New Visitor Centre Open!
Our exciting new Visitor Centre opened to the public on Saturday 1 May.  This eco-friendly building is designed to blend into the landscape and visitors will feel as though they are going into a grassy bank when entering the building. This low visual impact is further enhanced by a turf roof, created using flower-rich grassland turf from here on site.

The building itself is a timber construction minimizing the use of steel. Internally we have some fabulous rammed chalk walls, using chalk from a quarry just a quarter of a mile away. This is just as it would have been found here at College Lake during its quarrying days. Our mammoth tusk will have pride of place in a pit covered with glass in the centre of the foyer floor.

The construction of this purpose-built centre has been supported by Biffaward and the Heritage Lottery Fund.

 

For more information on the building please contact the Centre Manager on 01442 826774.

Wildlife
College Lake, once a chalk quarry, has been restored over 20 years into a mix of different habitats and is now one of our flagship reserves. As you enter the reserve, one of the first sights to greet you is the wide expanse of open water and marshland.

The marshland is perhaps the most important of the reserve's homes for wildlife, as in the summer it supports a number of breeding waders. These include lapwing and redshank, both of which are rare species, and College Lake is a key breeding site in Buckinghamshire. In the lake, common terns nest on specially created islands.

In the winter, the inhabitants of the water change, and wintering wildfowl, such as wigeon and teal, from Scandinavia and beyond, use the wetlands for feeding and roosting.

Elsewhere on the reserve, chalk grassland is alive with colour during the spring and summer as a wide variety of flowers come into bloom. These support a range of insects, including a number of rarer butterfly species such as the small blue. Rough grassland provides a home for breeding skylarks, as well as shelter for small mammals, which in turn feed birds of prey such as kestrels and barn owls.

Woodland, scrub and hedgerows are widespread across the reserve, and support a wide variety of wildlife, including finches and tits. In the winter thrushes such as fieldfare and redwings feed on the berries.

An unusual feature of College Lake is the Cornfield Flowers project. Started in the 1980s, College Lake was one of the first places in the country to actively conserve these rare and beautiful flowers, and now produces a glorious show of colour every year during June and July.


Opening times
Summer opening hours: everyday 9.30am - 5pm (last entry 4pm)

Open Spring and Summer bank holidays

Winter opening hours: everyday 9.30am - 4pm (last entry 3pm)

No dogs or cycling on the reserve please.


Facilities on site
Parking on site (bear right as you enter the site), disabled parking near the courtyard.

Toilets (including disabled & baby changing facilities) available in the courtyard and visitors centre.

Picnic benches next to the Barn.

Refreshments available from the visitors centre weekends and bank holidays.

Volunteering at College Lake
Our conservation work on the reserve is supported by a keen and dedicated team of volunteers who get involved in a variety of activities. Led by a member staff our conservation work parties carry out a range of tasks, and previous experience and skills are not required. Training is given, and if you are interested in joining us please call the Reserve Warden on 01442 826774. Recently the volunteers have been carrying out tasks such as:

• Clearing the islands in the marsh
• Scrub clearing on areas of chalk grassland
• Renovating bird hides around the reserve

Volunteers help out in plenty of other important ways at College Lake including:

• Wildlife gardening on Mondays
• Weekend wardening
• Offering refreshments in the new Visitor Centre Café at weekends and bank holidays 
• Behind the scenes help in the office

Volunteering can be a rewarding experience, where you can learn new skills and meet new people. If you would like to get involved, we'd love to hear from you. Call the Centre Manager or the Reserve Warden on 01442 826774.

• BBOWT's Aston Clinton Ragpits Nature Reserve
• BBOWT's Dancersend Nature Reserve
• BBOWT's Pitstone Fen Nature Reserve - part of the same quarry complex as College Lake, this small site contains a wealth of different habitats. Access is by permit only. Please contact the College Lake Warden on 01442 826774.
• National Trail - Grand Union Canal walk
• Refreshments available at shops and pubs in Bulbourne, Marsworth and Tring in particular the Greenhouse in Tring. This is a vegetarian resturant which is supporting BBOWT with a donation each time a bottle of water is sold.