Tilgate Lake is the biggest of three lakes at

Tilgate Park Tilgate Park is a large recreational park situated south of Tilgate, South-East Crawley. Originally a part of the ancient Worth Forest, the park and adjacent areas (including the modern-day Furnace Green, Three Bridges, part of Southgate an ...

, and remains a popular water activity centre and tourist attraction in

Crawley Crawley () is a town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in West Sussex, England. It is south of London, north of Brighton and Hove, and north-east of the county town of Chichester. Crawley covers an area of and had a populat ...

West Sussex West Sussex is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Surrey to the north, East Sussex to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Hampshire to the west. The largest settlement is Cr ...

.Tilgate Lake has a wide variety of outdoor activities open to the general public, such as

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

canoeing Canoeing is an activity which involves paddling a canoe with a single-bladed paddle. In some parts of Europe, canoeing refers to both canoeing and kayaking, with a canoe being called an 'open canoe' or Canadian. A few of the recreational ...

fishing Fishing is the activity of trying to catch fish. Fish are often caught as wildlife from the natural environment (Freshwater ecosystem, freshwater or Marine ecosystem, marine), but may also be caught from Fish stocking, stocked Body of water, ...

kayaking Kayaking is the use of a kayak for moving over water. It is distinguished from canoeing by the sitting position of the paddler and the number of blades on the paddle. A kayak is a low-to-the-water, canoe-like boat in which the paddler sits fac ...

mountain biking Mountain biking (MTB) is a sport of riding bicycles off-road, often over rough terrain, usually using specially designed mountain bikes. Mountain bikes share similarities with other bikes but incorporate features designed to enhance durability ...

raft building A raft is any flat structure for support or transportation over water. It is usually of basic design, characterized by the absence of a hull. Rafts are usually kept afloat by using any combination of buoyant materials such as wood, sealed barrels ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

running Running is a method of terrestrial locomotion by which humans and other animals move quickly on foot. Running is a gait with an aerial phase in which all feet are above the ground (though there are exceptions). This is in contrast to walkin ...

sailing Sailing employs the wind—acting on sails, wingsails or kites—to propel a craft on the surface of the ''water'' (sailing ship, sailboat, raft, Windsurfing, windsurfer, or Kitesurfing, kitesurfer), on ''ice'' (iceboat) or on ''land'' (Land sa ...

standup paddleboarding Standup paddleboarding (SUP) is a water sport born from surfing with modern roots in Hawaii. Standup paddleboarders stand on boards that are floating on the water and use a paddle to propel themselves through the water. The sport was documen ...

, Open water

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

team building Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combination of busin ...

, navigational challenges, tree climbing and zip trekking.

Tilgate Lake Dam Project 2011

As part of the ''Upper Mole Flood Alleviation Scheme'', the raising of the dam at Tilgate Lake was completed in 2011, to provide additional flood storage, protecting hundreds of homes vulnerable to flooding in

Furnace Green Furnace Green is one of 14 neighbourhoods in Crawley in West Sussex, England, and a local government ward. Furnace Green is located to the east of the town centre. It is bordered by Tilgate to the south west, Three Bridges to the north and Maid ...

Pound Hill Pound Hill is one of 14 neighbourhoods within the town of Crawley in West Sussex, England. Pound Hill is located on the east of Crawley. It is bordered by Three Bridges and Manor Royal to the west and Maidenbower to the south. It is the large ...

, Three Bridges,

Tinsley Green Tinsley Green is an area in the Borough status in the United Kingdom, Borough of Crawley, one of seven Districts of England, local government districts in the England, English county of West Sussex. Originally a Hamlet (place), hamlet in the Wor ...

and

Horley Horley is a town in the borough of Reigate and Banstead in Surrey, England, south of the towns of Reigate and Redhill. The county border with West Sussex is to the south with Crawley and Gatwick Airport close to the town. It has its own econ ...

Tilgate Park Watersports Centre

Crawley Borough Council have created a water sports activity centre at the lake in

as a central feature of

. activities available at Tilgate Watersports are: Bike Hire, Canoeing Courses, Boat Hire, Angling Membership, Boat & Board Membership, Open Water Swimming and Orienteering.

Boating and sailing

Available for hire (2019) are

rowing boat Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically att ...

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

s and

canoe A canoe is a lightweight, narrow watercraft, water vessel, typically pointed at both ends and open on top, propelled by one or more seated or kneeling paddlers facing the direction of travel and using paddles. In British English, the term ' ...

s stand up paddle boards and

mountain bike A mountain bike (MTB) or mountain bicycle is a bicycle designed for off-road cycling (''mountain biking''). Mountain bikes share some similarities with other bicycles, but incorporate features designed to enhance durability and performance in r ...

s. The latest up and coming sport is

which is very popular. Sailing boats were formerly available to hire from 'Dynamic adventures' but ceased in 2017, for Laser Pico's, Toppers, Optimists and a Wayfarer for holders of a RYA level 2 or above qualification.

Mountain biking

A variety of forest trails have been established for both beginners and experienced riders through

Tilgate Forest Tilgate Forest is a Local Nature Reserve in Crawley in West Sussex. It is owned and managed by Crawley Borough Council and is part of Tilgate Park. This site has woods, tall herb and fern, and heathland. The most common trees in areas of natura ...

, under the banner of the British Schools Cycling Association (BSCA).

Go Ape

Go Ape Go Ape! is an outdoor adventure company which runs tree top ropes courses under the names Tree Top Challenge, Tree Top Adventure and Zip Trekking, as well as ground-based Forest Segway Safaris, at locations across the United Kingdom and the United ...

is tree climbing and zip trekking adventure park constructed in the tree tops of

. The course is constructed of rope ladders, zip-lines, rope bridges, trapezes and swings and is located above the lake near to the former "Inn on the park" (Now Smith & Western).

Park Run

A 5K (five kilometre) park run takes place every week in which part of the course circumnavigates the whole of Tilgate lake, to Titmus lake, back to Tilgate lake. Around 400 runners take part in the run each week, and the event has been in progress since 9 June 2013. The record fastest times run by a male have been Neil Boniface in 15 minutes 39 seconds on 21 Sept 2013, Nick Duggan 15 minutes 38 seconds on 26 July 2014. Neil Boniface again in 15 minutes 32 seconds on 21 June 2014, and then by James Westlake of 15 minutes and 31 seconds on 15 July 2017, the best ever time was run by James Westlake on 14 April 2018, and is the current record (to 2020) of 15 minutes and 13 seconds. In the ladies, Fiona Clark set the pace with 18 minutes 14 seconds on 16 June 2012, which was beaten by Hannah Brooks setting the best ever ladies time (to 2020) of 17 minutes 50 seconds on 29 September 2012. This time was run close twice by Julie Briggs on 1 June 2013 and 21 June 2014 recording 18 minutes and 6 seconds on both occasions. In nearly 10 years since its beginning in June 2013 (to March 25, 2023), there have been 498 events, an average 394 runners per week. 18,704 participants, each finishing an average of 10.5 runs each, 196,347 finishes in total.

Angling

This is a day ticket water with tickets available form

Crawley Borough Council Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for Crawley in West Sussex, England. It consists of 36 councillors and is currently controlled by the Labour Party, led by Michael Jones. The administrative headquarters are at Crawley Town Hall. ...

with many fish species available to be caught at Tilgate lake, including

carp The term carp (: carp) is a generic common name for numerous species of freshwater fish from the family (biology), family Cyprinidae, a very large clade of ray-finned fish mostly native to Eurasia. While carp are prized game fish, quarries and a ...

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

to over 30 lb,

tench The tench or doctor fish (''Tinca tinca'') is a freshwater, fresh- and brackish water, brackish-water fish of the order Cypriniformes found throughout Eurasia from Western Europe including Great Britain, Britain and Ireland east into Asia as far ...

and

bronze bream The common bream (''Abramis brama''), also known as the freshwater bream, bream, bronze bream, carp bream or sweaty bream, is a European species of freshwater fish in the family Leuciscidae. It is now considered to be the only species in the ...

to 7 lb,

perch Perch is a common name for freshwater fish from the genus ''Perca'', which belongs to the family Percidae of the large order Perciformes. The name comes from , meaning the type species of this genus, the European perch (''P. fluviatilis'') ...

crucian carp The crucian carp (''Carassius carassius'') is a medium-sized member of the common carp family Cyprinidae. It occurs widely in northern European regions. Its name derives from the Low German ''karusse'' or ''karutze'', possibly from Medieval Lat ...

roach Roach or The Roach may refer to: Animals * Cockroach, various insect species of the order Blattodea * Common roach (''Rutilus rutilus''), a fresh and brackish water fish of the family Cyprinidae ** ''Rutilus'' or roaches, a genus of fishes * Cal ...

and

rudd ''Scardinius'' is a genus of freshwater ray-finned fishes belonging to the family Leuciscidae, which includes the daces, Eurasian minnows and related species. The fishes in this genus are commonly called rudds. Locally, the name "rudd" without ...

. The largest known carp successfully landed at Tilgate was 34lb 8oz caught by Clive Sharpe in 2006. The largest known pike ever captured from Tilgate was 32lb 8oz caught by C.Voss in 1986. The largest known tench on record is a fine 6lb 8oz specimen landed by Nick Ardley in 2006.

Swimming

Tilgate lake is recognised as an official NOWCA venue for open water swimming. Open water swimming vents are still organised by the councils appointed hosts: Tilgate Park water Sports, in 2020 an event named the Aquathon, for which 'Race 1' is a 500 metre swim + a 5,000 meter run, and 'Race 2' is a 1000 metre swim + a 10,000 meter run. All swimmers compulsorily wear a NOWCA Safety Wristband when they swim, which is scanned on entering and exiting the lake for safety reasons, and recording time and distance.

References

{{Reflist

External links

Tilgate Park Watersports Centre

Park Run

Crawley Angling Society

Go Ape - Crawley
Crawley Outdoor recreation