Pugneys Country Park

In 1985 the 300-acre site of an open cast coalmine and quarry in the south of Wakefield was renewed as a country park.

There are two lakes here, the larger of which is a watersports centre, and somewhere to come for canoeing, windsurfing or sailing, with equipment for hire.

The smaller lake is a 24-acre nature reserve, loved for its enormous flock of swans, with as many as 100 to be found at any time.

You can hire bikes by the hour, and there are barbecue pits and picnic areas for the summer.

For youngsters, Pugneys also has a miniature railway running around the banks of the larger lake on weekends.

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