About this park/green space

Portland Park provides informal open space, including 10 hectares of woodland in the valley of a tributary of the River Erewash, together with several areas of species-rich grassland and three ponds. Parts of the woodland are thought to date back to at least 1600. Some areas of the site have been quarried for limestone and the park is known locally as 'The Quarries.' The site is located on a band of magnesium limestone, which enables many rare plant species to grow, making it a Site of Special Scientific Interest. The park is also designated as a Local Nature Reserve. The site provides a network of paths, a Visitor Centre is located in the centre of the park and provides information, a cafeteria and toilets. The centre is an ideal starting point for the Three Centres Trail (leading to Teversal-PleasleyTrails network). Portland Park was donated to the people of Kirkby by the Duke of Portland as a series of gifts dating from 1910 and was developed as formal pleasure grounds. A shortage of staff after the Second World War led to less intensive management and over time the more formal features of the park were removed, such as the bandstand, bowling green and play area, resulting in the informal country park of today. The site is bounded by railway lines, which were some of the first pre-steam lines in the country. Built to serve the former local coal mining industry the majority of lines are now disused.