The four ponds are balancing ponds for the drainage of the surrounding land. Moorhens, Coots and Mallards can be seen on the ponds and regularly breed. Mayfly, Damselfly and Dragonflies are seen throughout the summer and 25 species of water beetle have been recorded on the site. If you are lucky you may see Kingfishers flying low over the water and grass snakes during the summer.Pennytown Ponds was once part of a large parkland known as Cotes Park as early as the 14th century. At the beginning of the 19th century the park was sold off in smaller parcels of land. Cotes park hall once stood in the centre of the park but this disappeared with the development of the industrial estate. A reminder of its existence is the stone outbuilding at the top of the bridlepath.There was also a small hamlet here which gave the area its name, as the residents paid one silver penny as rent. During the 19th century Cotes Park was mined for coal and ironstone, as was most of the surrounding area. In 1942 Alfreton Urban District Council bought Pennytown Ponds and started reclaiming the area for public use. Footpaths, bridges and steps were build by Italian prisoners of war.The ponds became isolated and forgotten as the industrial estate was developed during the 1970s, however, the site was designated as a County Wildlife site in the 1980s. Investment in the 1990s and the works of the Pennytown Ponds group and Groundwork has given the area a new lease of life, with the site becoming a Local Nature Reserve in 2002.