Willen Lake

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.

Willen Lake
LocationMilton Keynes
Coordinates52.05467°N 0.72106°W / 52.05467; -0.72106
OwnerThe Parks Trust
Visitors per annum750,000+
Area138 hectares
Websitehttps://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:

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
  1. "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  2. "Tender Opportunity Willen Lake". The Caterer. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  3. "Willen Lake". Milton Keynes Natural History Society. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  4. "Willen Lake and Park". Day Out With The Kids. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  5. "FriendsFest". FriendsFest. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  6. "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
  7. "About us". Aqua Parcs. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
  8. "Check out the exciting new plans for Willen Lake redevelopment in 2020 and 2021". MKFM. 23 January 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
  9. "Ouzel Valley Park". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
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