#77: Withymead Nature Reserve

The Thames Path accompanies the great river from its source in Gloucestershire (where ‘an infant Thames runs shyly through its meadows’ says my guidebook), to the Thames Barrier 184 miles later. For the past two summers I’ve been walking it. One of the loveliest stretches so far has been between Goring, (11 miles west of Reading), to Cholsey four miles upriver. I was captivated by the trees leaning over to the riverside and delighted to see a kingfisher flash by.

The Thames path between Goring and Cholsey

It turns out the opposite bank holds a secret – Withymead Nature Reserve (not marked on my OS map). A backwater there provides a secure home for those kingfishers, and the 13-acre reserve hosts other flora and fauna such as foxes, bats, deer, grass snakes and slow worms. It is known for its Loddon Lilies, like snowdrops, in spring.

Reserve warden Pete lives as a volunteer on the reserve half of each week, cutting rushes, repairing the boardwalks and generally keeping it in order. He tells me he has seen a family of four otters playing ‘which is quite special’ and that the 7 mile strip of land between Wallingford and Goring makes up 14% of Oxfordshire’s fenland.

As so often happens with nature reserves, it was a farsighted public spirited individual who established it – in this case Anne Carpmael, who lived in the area for 60 years and bequeathed it to the public as a place for people, especially the young, to enjoy nature. It opened in 2004.

Slip rails from when it was a boatyard

Boattbuilding hut, now a bats' home

Before that it had been a boatyard and one can still see the winch and slip rails, as well as the boatbuilding hut, now a home for bats. It is well worth a visit, with winding paths and carefully constructed nooks for opening a thermos and maybe catching a glimpse of a whiskered head in the water or an iridescent fluttering wing.

Withymead Nature Reserve is open on Sundays from April to August, and for pre-booked visits on Fridays throughout the year, depending on availability.