Top of Carsington Water

We visit Carsington Water quite frequently but tend to either park near the visitor centre, or walk from the other car parks to it. This time, for a change, I thought we'd park at Sheepwash car park and walk away from the visitor centre, towards the northern end of the reservoir; the top, if that's the correct word.

The path here runs along a narrow strip of land squeezed between reservoir and 'B' road, and, as the road seemed quite busy, I don't think it's as nice as other sections.

I'd expected that there'd be a view over the water - but oddly there are newish trees planted between path and reservoir. To me it seemed more sensible to have planted them between road and path, but I assume there was some reason for planting where they are.

After a while the view did open up. We'd gone out in the early evening, as the day cooled down, and looking down the reservoir it seemed quite misty.

There's a handy seat, placed in memory of a man and his dog who loved to walk here, by the reed beds at the top of the lake, and we sat a while, and let Dylan have a rest. The islands are home to a lot of noisy ducks and geese, and a silent, statue-like heron. I also spotted a reed bunting, and something large and black, either cormorant or shag, flew over as we walked back.

We didn't walk far. It's roughly a mile or so from car park to the reed beds, but that was enough to leave Dylan feeling tired, and having sat for a while it seemed like a logical place to turn round and head back towards a rather misty sunset.