B is for Brooks

Just recently I've found myself discussing Loughborough's brooks with a few different friends. We have very many brooks in Loughborough; you could probably say we were awash with them (except that the Wash is in East Anglia, I think!). The brooks and their tributaries are one, among many of the reasons Loughborough is prone to flooding.

These are some of the brooks in Loughborough, or on the edge of Loughborough:

The Black Brook; this is the biggest of Loughborough’s brooks, and it flows from nearby Shepshed into the River Soar. It was built to feed the Charnwood Forest Canal in 1796, and a dam made from earthwork was created, but failed in 1799. The brook was later dammed successfully in 1906. The brook passes along by Morrisons, and through the Garendon Estate.

Black Brook Reservoir

The Burleigh Brook; this runs along Ashby Road, besides the site of the university, and some arms of the brook actually run through the campus. There was once a pond approximately where Cotswold Close is now, which was known as Burleigh Brook Park, or Tickle Belly Park. The brook passes under the Ashby Road and Garendon Road, and then runs alongside Alan Moss Road, and joins the Wood Brook close to the fire station and Loughborough hospital at the end of Epinal Way. Together the Burleigh Brook and the Wood Brook pass under the canal, right across to close to Bishop Meadow Lock, where they meet the Summerpool Brook, before then joining the River Soar, which itself then joins the canal.

The Grammar School Brook; this brook is relatively short and runs parallel with Shelthorpe Road, crosses under the Leicester Road, under and around the area around Tuckers Road, and then under the canal, close to the Peter Le Marchant moorings, to join the Hermitage Brook.

The Hermitage Brook; this is joined by the Grammar School Brook, and together they join the River Soar, where it runs parallel to Stanford Lane.

The Summerpool Brook; this appears to start at the Meadows, close to the Adey Steel factory, and is joined by the Wood Brook, and together they flow into the River Soar, before they all join the canal.

The Willow Brook; the route of the Willow Brook is very much harder to find! It is around and on the opposite side of the derby Road, where the Willow Brook Retail Park is now, and where the Willow Brook Coach Works was previously. I’ve written a bit more about this in ‘A-Z of Loughborough’, published in 2021.

The Wood Brook; this brook is probably the best known in Loughborough and joins with another brook around the bottom of Valley Road, then runs parallel to Forest Road, alongside the Home Farm sports field, across Outwoods Drive, through the Forest Green Belt, down the middle of Forest Road, skirts the leisure centre, passes the Queen’s Park entrance gates at New Street, crosses under Granby Street, then under Market Street, alongside Brookside, under The Rushes, alongside the canal, then under Jubilee Drive, and out towards the River Soar, close to Bishop Meadow lock, where it is joined by the Summerpool Brook!

As brooks in Loughborough are so important, there have been a number of streets named to reflect our brooks. These include:

Beck Crescent

Brook Lane

Brookside

Brookside Road

Summerpool Road

Woodbrook Road

Woodbrook Way (footpath)

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This post is part of a series in the 2024 ‘Blogging from A to Z April Challenge’.

 

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Posted by lynneaboutloughborough

With apologies for typos which are all mine!

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