News update | New boardwalk is a huge success

It has been a joy to see visitors to the reserve enjoying a new, safer and more accessible walk through the reserve to the kingfisher hide this year, thanks to our new boardwalk.

Part of our ‘Improvements to Access’ project, it was installed in the autumn of last year, bedded in over winter, and opened to the public as a key new feature for our open season.

We celebrated with an opening ceremony at the end of April to coincide with the Loddon lily season. Guests included our main project grantors from the Mend the Gap programme and the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) Access for All project administered by the Chilterns National Landscape and the North Wessex Downs National Landscape, plus grantors who had supported past projects. We also welcomed ‘Friends of Withymead’, regular supporters, partnership organisations and specialist researchers who visit the site for species bioblitzes.

Rebecca Joisce, former Chair of the Anne Carpmael Trust CIO and long-term trustee, kindly cut the ribbon. Guests then ‘trod the boards’ and found out the difference the wider boardwalk has made to walking through the wetland reedbed.

The project has also helped the Withymead team introduce new groups and people to the reserve to enjoy the freedom and joy of being outdoors in nature.

We have partnered with the Oxfordshire Recovery College, who have visited three times with tutors and students, enjoying mindfulness walks, willow weaving and sensory experiences. The college is a welcoming space for everyone, and helps people to lead full and satisfying lives.

We also welcomed the Salaam Seekers, a Muslim Women’s walking group based in Reading, who visited during the Chiltern Walking Festival in May. Their visit included a tour of the reserve with our Warden and a trustee, and lunch in the Oak Grove.

The biggest test came when members of the Mobility Issues Group for Goring & Streatley (MIGGS) visited on a sweltering day in August for a tour and our signature cream tea. We are so pleased they reported that ‘the boardwalk was more impressive than expected’, and that

‘subject to one or two minor, planned adjustments to the turning points, the MIGGS group is impressed with the safety, robustness and accessibility of the new structure, which terminates at a refurbished kingfisher hide on the edge of the Thames.’

You can read more about their experience on page 28 of the current September issue of the Goring Gap News, which also includes the great news about Samuel Saunders’ Boathouse in the centre of Goring.

The new boardwalk is higher, giving a new and interesting perspective across the reedbed habitat. It is also wider, significantly less slippery and step-free, allowing safer access to the reserve for everyone. Another safety feature is the kickboards (or curbs) on either side, acting as a ‘wheel stop’ to prevent wheelchair or buggy users falling off the edge, and handrails at useful points. Made of recycled plastics, it will also be virtually maintenance free and last for several decades.

Replacing this first section was made possible by the support and funding from Mend the Gap and match funding from Defra’s ‘Access for All‘ funding, administered by the Chilterns National Landscape and North Wessex Downs National Landscape. The vision of the Mend the Gap programme is that the outstanding landscape that links the Chilterns and the North Wessex Downs will be enhanced for and enriched for wildlife, residents and visitors, helping to heal and soften the scars left by electrification of the Great Western main line. We are immensely grateful for their support.

Photography credits:
Ribbon Cutting, April 2025, banner and square images. Credit: Simon Booker, Stokerpix
Visitors on Boardwalk, April 2025. Credit: Simon Booker, Stokerpix
Oxfordshire Recovery College, square images. Credit: Janet Tuppen
MIGGS, square images. Credit: Janet Tuppen