Anglers Country Park is situated near Wintersett Reservoir in beautiful countryside surroundings. It is rich in wildlife and offers a quiet retreat for visitors.

This area of landscape has changed dramatically in a relatively short period. Just over thirty years ago it was farmland and then in 1974 excavation began for what was to become one of Europe's largest opencast mine.

Now, twenty years after reclamation work started on the site, it is almost possible to believe that there was always a lake here and yet the lake is entirely man-made, just a very large version of a garden pond! The man-made 30-hectare lake, now an important inland site for over-wintering birds, was innovatively constructed using a polythene liner to hold the 300 million gallons of water.

Anglers Country Park is a designated Site of Scientific Interest and Local Nature Reserve due to its significance as a haven for wildfowl as well as its educational value. Flocks of 400 to 500 Widgeon over-winter here, arriving in October from Russia and Norway.

The lake is such a large body of water it is the last to freeze over in the area. In addition, the grass around the lake is ideal for the birds to graze. Canada Geese are present in small numbers all year round but over 1,000 pass the winter in the park. Visitors recorded bird sightings include Cranes, Hobbies, Cormorants, Great Crested Grebes, Whooper swans, as well as the local Mute swans.

As well as water birds there are ground nesting and woodland birds such as Greater Spotted Woodpecker and Pied Wagtail. There has been much recent success with the nationally rare tree sparrows, and skylarks nest here. Insect life is plentiful - butterflies, moths, damsel and dragon flies abound. Fauna include foxes, shrews, amphibians, stoats, weasels, voles, rabbits, hares and roe deer.