This is a 1 mile walk around Wiltshire Wildlife Trust's Penn Wood nature reserve, taking in plenty of wildlife and two ponds, and if you're patient, at least one kingfisher.
This route is, unfortunately, not accessible. After rain, some of the route can be very muddy, so ensure appropriate clothing.
Access to the nature reserve is gained from High Penn, off Oxford Road, by the new housing development. Follow the main track uphill to the top, parking in the gap between High Penn farm access gate and the nature reserve gates.
Directions
1) There are two lots of gates to pass to gain entry into the reserve. When through the gates keep to the left track.
After the parking place, we passed High Penn farm, which likely originated from the common pasture called 'Penn' in the 1600s. It was held by William Northey in 1728 and accounted for 131 acres. Over time most of the land has been sold, with the nature reserve on a long-term lease from Hills Waste.
3a) You will then reach a metal gate. Here we will turn left, keeping to the main reserve, however if you're a Geocacher, you may wish to detour and collect the caches before returning to the walk. Also, on the other side of the gate is the slow worm refuge, which was populated in 2003 by slow worms from the allotments near Newcroft, before Hills Homes developed housing there.
After a short distance you will arrive at a pond surrounded by trees.
3b) You can turn left, following the blue line on the map, if you'd like to take in the views of this pond. If you're patient, you may see a kingfisher swooping across the pond's surface.
4) Returning back to the main route, follow the track ahead, which will lead to a private fishing lake.
5) Even in winter, this fishing lake provides beautiful views, with lots of birds to see. Take care when walking around the pond, as some of the path is narrow and close to the water.
Aside from the lake at Bowood, Penn Wood likely boasts the largest publicly accessible bodies of water in this area of Wiltshire and is quite a well kept secret!
6) Follow the track around and past the fishing lake. At the junction, take the left path which will bring you back to the gates that we started out from.
There are many paths within the nature reserve, which are well worth exploring. There are thousands of trees, and in the summer plenty of orchids to enjoy.
Thank you for using this route!
