Westport Lake

Opened in 2009, the eco-friendly Westport Lake Visitor Centre was built by British Waterways and is leased by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust from Stoke-on-Trent City Council.

Community and Education

The central office for the Northern Community and Education team of Staffordshire Wildlife Trust is at Westport Lake Visitor Centre. This forms the base for the delivery of a variety of outreach education, community and play work. In addition, the brand new Environmental Education Centre is beneath the Visitor Centre.

The Education Centre includes a classroom with modern facilities within easy reach of the lake and right in the middle of Westport Lake Local Nature Reserve. With a conservation area, wildflower meadow and wooded areas, this site makes for an excellent place to deliver our environmental education programmes, events and community work.

Cafe and Conferences

A visit to Westport Lake has recently been improved with the addition of a cafe serving hot and cold drinks and snacks. This new facility has proved very popular with the Lake's regular visitors and as time goes on more and more people are discovering the joys of a freshly brewed coffee or one of the variety of 'home-made' snacks. Visitors can also make use of the toilet facilities and learn all about the fascinating history of the site and its wildlife by reading the interpretation.

The new Centre is also proving to be a popular venue for meetings and conferences with the excellent buffets helping to generate a lot of repeat business.

History

The main lake at Westport Lake is the largest body of water in the city. The site also has a play area, smaller lake, grass and awoodland conservation area. Westport Lake is well known for itswater birds and is popular with walkers and anglers. The site was designated as a Local Nature Reserve in July 2004.

Recently Westport Lake has seen major improvements with the installation of a play area, resurfacing of the car park and creation of pathways. The icing on the cake has been the building of a Visitor's Centre and Cafe that is run by Staffordshire Wildlife Trust.

Habitats and Wildlife

Westport Lake is an important overwintering site for many water birds and unusual species are known to stop-off at the lake during migration. The conservation area at the northern end of the site is home to many animals including shovellers, kingfishers and dragonflies. The conservation area is open to walkers but not anglers.

Walking at Westport Lake

The main lake is surrounded by a good, level footpath which is one mile long. A health walk through the conservation area was opened in March 2004. There is a variety of signed routes, which vary in length, and a good path surface.