Willen Lake
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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 |
| Operated by | Whitecap Leisure |
| General manager | Robert Wood |
| Operating season | Watersports March - October Splash Park April - October Treetop Extreme Year-round Benugo Bar & Kitchen Year-round Park Year-round |
| Attendance | 850,000/year[citation needed] |
| Area | 138 hectares |
| Website | https://www.willenlake.org.uk/ |
Willen Lake is a visitor attraction and public park in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire[1] The site is owned by The Parks Trust, an independent, self-funded charity that cares for and maintains over 6,000 acres of green space across MK.[2]
Willen Lake is Milton Keynes's most popular park,[3] attracting in excess of 750,000 visitors a year.[citation needed] It comprises 180 acres of landscaped parkland which surround around 100 acres of water across two lakes.[4] Both lakes are balancing lakes, designed to mitigate flooding from the River Ouzel. The southern lake offers a wide range of activities on and off the water,[5] 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 [6]
Attractions
[edit]Operating
[edit]As of 2024[update], the activities area of the park includes of a number of leisure attractions [7] including:
- Watersports centre (new centre opened 2021)
- High ropes course
- Children's outdoor playground
- Children's outdoor splash park
- Inflatable aqua park [8]
- Ridable miniature railway
- Outdoor fitness equipment
- Health club (including hair and beauty salon)
- Seasonal Funfair
- Large events spaces
- Observation wheel
- Change Please Coffee Shop, a social enterprise [9]
- Premier Inn hotel, with bar open to non-residents.
Since January 2010, Willen Lake has also been the location of the Milton Keynes parkrun, which currently starts just to the West of the lake, then follows the Grand Union canal to Great Holm, before making a complete loop of the South Lake and finishing by the Watersports Centre[10].
Previous attractions
[edit]- Miniature golf
- Outdoor amphitheatre
- Wakeboarding course[11]
Geography
[edit]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, Milton Keynes 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.[12] The lake is divided by an embankment and bridge carrying the A509 (H5 Portway), which runs between the east and west of the city, providing links to M1 Junction 14 (approximately 1 mile (1.6 km) to the north-east), and Central Milton Keynes and the A5 (approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km) and 2.5 miles (4.0 km) to the south-west, respectively).
References
[edit]- ^ "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Your parks". The Parks Trust.
- ^ "Tender Opportunity Willen Lake". The Caterer. 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Willen Lake". Milton Keynes Natural History Society. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "Willen Lake and Park". Day Out With The Kids. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "FriendsFest". FriendsFest. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "Willen Lake South". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.
- ^ "About us". Aqua Parcs. 11 April 2020. Retrieved 11 April 2020.
- ^ "New coffee shop operator announced for Willen Lake". Destination MK. 19 March 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Milton Keynes parkrun". Parkrun. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Wakeboarding facility closes at popular Milton Keynes lake due to being a 'loss-making' activity". mkfm. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2024.
- ^ "Ouzel Valley Park". The Parks Trust. 10 April 2020. Retrieved 10 April 2020.