The Mallard Trail - Westport Lake, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, UK.
N 53° 02.792 W 002° 12.866
30U E 552662 N 5877735
A board with information about plants and birds that can be seen on The Mallard Trail at Westport Lake, located off Westport Lake Road in Longport.
Waymark Code: WMZFP2
Location: West Midlands, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 11/04/2018
Views: 3
The Mallard Trail information board is located near to the main carpark facing the smaller pool at Westport Lake.
The Mallard Trail is part of the Green Door project in Stoke-on-Trent. The Green Door project is a lottery-funded project aimed at encouraging people to make use of green spaces in the city to improve their health.
The board includes a map showing the trail with information and photographs of birds and plants that can be seen at different locations, that include the woods, the conservation area as well as the main lake.The numbered locations around the trail are marked with wooden posts.
Westport Lake is one of the cities Natural Heritage Sites and was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in July 2004.
Westport Lake Nature Reserve is located in a residential area at Longport on the outskirts of Stoke-on-Trent alongside the Trent and Mersey Canal. Until the 1880's the area was farming land with mining from Brownhills Colliery running underneath.
The lake is a legacy of coal mining associated with the area's historic potteries and industrial trade. The lake was formed in 1884 when the workings of the old Brownhills Colliery hit the water table, flooding the tunnels and ground above.
In 1890 it was developed into a pleasure resort by a local farmer, it then descended into a wasteland.
The site was opened by Prime Minister Ted Heath in 1972, a prime example of turning an industrial wasteland into a pleasant centre for open-air recreation within an urban community, and has proven to be one of the city’s most popular and enduring regeneration projects.
Westport Lake is well known for its water birds and the area is popular with bird spotters, walkers and anglers.
The site, one of the most visited sites in the city, features two lakes and a number of smaller pools, grassland, scrub, woodland, a nature conservation area and a children's play area.
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