Great Leighs once had a lion's head over the outlet. In 2008, Great Leighs became home to the first new racecourse in 80 years, when the nearby Essex County Showground was converted into a state-of-the-art horse-racing venue. Great Leighs Racecourse held its first race meeting on 20 April 2008 and staged its first meeting fully open to the public from 28 to 29 May 2008. However, the course had its temporary licence revoked on 16 January 2009 and did not seen racing again unto 11 January 2015. Great Leighs Great Leighs is a village in the City of Chelmsford district of Essex,
Oswestry Race Course enabled both horses and racegoers to travel further afield to the larger racecourses. The final meeting was held in September 1848, the same year that the Shrewsbury to Chester railway line opened. Today, significant evidence of the old racecourse remains, including the remains of the figure-of-eight course and grandstand. Due to its elevation, there are extensive views of the surrounding countryside from the site. It has a variety of different habitats including, scrub, woodland, heathland, ponds, wildflowers and unimproved, and marshy grasslands. This supports a wide assortment of birds and insects, including willow warbler, chiffchaff and linnets. Oswestry Race Course