Willen Lake
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Willen Lake is a visitor attraction and public park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire [1] The site is owned by The Parks Trust, which is an independent, self-funded charity that cares for and maintains over 6,000 acres of green space across the city.
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| Location | Milton Keynes |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 52°03′17″N 0°43′16″W / 52.05467°N 0.72106°W |
| Owner | The Parks Trust |
| Attendance | 750,000+ |
| Area | 138 hectares |
| Website | https://www.willenlake.org.uk/ |
Willen Lake is Milton Keynes' most popular park[2] attracting in excess of 750,000 visitors a year. It comprises 180 acres of landscaped parkland which surround around 100 acres of water across two lakes.[3] Both lakes are balancing lakes. The southern lake offers a wide range of activities on and off the water,[4] whilst the northern lake offers a more natural and tranquil setting, ideal for quiet walks and spotting wildlife. There are large events held on the site throughout the year, including Comedy Central's FriendsFest [5]
Attractions
Operating
The park consists of a number of leisure attractions [6] including:
- Watersports
- High ropes
- Wakeboarding
- Outdoor children's splash park
- Inflatable aqua park [7]
- Miniature railway
- Outdoor fitness equipment
- Health club (including hair and beauty salon)
- Funfair
- Large events space
Future attractions
- A brand new purpose built watersports centre and cafe is due to open on the site in 2021 [8]
Previous attractions
- Miniature golf
- Outdoor amphitheatre
Geography
The lake is one of the largest purpose-built stormwater balancing lakes in the UK. The lake is designed to take surface run-off from Milton Keynes, the largest of a number designed to do so. The lake has capacity for an additional level increase of 1.3 metres, equivalent to a once in 200 years event. Unlike most of the rest of the UK, the city has separate storm and foul sewers, so sewage pollution is not a significant problem.
The lake is surrounded by a mixture of open parkland and woodland, which forms part of the wider Ouzel Valley Park.[9] The lake is divided by the A509 road, which is the main route into Milton Keynes from the M1 motorway.
References
- ^ "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Tender Opportunity Willen Lake". The Caterer. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Willen Lake". Milton Keynes Natural History Society. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Willen Lake and Park". Day Out With The Kids. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "FriendsFest". FriendsFest. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "About us". Aqua Parcs. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Check out the exciting new plans for Willen Lake redevelopment in 2020 and 2021". MKFM. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ "Ouzel Valley Park". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)