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The park opened on the 24th of June 2000<ref name="frcp" /> and is managed by Leeds City Council, in partnership with the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Rothwell Country Park.<ref name="ywt" /> The park has approximately 676,817 vistors annually, which makes it the second most visited park in the Leeds South Outer management area, after Springhead Park. Rothwell Country Park is the sole park among Leeds' top 25 most visited parks that does not meet the Leeds Quality Park standard.<ref name="park survey">Barker, A., Churchill, D. and Crawford, A. (2018) Leeds Parks Survey: Full Report. rep. Leeds: University of Leeds.</ref>
The site was excavated in the 1970s and was found to have been possibly inhabited in the Roman era.<ref name="Richardson">Richardson, J., 2011. ''Rothwell Haigh, Rothwell, Leeds, West Yorkshire - Excavation Report''. [online] Wakefield: ASWYAS. Available at: https://archaeologydataservice.ac.uk/archiveDS/archiveDownload?t=arch-941-1/dissemination/pdf/archaeol11-92831_1.pdf [Accessed 17 July 2022].</ref> It was also a hunting ground in the Medieval period and then a colliery in the 19th and 20th Centuries, until it was redeveloped in the mid 1990s.<ref name="frcp">Friends of Rothwell Country Park. "History of the Park". [online]. Available at:<https://sites.google.com/site/friendsofrothwellcountrypark/about-the-park> [Accessed 3/12/2020]</ref>
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On the 9th December 1983, the last of the Rothwell Colliery's shafts were closed. They had produced over 75 million tons of coal during the time they were open. <ref name="frcp" />
==History of the Park==
In the mid 1990s, local people, Leeds City Council and Groundwork Leeds, entered a partnership to transform the disused industrial site.<ref
On the 24th June 2000, Rothwell Country Park was opened <ref name="frcp" /> by television presenter and journalist Richard Whiteley. <ref name="BBC">BBC Leeds (2009). "From Park to Pit". [online]. Available at:<http://www.bbc.co.uk/leeds/content/articles/2009/03/02/places_rothwell_country_park_feature.shtml> [Accessed on 7/12/20]</ref> There was a "traditional village fete", which included music and displays by schools, community groups and societies. There were also tours of the park, some by former miners, who explained the mining history of the park, and others explaining how the park was built and what wildlife now inhabited it. There were displays of crafts including willow weaving and stone carving. <ref name="S Ward Book" />
Following the park's opening, it experienced a number of issues, including a lack of revenue, the demise of the Friends of group, travellers' encampments, fly tipping and unauthorised vehicles causing damage. There were also plans for the RSPCA to build a visitor or education centre on the site of Haigh Farm, however this did not come to fruition.<ref name="LCC report" /> In 2010, after years of underinvestment <ref name="frcp" /> and vandalism, <ref name="BBC" /> the community group, the Friends of Rothwell Country Park, was
On 9th June 2013, the "Trim Trail" was officially opened, which consisted of a series of outdoor exercise equipment. It was funded by Leeds City Council. Members of the Friends of Rothwell Country Park and representatives of Leeds City Council used the equipment session run by Sarah Crosby of Cross-Fit Personal Training.<ref name=":0">Anon (n.d.) “Home,” ''Friends of Rothwell Country Park'', [online] Available from: <nowiki>https://sites.google.com/site/friendsofrothwellcountrypark/home</nowiki> (Accessed 3 February 2023).</ref>
In 2019, the park was designated a Local Wildlife Site. <ref name="wtreport" />
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<span style="color:#ff0000">'''Red line'''</span>: Pithead & Sculpture trail.
<span style="color:#0000ff ">'''Blue line'''</span>: Pond trail.
<span style="color:#
<span style="color:#008000 ">'''Green markers'''</span>: Points of interest.
</center>
===Parking===
[[File:Gate, Bullough Lane - geograph.org.uk - 2036044.jpg|thumb|alt=A road showing a gate and large rocks blocking access.|Access to the park's car park is blocked.|left|200x200px]]
The access to the park's car park is blocked by a gate and large rocks due to unsocial behaviour so visitors usually park on the residential roads nearby or walk and cycle to the park.<ref name="Geograph Bullough">Anon. (2021). Road block on Bullough Lane, Rothwell © Humphrey Bolton CC-BY-SA/2.0, ''Geograph'', Geograph Project Limited, [online]. Available from: https://www.geograph.org.uk/photo/6933942 (Accessed 11 July 2023).</ref> There were plans to charge for parking at Rothwell Country park in 2023/24, however, as of April 2023, the council no longer plans to do so and thus the car park will remain closed.<ref>Tomkinson, K. (2023) ‘Unanswered Questions Letter’. Available at: <https://democracy.leeds.gov.uk/documents/b29326/Unanswered%20Questions%20Letter%2022nd-Mar-2023%2013.00%20Council.pdf> (Accessed: 3 March 2024).</ref>
===Trails & Footpaths===
The park has two named footpaths with many more footpaths branching off from them. The Pithead & Sculpture Trail which goes past a series of sculptures and ends at the site of the former stockyard, where abandoned railway lines can still be seen. The Pond Trial goes along many of the numerous ponds in the park.<ref name=":1">Anon (n.d.) “Maps,” ''Friends of Rothwell Country Park'', [online] Available from: <nowiki>https://sites.google.com/site/friendsofrothwellcountrypark/maps</nowiki> (Accessed 3 February 2023).</ref> There is also the Trim Trail, which is on the Pond Trail, which goes past the outdoor exercise equipment that was installed in 2013.<ref name=":0" />
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==Your Memories==
<comments />
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