Furzton Lake - Emerson Valley - Teardrop Lakes - Furzton

Derek Gibbons

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Furzton Lake - Emerson Valley - Howe Park Wood - Shenley Brook End - Loughton - Teardrop Lakes

The walk starts from Furzton Lake, smallest of the three main lakes in Milton Keynes. Constructed in the mid-Eighties as one of a series of balancing lakes designed to hold floodwater during heavy rain, it is now a valuable environment for wildlife and home to a large population of geese and waterfowl.

A 4.5-kilometre linear park runs from the lake to the western boundary of Milton Keynes, traversing four of the city's grid squares and following the line of a stream. We follow the stream and park for 2km before heading north-west into Howe Park Wood, a piece of the past in the middle of Britain's newest city. As well as being home to a wide variety of wildlife, Howe Park boasts more than 200 plant species, some so rare that English Nature has designated it a Site of Special Scientific Interest for its wildlife value. Howe Park Wood has also been awarded a green flag, the parkland equivalent to blue flags for bathing beaches. After following the line of an old track, we pass through part of Shenley Brook End, one of the original villages that are now part of Milton Keynes and the halfway point of the walk.

Approaching the end of the walk we go through The Teardrop Lakes Park, a string of four lakes that are part of the Loughton Valley. The Teardrop Lakes are an important part of the city's balancing lake system, able to take storm waters to prevent flooding of housing areas. Fishing is allowed in designated areas while the variety of habitats, including dense reedbeds, makes the lakes an excellent spot to enjoy wildlife. Finally we pass The National Bowl, which has seen concerts by many of the world's top bands since it opened in 1979. The site was a former clay-pit (for brick-making), filled in and raised to form an amphitheatre using subsoil excavated during construction of many new developments in the early days of the development of the area.

England - Central England - Buckinghamshire - Town or city