1 Acre(s)
Willow is the original lake on the Woodlands complex with a history going back well over 30 years.
Situated at the head of our beautiful natural valley and surrounded by mature woodlands, the lake is constantly fed by a small stream and numerous springs, thereby ensuring a constant flow of oxygenated and nutrient rich water.
The woods hold an abundance of birds and wildlife and if you are very quiet late into the evening, you might just catch a glimpse of one of our resident badgers emerging or maybe a fox seeking out an unguarded rabbit.
Listen out and you will hear tawny and barn owls calling to each other.
With kingfishers flashing by, overhanging willows, reed beds and water lilies, this calm and peaceful spot might well evoke childhood memories of storybook scenes from Mr Crabtree Goes Fishing.
In early Spring 2009 we embarked upon a major renovation of the lake.
Decades of leaf falls and vegetation had rotted down into a black foul-smelling mud, creating eutrophic conditions and shallowing the lake to the delight of the choking reedmace.
Desilting the lake proved to be a major challenge as the ground conditions precluded the use of a digger.
After much head scratching and some invaluable technical assistance from Andrew Sykes Pumps (Peterborough), we finally settled upon a solution utilising a 150 hp irrigation pump.
Over a two week period we repeatedly mixed the mud into suspension using a high pressure fireman's hose and then pumped the resultant slurry into a nearby settlement bund.
The stream and springs were vital to the success of the operation as the process was entirely dependent upon a plentiful supply of water.
A quite unexpected benefit of using the high pressure hose was that it enabled us to contour the lake bed and this has been left interestingly uneven with depths ranging between 3 - 6 feet.
Following the desilting operation, we left the lake to recover for a full year before restocking with tench, crucian carp, bream, roach, rudd and gudgeon.
We have specifically excluded carp from this lake in order to allow some of our more traditional native species to thrive.
We hope that those anglers who enjoy targeting these species will appreciate our philosophy and practice the gentle art of angling using light tackle and small baits.
Being a small lake with only 10 pegs, access is restricted to season ticket holders and members of the Willow Club purchasing a day ticket only.
Membership of the Willow Club costs £10 per year and in addition to the right to fish Willow Lake, entitles the member to a 5 % discount on all shop purchases.
Membership is subject to availability and at the discretion of the management.