Virginia Water, Windsor Great Park, July 2011

Mute Swan

After getting to know Windsor Great Park over the last year, I'd been keen to visit the beautiful lake of Virginia Water. With Heather horse riding in the park tonight, and with the weather looking good, I took the chance to explore.

Virginia Water is part of the The Royal Landscape (map here), one thousand acres of landscaped gardens at the south end of Windsor Great Park comprising Savill Garden (paid entry), Valley Gardens and Virginia Water, the latter being the most informal area. Dammed in 1753, the lake was the largest man-made water body in England until large reservoirs began to be created. The surrounding woodland was planted when the lake was created and is now a mature habitat, with the areas to the south and west part of the Windsor Forest and Great Park SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest), mainly for the veteran trees.

Looking south along the eastern side of Virgina Water

I decided to try the Virginia Water entrance, off the A30 near Wentworth, as it's the shortest walk to the lake itself. With the car park shutting for the evening as I arrived - the park itself is open from dawn until dusk - I parked in a layby approximately 200m north of the entrance. Even at nearly 7pm, the area around the park entrance was quite busy, but after a few minutes walk it appeared that most groups weren't venturing much beyond the first viewpoint over the lake. The light was beautiful - I was enjoying concentrating on the photography rather than the birds for once - and promised a lovely sunset.

Looking north on Virginia Water's most easterly arm, towards Wick Pond

Sweet Chestnut

After reaching as far as Wick Pond, I walked in the easterly fringes of the Valley Gardens. This 250 acre area is a beautifully landscaped and planted woodland garden, with extensive shrub beds and grassy clearings amongst the trees, where flowers carpet the forest floor. It's an enjoyable walk and a fine area to photograph.

Valley Gardens, The Royal Landscape, Windsor Great Park

(photo by Wendy Cutler via Creative Commons)

With the sun starting to set behind the trees, I quickly headed back to the viewpoint near the Virgina Water car park, from where you can look west down the entire length of the lake: perfect for sunset shots! The area was pretty deserted now so I had only the odd walker to share a stunning sundown with.

Whilst concentrating hard on the camera and the beautiful scene unfolding before me, an equally beautiful Mute Swan crept up on me to investigate my camera bag - allowing me to take the portrait at the top of the post at extremely close quarters! Finding no food and scared by the rather large camera lens, he made a sharpish exit and swam away...allowing me to catch a shot of him bathed in the sunlight.

Mute Swan

An enjoyable couple of hours - and no doubt just the first visit of many.

A Great Park at Windsor, September 2010

How have I managed to live 15 miles away for four and a half years and not visit Windsor Great Park? Maybe it's the part of me that prefers to find my own new places rather than visit well-know spots! Luckily, Heather has been horseriding there over the last few months and persuaded me to make a couple of trips...and it's well worth the visit.

North along the Long Walk to Windsor Castle, September 2010

Covering 5000 acres, the park - which was, for many centuries, the private hunting reserve of the Royals at Windsor Castle - in any case provides plenty of scope for getting away from everyone else, although it's a little more busy in the south, around The Royal Landscape of Virginia Water, Savill Gardens and Valley Garden (map here). My first two visits have concentrated on exploring the western central area of the park from Bishopsgate (OS grid ref. SU 977722), as far east as Snow Hill - a tremendous viewpoint - and the start of the Long Walk up to the Castle and also south to the Cow Pond.

Fly Agarics, in woodland south of Bishopsgate

Bonus: it's fungi season. The park is stuffed full of bright and brown mushrooms; I must admit to some ignoring of the latter these days, they just take too long to identify! Out in the deer pasture towards Snow Hill, delicious Parasol Mushrooms the size of dinner plates hover above the grass. Walking south from Bishopsgate towards the Cow Pond, my planned walk takes a nosedive as I spend way too much time photographing Fly Agarics, Blushers, Blackening Russulas, White Saddles and Common Puffballs amongst others.

Common Puffballs

Eventually, with the sun setting behind the trees, I made it to Cow Pond - a sea of pink waterlillies that must look stunning at the right time of day - too late to get a decent photo (left)!

Heading back to the gate, I snapped a few shots of the sun filtering through the park's amazing trees (like the grove of birches above) and also stumbled across a hidden cache of Blushers in the undergrowth (below). A swift half in the Fox and Hounds pub later, I took the 15 mile journey home, a route I will be retreading back to the park very soon.