[1] It is owned and managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust,[2] supported by Broxtowe Borough Council,[1][2] following the completion of purchase from Cemex UK in December 2020.

[4] The reserve was established at the completion of an earlier phase of workings in 1966 and was opened by the naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough.

[2] In late 2019, the owners announced their desire to sell the site, and an appeal backed by Sir David Attenborough, whose family traditionally hail from the area, was launched to raise £1,000,000 needed to enable transfer of ownership to Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, which had helped to maintain the site with the owners for 60 years.

[5][6] The purchase of the site from Cemex UK was concluded in December 2020, following a £750,000 grant allocated as part of the Landfill Communities Fund from Biffa Award.

[2] It sits at the confluence of the River Erewash and the Trent, and is part of an area designated as the Attenborough Gravel Pits Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI).