Etherow Country Park situated in Compstall is one of my favourite places to visit, I spend a lot of time there. Apart from being one of the oldest country parks (established in 1968), it is also one of the nicest, with a wide variety of things to do and see. It has something for everyone, for people who just like to park up and feed the ducks and geese, to strolling round the park. There are different areas depending on your needs, River, Canal, Lake, Weir, Keg Woodlands and Pool, Bird Hide, Sailing, Angling, Model Boats, Ernocroft Woods (site of old coal mine). Etherow used to be the site of a cotton mill and there is still evidence of this, that you can see around the park. Coal Mining also played a part and you can see a rusty old barge and bits of bridges that used to bring the coal to the barges from Ernocroft Woods, parts of the woodland area was private and used for shooting by the Andrews Family who owned the land. This is a great place to walk round and very accessible to all, the woodland areas may be a problem for wheelchairs but other than that most areas are easy to get to. Perhaps the reason I enjoy it so much is that everytime I visit I see something new, I never get bored, there is plenty of flora and fauna all year round.

This is only a taster of what you might see on one of your visits here, for more information about Etherow Country Park visit Wildlife Reporter, hopefully it might inspire you to do something similar or just enjoy Etherow and all it has to offer.

Photos of Etherow Country Park.