"Enjoy birds, wildlife and a waymarked nature walk through meadows and woodlands."
Walk directions
Go through the Visitor Centre, take the path ahead to waymark 1 and detour left for views of the reservoir from Lyster Hide. Return to 1 and continue along the path through Chestnut Wood for 100yds (91m). At waymark 3, bear right to the clearing with picnic tables and then go straight ahead to waymark 4. Keep ahead to cross the wooden footbridge, passing the pond on your left, and continue until you reach waymark 7 on the edge of the wood. Ahead are grazing meadows. Turn left along the gravel path, keeping the meadow on your right, later following the boardwalk on your right to an outdoor classroom in a clearing with ponds and seating made from split trunks.
At waymark 8 turn left, passing waymark 9 to reach to Rawl Hide, for good views of the reservoir and the reed-covered embankment on the left. Now return to waymark 9, turn left onto the wide, grassy path to enter Peninsular Wood and continue to waymark 12. Bear left for 100yds (91m) and pass by Oak Hide to maintain direction to the tip of the peninsula and waymark 13, where you'll find Point Hide. Retrace your steps to waymark 12 and turn left in the direction of the Fishing Lodge, with the reservoir on your left. Maintain direction, passing waymarks 14 and 15 to cross the concrete bridge.
Ignore the stile across to Hawkswood and bear left to waymark 17 and enter Well Wood. Turn left and continue until you meet waymark 19. The Fishing Lodge and Cafe on the Water are a few paces ahead, off to the left. From waymark 19 swing sharp right. Keep ahead between coppiced trees, with the embankment denoting the old boundary of the woods on your left, to waymark 18. Turn left, keeping meadows on your right, to waymark 24. Turn left to waymark 23 and right to waymark 22. Turn right again, into an area of less dense woodland with South Hanningfield Road on your left.
At waymark 25, continue to a clearing of coppiced hornbeams, where the path descends and goes past several small ponds to waymark 26, passing waymark 27. Keep ahead to cross the grassy track, and just after waymark 28 bear left to enter Hawkswood. Keep ahead past waymarks 29 and 30, and at waymark 32 turn right. Cross a wooden footbridge and go through a series of kissing gates to return to the car park.
If you're a birder, or just enjoy nature, then Hanningfield Reservoir and Nature Reserve is the place for you. The southeastern shores of the 970-acre (393ha) reservoir have been set aside as a nature reserve by the Essex Water Company and are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Managed... by the Essex Wildlife Trust, it is best known for the prolific numbers of wintering and breeding wildfowl. Among them are nationally important numbers of coot, gadwall and tufted duck. If you're there in early winter you will also see pintails in large numbers. The chalk-based sludge on the western side of the reservoir supports plants uncommon in Essex, such as golden dock and marsh dock. Pleasant strolling An interesting nature trail leads through the woodland, where there are four especially well-constructed bird hides overlooking the reservoir and banks, enabling you to spend all day spotting species such as pochard, shoveler, shelduck and great crested grebe. But for non-birders, waymarked trails lead through ancient coppice and secondary woodland, with ponds, hedges and ditches. Pleasant strolls through four different woods – Chestnut, Peninsular, Well Wood and Hawkswood – are there to be enjoyed. Coppiced woodland Hanningfield Reservoir was built to provide water for an increased population after World War II, and in the 1960s the area which forms part of today's nature reserve was planted with conifers. In 1992 the Essex Wildlife Trust took over management of the site, and today the reserve is renowned for its abundant wildlife. In Chestnut Wood there are areas of Scots pine which have been thinned to allow light into the cleared sunny grasslands, which are an excellent habitat for butterflies and crickets. Ponds, ditches and piles of dead wood have attracted dragonflies, newts and grass snakes. In Peninsular Wood, near Point and Oak hides, warblers nest and feed in an area which was cleared and allowed to regenerate as scrub. And in Well Wood and Hawkswood you can see the perimeters of ancient woodlands, where coppiced hornbeam and hazel allow the old plant and animal communities to flourish once more. Spend time in the Visitor Centre, either before or after your nature walk, to see some conservation ideas in action, such as composting toilets (which need no flush) and a log-burning stove using wood from the reserve. Water is conserved by collecting rainwater from a large roof and using it to top up two wildlife ponds beside the Visitor Centre. You can use complimentary binoculars (donation appreciated) to spot dozens of birds feeding at one of these ponds from the viewing gallery inside the centre.
Essex is full of pleasant surprises. It has the largest coastline of any county in England, with its fair share of castles, royal connections and scenic valleys.
"Enjoy birds, wildlife and a waymarked nature walk through meadows and woodlands."
Walk details
1hr 30min
Difficulty:
Easy
Gradient:
Flat
Distance:
3.5 miles (5.7kms)
Ascent:
0ft (0m)
Walk directions
Go through the Visitor Centre, take the path ahead to waymark 1 and detour left for views of the reservoir from Lyster Hide. Return to 1 and continue along the path through Chestnut Wood for 100yds (91m). At waymark 3, bear right to the clearing with picnic tables and then go straight ahead to waymark 4. Keep ahead to cross the wooden footbridge, passing the pond on your left, and continue until you reach waymark 7 on the edge of the wood. Ahead are grazing meadows. Turn left along the gravel path, keeping the meadow on your right, later following the boardwalk on your right to an outdoor classroom in a clearing with ponds and seating made from split trunks.
1 of 4
At waymark 8 turn left, passing waymark 9 to reach to Rawl Hide, for good views of the reservoir and the reed-covered embankment on the left. Now return to waymark 9, turn left onto the wide, grassy path to enter Peninsular Wood and continue to waymark 12. Bear left for 100yds (91m) and pass by Oak Hide to maintain direction to the tip of the peninsula and waymark 13, where you'll find Point Hide. Retrace your steps to waymark 12 and turn left in the direction of the Fishing Lodge, with the reservoir on your left. Maintain direction, passing waymarks 14 and 15 to cross the concrete bridge.
2 of 4
Ignore the stile across to Hawkswood and bear left to waymark 17 and enter Well Wood. Turn left and continue until you meet waymark 19. The Fishing Lodge and Cafe on the Water are a few paces ahead, off to the left. From waymark 19 swing sharp right. Keep ahead between coppiced trees, with the embankment denoting the old boundary of the woods on your left, to waymark 18. Turn left, keeping meadows on your right, to waymark 24. Turn left to waymark 23 and right to waymark 22. Turn right again, into an area of less dense woodland with South Hanningfield Road on your left.
3 of 4
At waymark 25, continue to a clearing of coppiced hornbeams, where the path descends and goes past several small ponds to waymark 26, passing waymark 27. Keep ahead to cross the grassy track, and just after waymark 28 bear left to enter Hawkswood. Keep ahead past waymarks 29 and 30, and at waymark 32 turn right. Cross a wooden footbridge and go through a series of kissing gates to return to the car park.
If you're a birder, or just enjoy nature, then Hanningfield Reservoir and Nature Reserve is the place for you. The southeastern shores of the 970-acre (393ha) reservoir have been set aside as a nature reserve by the Essex Water Company and are a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). Managed... by the Essex Wildlife Trust, it is best known for the prolific numbers of wintering and breeding wildfowl. Among them are nationally important numbers of coot, gadwall and tufted duck. If you're there in early winter you will also see pintails in large numbers. The chalk-based sludge on the western side of the reservoir supports plants uncommon in Essex, such as golden dock and marsh dock. Pleasant strolling An interesting nature trail leads through the woodland, where there are four especially well-constructed bird hides overlooking the reservoir and banks, enabling you to spend all day spotting species such as pochard, shoveler, shelduck and great crested grebe. But for non-birders, waymarked trails lead through ancient coppice and secondary woodland, with ponds, hedges and ditches. Pleasant strolls through four different woods – Chestnut, Peninsular, Well Wood and Hawkswood – are there to be enjoyed. Coppiced woodland Hanningfield Reservoir was built to provide water for an increased population after World War II, and in the 1960s the area which forms part of today's nature reserve was planted with conifers. In 1992 the Essex Wildlife Trust took over management of the site, and today the reserve is renowned for its abundant wildlife. In Chestnut Wood there are areas of Scots pine which have been thinned to allow light into the cleared sunny grasslands, which are an excellent habitat for butterflies and crickets. Ponds, ditches and piles of dead wood have attracted dragonflies, newts and grass snakes. In Peninsular Wood, near Point and Oak hides, warblers nest and feed in an area which was cleared and allowed to regenerate as scrub. And in Well Wood and Hawkswood you can see the perimeters of ancient woodlands, where coppiced hornbeam and hazel allow the old plant and animal communities to flourish once more. Spend time in the Visitor Centre, either before or after your nature walk, to see some conservation ideas in action, such as composting toilets (which need no flush) and a log-burning stove using wood from the reserve. Water is conserved by collecting rainwater from a large roof and using it to top up two wildlife ponds beside the Visitor Centre. You can use complimentary binoculars (donation appreciated) to spot dozens of birds feeding at one of these ponds from the viewing gallery inside the centre.
Essex is full of pleasant surprises. It has the largest coastline of any county in England, with its fair share of castles, royal connections and scenic valleys.
