A Warwickshire County Councillor visited one of its five country parks which are part of its green spaces that attracted just under a million visitors in 2023-2024 to celebrate English Tourism Week.
Visitors from Warwickshire, the West Midlands and further afield enjoyed outings to Warwickshire County Council’s five country parks at Kingsbury Water Park, Hartshill Hayes Country Park, Ryton Pools Country Park, Burton Dassett Hills and Pooley Country Park; three greenways at Kenilworth, Offchurch and Stratford; and Ufton Fields Nature Reserve and Stockton Cutting.
English Tourism Week (March 14-23) which is led by VisitEngland is an annual celebration of the vibrant tourism industry, highlighting its economic importance to local economies and promoting the innovation, quality and range of products and services on offer to encourage more domestic breaks.
This year’s theme is ‘Supporting people and places to drive growth’ which aligns with Warwickshire’s Economic Growth Strategy focused on ambitious and sustainable growth.
Visitors to Warwickshire’s parks and greenways can enjoy the products of innovation in the country parks offer, via a host of concessionary businesses, including food and drinks caterers, ice cream vans, bicycle hire, and ‘pay to play’ bouncy castle and trampolines. The attractive offer, is helping increase visitor numbers, and supporting the local economy
Well-renowned local business, Farmers Fayre, became the new café operator at Ryton Pools Country Park last March which has seen a 26% increase in visitor numbers since the café started operating.
The County Council also installed its first roof-mounted solar panels with 30 Photovoltaic (PV) modules to the café which is expected to fulfil 20% of the park’s energy needs and save around 2.63 tomes of CO2 emissions each year to support the council’s ambition of a sustainable growth.
Activities to support health and wellbeing, and protecting the environment were delivered, including Friends of Kingsbury Water Park selling 4,002 bags of duck food to fund park improvements; hosting the Midlands ‘Spring into Fishing’ event with the Angling Trust to teach new anglers safe, sustainable fishing; and volunteers from Butterfly Conservation helping to launch “Let’s Create Wild Spaces” projects at Ryton Pools, with 19 mini projects supporting specific moth and butterfly species.
To celebrate English Tourism Week, Cllr Marian Humphreys from Warwickshire County Council went along to Pooley Country Park in Polesworth and met Sarah and Oliver Exall, who own The Pit Stop Coffee Shop. Since the family-run business opened last summer, visitor numbers have increased at Pooley by a staggering 50%.
Cllr Humphreys said English Tourism Week was a perfect opportunity to highlight the variety of vibrant attractions for visitors to enjoy at Warwickshire County Council’s green spaces which are situated throughout the county.
“We have worked hard over the past 12 months to build our commercial partnerships to enhance visitors’ experiences and to generate vital income to make our country parks and the service we offer the best they can be,” she said.
“Warwickshire is a place to do business that provides economic opportunities tailored to business needs. This is enhanced by the county's sustainable and inclusive ambitions which are reflected in the businesses operating from our country parks.
“To have reached just under a million visitors to our country parks in 2023-24 shows that we are providing the amenities that people want and that more and more people appreciate the benefits of visiting country parks for their health and wellbeing.”
Sarah Exall from Pit Stop Coffee Shop said: “We are delighted to run our café within Pooley Country Park. It is a unique destination that blends rich mining heritage with a growing range of leisure activities.
“Thanks to ongoing efforts, from Warwickshire Country Parks, the site continues to evolve, offering visitors a diverse experience—from historical walks that explore the remains of Alvecote Priory dating back to 1195 canal side walks, to mountain bike trails, a lovely natural children’s play park surrounded by trees which are ideal for the summer months, and our own soft play and interactive play area for under-fives within the coffee shop.
"We are thrilled with the positive response to our new location and are committed to expanding our offerings. By working closely with the council, we aim to enhance the visitor experience even further, ensuring Pooley Country Park remains a key attraction for both locals and tourists. Our goal is to introduce new activities that encourage longer visits and greater engagement with the space.
"As the warmer months arrive and more people look to enjoy the great outdoors, we are excited to announce a growing calendar of events. These will include floristry workshops, guided mushroom and insect walks, wellness retreats, breed-specific dog walks, jewellery-making workshops, willow weaving sessions, and more. This approach ensures we continue to support Warwickshire County Council to develop Pooley Country Park, within its family of sites into a vibrant hub for leisure, nature, and community events. Keep an eye on our events page for updates!”
Warwickshire Country Parks offer a variety of events and services. For further information, please visit https://visit.warwickshire.gov.uk/ and https://countryparks.warwickshire.gov.uk/
For more information about the Pit Stop Coffee Shop, please visit their social media at https://www.facebook.com/pitstoppooley and https://www.instagram.com/pitstop.pooley/