Blagdon and Blagdon Lake

The walk begins at the village of Blagdon, or rather, one part of the village, for it is divided into three distinct sections - East End, West End and Street End. This is the East End, where the two most prominent buildings are the church and the inn. St Andrew's church, with its tall slender tower, typical of this part of the country, seems ancient, but only the tower is old. The rest complete with its guard rails outside and finely carved rood screen inside, dates only from to the beginning of the last century. If the church looks old but is new, the New Inn paradoxically, is genuinely old. It has an interesting sign with a painting of the inn itself within the sign outside, and on that sign a picture of the inn - and so on. The garden at the back of the inn has a magnificent view of the lake, which is the centrepiece of the walk.

Blagdon Lake is not a natural feature, but a reservoir created by damming the River Yeo. The long straight line of the dam rules off the end of the lake, while to the left is the handsome inspection house with veranda, built for the superintendent of the works and having a suitable, splendid view across them. As the road comes down to the water's edge, over to the right is a black and white timbered building. This is the Fisherman's Lodge.

The shallow waters at the edge of the lake are popular with a variety of birds. Apart from the common swans, mallard, coot and moorhen you can often catch sight of a great crested grebe. This attractive bird has an astonishing courtship dance which is performed in the spring, and a little later in the year the adults can be seen with the young perched on their backs, safe from predatory pike.

Some very impressive features can be seen from the road that crosses the dam. To the left of the dam in an area that could well be mistaken for an ornamental park stand two red Gothic houses with a brick tower in between. This is Blagdon Pumping Station, which originally housed four huge steam engines. The tower is the truncated chimney. A century ago, public utilities such as Bristol Waterworks, who were responsible for the creation of the reservoir, were very keen to give such installations an air of grandeur. The engine houses have suitable imposing entrances with studded wooden doors flanked by stone columns. The house on the left holds two preserved steam engines, while that on the right contains the comparatively small electric pumps that have taken over the work.

The grounds too are decorative with an ornate bridge crossing the overflow for the reservoir. The ponds, which were once purely practical installations for the works, are now used for breeding trout to stock the lake for fishermen. In season fly fishermen can be seen around the waters edge or casting their lines from boats out on the water. Beyond the engine houses is a shallow stone staircase, while to the right is the most stark concrete of the dam itself.

The walk now leaves the road for a footpath along the shore of the lake and across the water is a better view of the black and white fisherman's lodge. The banks are wooded, but there are still good views up ahead as the ground rises up in a series of humps and hillocks.

There is a great variety of bird life, for apart from the waterfowl out on the lake there is also the often noisy population of the woods, which echo to the harsh chatter of magpies and the sharp drumming of woodpeckers. The path takes on many of the characteristics of a country lane, separated from the fields by a hedgerow that is bright with dog roses in summer. A thin line of trees, oak and conifer occupied a narrow strip of land between the path and the water's edge.

At the far end of the lake, as it starts to narrow, its character begins to change. Tall reeds fringe the shore and grow in the shallow water, providing an ideal nesting area for moorhen. Dark shaded streams splash down the hillside into the lake, and these are a popular fishing ground for heron. Willow have crowded around the end of the lake to surround attractive pools where reeds and water lilies flourish.

The path now deserts the lake and turns off through fields to an area of woodland, largely consisting of low elder and sycamore, from which tall pine trees rise dramatically. The brief woodland interval ends with a return to the fields, which includes a passage through an arch created by dog roses in the hedge. The lake is no longer in view, but you can see the start of the Mendip Hills. The footpath ends at the hamlet of West Town, and the walk continues on country lanes. To the left is a high bank topped by a hedge through which tall trees have grown to spread their branches over the road, while to the right a lower bank and hedge which is brightly speckled with flowers during the summer months

As the road tends to go downhill, there is a good viewpoint over the lake to Blagdon, where the church tower is a prominent landmark, while the Mendip Hills rise up in the background. Along the way there are a number of attractive stone houses, among them Rose Cottage, which has a traditional cottage garden and an unusual porch with a balcony above. Soon afterwards the walk continues over lanes and fields back to the starting point in Blagdon.