Talkin Tarn Country Park

About

Talkin Tarn is a kettle-hole lake formed by the immense force of glaciers 18,000 years ago. Moving ice scoured and carved the landscape leaving glacial sand hills and a natural bowl, which filled with water as the ice sheet melted. The Tarn has long and rich history and has traditionally been used for recreation since at least the middle of the 1800's. The same is still true today with visitors coming from far and wide to enjoy all that the tarn has to offer.

The name Talkin is derived from the Celtic 'Talcan' meaning brow of a hill. The word 'Tarn' is Norse in origin, 'Tjorn' meaning tear drop or small lake.

Old buckles, stone axes and urns have been found in the area. Talkin Tarn has been used for hundreds of years for water sports. In the past a bathing hut on stilts was located on the tarn edge, complete with jetty and diving platform.

The beauty of Talkin Tarn is not down to nature alone, it is also the result of great conservation and management efforts of the country park team. Reed beds, open water, waterside margins with soft rushes, irises, sedges and grasses. Beech woods, birch and hazel scrub woodland, wet grassland and flushes. Talkin Tarn has a variety of different habitats, attracting many different species of wildlife throughout the year. Red squirrels frequent the bird and squirrel feeding area next to the tearoom, with nuthatches and greater spotted woodpeckers. In the Summer, the Common Blue Damselfly emerge from their underwater home. Other wildlife that you may encounter at Talkin Tarn include otters, badgers, foxes and roe deer. Autumn brings a show of colours from the trees and the splendour of the fungi of all shapes sizes and colours, growing around the woodland. Winter months bring a variety of birds to the open water including Mallard, Wigeon, Brambling and Mute swans as well as gulls and geese.

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