitary ware for over 200 years, and breweries in Burton. You may also glimpse some more recent investments such as the enormous Amazon distribution centre near Ellistown or the Nestle coffee epicentre in Tutbury.