Today we decided to try somewhere new and headed to St Saviour’s Reservoir. A number of friends have told us what a great place it is for a family walk and, having lived in Guernsey for nearly 2 years, we’ve never so much as driven past it, how can such a large reservoir be so well hidden?!
With the sat nav set, we headed to the reservoir and I can’t believe we haven’t been before. Who knew that tucked away in St Saviour’s, was a walk that would take you through lots of woodland, over a dam, over a few bridges and down some country lanes? An hour enjoyably spent, though next time I won’t wear flip flops, I can’t believe how many times I stubbed my toes on tree roots!
The Millennium Walk
The nature trail around the reservoir is called the Millennium Walk. It’s 3km long and can be joined at different sections throughout the trail. This map produced by Guernsey Water shows the Millennium Walk and the numerous points of interest.
Getting There
We use the navigation app Waze to get everywhere in Guernsey and despite it not knowing where a lot of places are, we were pleased that it instantly came up with directions to the reservoir. Word of caution, if you use Waze, it tried to take us literally into the reservoir! We ended up down a dirt track with the reservoir ahead of us, with no place to turn around, Nick had to reverse all the way back down the lane, thank goodness I wasn’t driving, I would have abandoned the car!
This is not the road to the reservoir!
A quick google search whilst Nick was reversing down the dirt track led me to find out that there are 3 parking areas dotted around the reservoir, on the following roads; 1) Rue des Annevilles, 2) Rue A L’Or, 3) Rue du Moulin (all shown on the map above). We headed to the closest on Rue du Moulin. It turned out to be a small space off the road for a few cars.
As we walked along the trail we saw the other car parks and they were all quite full, leading to on-street parking at Rue A L’Or.
Joining the Trail
Once parked, we looked around and there were no signs showing us where to go, so we walked up the street a little and saw RW painted on the pavement, this directed us to the Millennium Walk trail.
Nature Trail
The first thing that hits you is how wooded the area is, it took us a few minutes to actually get a good look at the reservoir. The trees are really tall which made it quite a spectacle for the girls and with the sun shining through the leaves it made for amazing shadows.
The path took us through another gate that had an arrow painted on it (though I don’t think there was another way to go!)
Brass Plaques
It was after passing through this gate that we spotted our first brass plaque. These highlight things to look out for and on the map, it shows that there are 6 plaques to look out for, somehow we only found 3!
Bridge
The next section of the walk is again through more trees, until you come to a sloping right and left turn, which leads you to a bridge over Les Padins Stream.
Look out for beautiful Foxgloves after the bridge.
The Water!
The trail then took us a little uphill and we got our first really good look at the reservoir. Lottie was ahead of me and shouted at me to ”come quick, it’s beautiful”!
Fairy Door
My girls are firm believers in fairies and the squeals of excitement when they spotted a fairy door ruined the peace for anyone in the vicinity! There is a Guernsey Fairy Trail (http://lessiaunsmuchis.gg/) and when I got home I looked to see if it was one of their doors, but apparently, they had to get their fairies to remove the door at the reservoir, so not sure where this one came from, but my girls loved it!
Chickens!
After the excitement of finding a fairy door, we were all leisurely walking along amongst the trees, when we were greeted with…
…loads of chickens!
It appears the chickens come from a house behind the nature trail, and they are very at home amongst people. Our puppy has never seen a chicken before and nearly pulled my arm off trying to catch one!
Hidden Den
Beyond the chickens, there is a choice of paths that take you around some trees, we soon realised they both lead to a clearing, a little further along the path. Here there is a bench to enjoy the view of the reservoir, the first access point to actually get to the water’s edge and a hidden den created from the roots of a fallen tree.
Floating Reedbeds
The path continues up a hill, beyond the clearing, where you’ll come to a section of floating reedbeds. These offer birds a secure place to roost and feed, while simultaneously treating the water.
Tree Balancing
Have you ever wanted to recreate the scene from Dirty Dancing where Johnny and Baby are lovingly dancing on the log over the river? well this could be your chance!…there’s a large fallen tree which kids were having fun playing on. Our girls wanted to have a go but, not fancying a trip to A&E, we hurried them along, telling them they couldn’t get 2m from the kids already on it!
The Dam Wall
We continued along the path and saw a glimpse of the dam wall, which is impressive, even from far away.
If you park at Rue des Annevilles, this is where you will join the Millennium Walk path.
Next we came to my favourite part of the walk, the dam wall. The view from the wall is something else. It shows the scale of the reservoir, but also how high up you are, with the St Saviours Water Treatment Works looking so far below you. It did make me think that if the dam was breached, it wouldn’t be good news for those living on the West Coast!
At the end of the dam wall, you come to the Rue A L’Or parking area. This was by far the busiest parking area with cars that couldn’t get into the parking area, parked along the main road.
Road Section
The end of the dam wall marks the start of the road section of the walk. Exit onto Rue A L’Or and turn right. Follow the road up the hill, bearing right (past some houses with unbelievable sea views) and down a hill, where you’ll come to a wall that gives you a great view of the eastern arm of the reservoir.
Remain on the footpath until you come to a white painted arrow on the ground, this directs you to re-join the nature trail.
More Trees
It was nice to get off the road and back in the trees. Follow the path and you’ll come to a bench behind 2 commemorative stones, one marking the opening of the Millennium Walk in 2002 and the other celebrating the 10th anniversary of the twinning of St Saviours and Montebourg in 2004.
Back To Where We Started
It was only a little further along the path and we came out onto the road, just near where we had parked the car.
A Peaceful Walk
We thoroughly enjoyed our first trip to the reservoir and it was like nowhwere else in Guernsey. It took us just over an hour and that included a drink stop on one of the benches. It’s the perfect place to get away from it all because it’s so peaceful, and would be a great choice on a hot day because there is so much cover from the trees.
Dogs are allowed on the walk on a lead, which we were really pleased about, and we came across a number of dogs throughout the walk.
Unfortunately, for those with young children, the route isn’t really buggy friendly, because there are so many tree routes on the path it would make for a very bumpy ride!
