Desford

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

St Martin's Church, Desford

Desford is a village in Leicestershire, England.

Desford contains a College, Bosworth College and a primary school. Five pubs, a sports club, and Tropical Birdland, a visitor attraction exhibiting many bird species.

[edit] History

The Leicester and Swannington Railway was first laid down in 1832 by Robert Stephenson. It passes within a mile of the village where the main station building survives. Today this railway is devoted to freight traffic.

Outside the village a grass airfield was developed in 1939 as a first stage flying school for the RAF. The majority of planes used were De Havilland Tiger Moths which were single engined bi-planes. An early form of flight simulator was also used and was visible from the public road. Caterpillar Inc. now has a large manufacturing plant on this site.