A beautiful woodland walk just south of Thatcham, Bowdown Woods Nature Reserve is about 2.5 miles from Newbury. Swathes of bluebells sit under the trees, perfect in late April and through May.
This woodland has mysterious hidden valleys, sunny glades and patches of heathland. Perfect for a nature walk! Which is exactly what George and I did today. I photocopied and laminated a nature finding sheet from the ‘Hugless Douglas’ nature walk book and George brought along his bug hunting kit. We put stickers on the bugs and nature that we found. This is a brilliant thing to do to get the kids out in nature.
This is a good place for buggy walks as there is a concrete path that goes round on a ¾ mile loop past the old bombsite. The Bomb Site Walk takes in an area that housed an ammunition store during and after the Second World War. There are also lots of other loops to walk of various lengths, offering different views.
The landscape varies from woodland to open patches of grass, to boggy areas. There are lots of nice little streams with bridges over, which my son loves to play trolls under. The clearings throughout the wood offer views across the Kennet Valley.
Huge patches of bluebells sit in the shade of the trees and there are ponds and a huge variety of wildlife. We sometimes see deer if George is quiet enough! There are lots of opportunities to talk about different landscapes and habitats with children. To introduce them to the natural world.
There is a good size car park too.
RG19 8DA
OS Map Reference
SU 501 656
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