Aldenham Country Park is a parkland and woodland, including

Aldenham Reservoir Aldenham Reservoir is situated in the parish of Elstree and Borehamwood in Hertfordshire, England, about one mile (1.6 km) to the west of the village of Elstree. It is the source of the stream, Tykes Water, that runs north through Radle ...

. It is now part of the

Watling Chase Watling Chase Community Forest is an area of 72 square miles located in north London and south Hertfordshire around the towns of Potters Bar, Radlett, Borehamwood and Barnet. It includes Aldenham Country Park, Scratchwood, Moat Mount Open Space an ...

Community Forest Community forestry is an evolving branch of forestry whereby the local community plays a significant role in forest management and land use decision making by themselves in the facilitating support of government as well as change agents. It involv ...

, near

Elstree Elstree is a large village in the Hertsmere borough of Hertfordshire, England. It is about northwest of central London on the former A5 road, that follows the course of Watling Street. In 2011, its population was 5,110. It forms part of the ...

Hertfordshire Hertfordshire ( or ; often abbreviated Herts) is one of the home counties in southern England. It borders Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire to the north, Essex to the east, Greater London to the south, and Buckinghamshire to the west. For govern ...

, England. Aldenham Reservoir was excavated by French

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

in 1795 to help maintain local river levels after the

Grand Union Canal The Grand Union Canal in England is part of the British canal system. It is the principal navigable waterway between London and the Midlands. Starting in London, one arm runs to Leicester and another ends in Birmingham, with the latter st ...

was built. It is held as a reserve public water supply.Aldenham Country Park in 1986 at the BBC Domesday Project online, retrieved 21 January 2012
/ref> The park supports walking, fishing and sailing activities, has playgrounds, Special Needs Centre and a

Disney The Walt Disney Company, commonly known as Disney (), is an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate headquartered at the Walt Disney Studios complex in Burbank, California. Disney was originally founded on October ...

-backed

Winnie-the-Pooh Winnie-the-Pooh, also called Pooh Bear and Pooh, is a fictional Anthropomorphism, anthropomorphic teddy bear created by English author A. A. Milne and English illustrator E. H. Shepard. The first collection of stories about the character w ...

theme area. Since 1984, it has been a centre for breeding rare livestock (one of seventeen

Rare Breeds Survival Trust The Rare Breeds Survival Trust is a conservation charity whose purpose is to secure the continued existence and viability of the native farm animal genetic resources (FAnGR) of the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1973 by Joe Henson to prese ...

centres in the UK), including Aldenham Longhorn cattle,

Bagot goat The Bagot goat is a breed of goat which for several hundred years has lived semi-wild at Blithfield Hall, Staffordshire, England. In 2010 it was considered "critically endangered" by the Rare Breeds Survival Trust, as there were fewer than 100 ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

and

Tamworth pig The Tamworth, also known as Sandy Back and Tam, is a breed of domestic pig originating in its namesake Tamworth, Staffordshire, United Kingdom. It is among the oldest of pig breeds, but as with many older breeds of livestock, it is not well sui ...

s, and

Norfolk Horn The Norfolk Horn (also known as Blackface Norfolk Horned, Norfolk Horned, Old Norfolk or Old Norfolk Horned) is one of the British black-faced sheep breeds. It differs from other black-faced breeds, which are mainly found in high-rainfall, upland ...

and

English Leicester sheep The Leicester Longwool is an English breed of sheep. Alternative names for the breed include: Leicester, Bakewell Leicester, Dishley Leicester, English Leicester, Improved Leicester and New Leicester. It was originally developed by 18th-century ...

References

External links

Hertfordshire County Council's Aldenham Country park section
{{coord , 51, 38, 50, N, 00, 18, 50, W, display=title Country parks in Hertfordshire Aldenham