My First Visit to Poolbrooks Country Park

The other day I payed a visit to Poolbrooks Country Park. Like so many other country parks and nature reserves in the area it was once a colliery, Ireland Colliery.

It extends for a couple of miles from the South East corner of Staveley to the South West corner of Mastin Moor. It consists of patches of woodland, open grassy fields and numerous lakes. The largest of these lakes have been managed to cater for leisure activities like fishing while the smaller more numerous lakes have been manged in a way to attract wildlife with reed beds.

One of the smaller, quieter lakes near Mastin Moor.

Due to the prolonged winter weather in Derbyshire this year there have been very few signs of spring until now. Colt's Foot (Tussilago farfara) seems to grow in abundance especially in the North Eastern corner of Poolbrooks. This is one of the earliest flowering plants to be seen in spring and although common throughout the UK I don't think I have seen it as abundant as it is here anywhere else. It's name is derived from the shape of the leaves that are held close to the stem under the flower which resemble animal hoofs.

Colt's Foot (Tussilago farfara) growing at Poolbrooks

I certainly look forward to visiting Poolbrooks later on in spring and at the beginning of the summer. I suspect that the edges of some of the smaller quieter lakes will be ideal places to photography and film dragonflies and damselflies.