quarry, the path of which is still followed by a mineral conveyor to Barrow-upon-Soar, where quarry rock is sorted for distribution. Organised quarrying of the granite in Mountsorrel Quarry began in the late eighteenth century, and had around 500 employees by 1870. In 1872, the Mountsorrel Granite Company acquired the rights to quarry the area from the Broad Hill quarry, and a hospital had become established in the village to deal with those made ill by the dust created by the quarrying. Mountsorrel is home to one of the largest granite quarries in Europe, with an area of 785,400 m2. The granite, technically hornblende granite, is primarily used in construction and road-repair. The quarry produces approximately 3 million tonnes per annum with reserves of 160 million tonnes of granite, making it one of the top ten largest producing quarries in Europe in 1997. The quarry is blasted at 12.30 pm most weekdays, with a force that is felt throughout most of the village, as well as in some parts of Loughborough, Quorn, Swithland, and Rothley. The quarry was run by Redland Quarries until its acquisition by Lafarge in the 1990s. The quarry itself is home to the common lizard, an endangered species. Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce acquired a factory previously used by an aircraft propeller manufacturer after World War Two in 1945. The factory, officially known as 'Rolls-Royce Mountsorrel', became a specialist production factory for 'structural and high temperature fabrications', advising on new designs of both aircraft and cars for Rolls-Royce. In a fire during a heatwave on 13 May 1959, the manufacturing area of the factory was heavily damaged although the design department was left undamaged. In 1969, the Mountsorrel Rolls-Royce factory designed and produced components for the RB211 engine for the Lockheed Tristar, and during the 1970s the factory employed 1,200 people. The site closed in 1994 as production methods changed and has since been replaced by a housing estate. Sport Mountsorrel Castle Cricket Club is an amateur cricket club founded c.1880. It currently fields two senior teams in the Leicestershire and Rutland Cricket League. The home ground is based on the Memorial Recreation Ground, in Mountsorrel. Transport The nearest major road is the A6, connecting Loughborough and Leicester. The village is currently served by only three buses. Arriva Fox County 126/127 Leicester – Loughborough – Shepshed Paul S Winson X27 – Loughborough – Quorn – Mountsorrel – Rothley Roberts