Portrait of Leicestershire and Rutland

The aim of this book is to capture the well known tourist attractions and also the less familiar corners of both Leicestershire and Rutland. Although often linked together, Leicestershire and Rutland remain two separate counties as Rutland once again was awarded county status in 1997. Leicestershire and Rutland are predominantly landscapes of rolling green farmland with some areas of higher ground, notably the Charnwood Forest area around Beacon Hill and parts of the newly formed National Forest around Coalville. Within the counties are many places of great interest including the Great Central Railway which runs from Loughborough to Leicester North and is the only double track, main line heritage railway in the UK; Rutland water, a reservoir the size of Lake Windermere, is one of the biggest man-made lakes in Europe; The National Space Centre, situated on the banks of the River Soar in Leicester, is the UKs