The Wrington Vale Light Railway was constructed primarily to bring building materials for the lake.

Two of the steam engines have been preserved, with one in working order as part of the visitor centre which also includes educational facilities for children.

The original suction tanks, which formed the water supply for the steam boilers powering the pumping engines, are now used for trout rearing.

Its route then takes it around the northern outskirts of Congresbury, and across the North Somerset Levels roughly parallel to the A370 road, past the site of a Roman villa before crossing under the M5 motorway and emptying into the Severn Estuary in Woodspring Bay, downstream from Clevedon and west of the village of Kingston Seymour.

[4] Blagdon Pumping Station and Visitor Centre includes science and environment exhibits and hands-on displays as well as a room dedicated to the charity WaterAid.

[11] When the lake first opened there were four Woolf compound rotative beam pumping engines, housed in two separate buildings.

[12] In 1950 automatic shutdown equipment was installed to prevent damage in the event of a burst main or overloading of the new electric pumps.

The suction tanks which originally supplied water to the steam boilers for the pumping engines are now used as rearing pools for the fish before they are transferred into the lake.

[19] Blagdon Lake is designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)[20] of 212.7 hectares (526 acres), created in 1971,[21] largely because of the variety of species and habitats.

The area around the pumping station was laid out as an ornamental woodland which includes Scots pine, cedar, larch, spruce, oak, beech, chestnut, willow, lime, holly and maple.

[22] A variety of water birds can be seen around the lake including: great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus) and little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis), cormorant (Phalacrocoracidae), mute swan (Cygnus olor), Canada goose (Branta canadensis), duck (Anatidae), shoveller (Anas clypeata) and gadwall (Anas strepera).

Occasional visitors include: osprey (Pandion haeliatis), goshawk (Accipiter gentilis), Eurasian hobby (Falco subbuteo), nuthatch and great spotted woodpecker (Dendrocopos major).