The most popular riverside walk in Stratford on Avon follows the river downstream from the centre of town. There is an alternative. What is sometimes called Anglers Walk heads the other way on a path accessed by the side of the Crown Plaza Hotel.
The path runs along the riverbank for perhaps a mile or so till it reaches a car park, marked, for example on Google Maps, as the Anglers Car Park. Anglers do indeed park there, as do some dog owners. I think this was once the spot where water was abstracted from the river as part of the supply for the town – this happened in the first half of last century. The river also widens to form a pool here: a regular bathing spot in the same period.
On the landward side of the path, until very recently, there were patches of woodland, and open areas with varieties of scrub. Some of this, perhaps the scrub, had been the municipal dump from 1950 to 1971. When alternative arrangements were made, the land was left to its own devices. Nature reclamed the area.
A couple of years ago, work started to convert the area into a nature reserve: the Riverside Project. Much of the scrub was cleared. Ponds and scrapes were dug, and marshy areas created. Apparently there was some deliberate planting.
The riverside path, previously muddy after wet weather, was properly metalled. More paths were added around the ponds and scraps, and accessibility generally was improved.
The diggers and earth movers have now all gone away, but at the moment it still all looks a bit stark. The new water features look like they should be attractive to birds on migration. But when we were there, we were told by a more regular visitor that less effort was being put into maintaining the changes than had gone into making them in the first place – that the vegetation which had been dominant prior to the project was already returning and threatening to crowd out recent plantings.
Hopefully, an equilibrium will be reached, and the site will help increase diversity.
The picture shows the largest new pond and some of its fringing vegetation. In the distance, on the horizon, the Welcombe Hills Obelisk marks one of the high points of another nearby nature reserve.