A Local Blessing - Hanningfield Reservoir

Collage illustration by Lisa Horner

I decided to go down to my local nature reserve on a whim at three o’clock in the afternoon. I’d been feeling a bit burdened with worries. I wandered along familiar paths on a rather grey day in March. What broke the dullness was the exquisite nature all around. It had been working hard within the last few weeks, new leaves on every tree, colours vibrant and restrained – lime green, moss, ochre. I looked to the sky, a soft grey and a few drops of rain plopped onto the hood of my plastic Mac’ from a branch overhead. I felt the wetness and looked at the droplets on my fingers.

Three mallard ducks flew noisily overhead, which drew me to walk to one of the hides overlooking the reservoir. The greyness of the day faded to the horizon on the right, so that the distant hills were a dove grey, just a few shades darker than the sky. Nearby a group of cormorants and gulls were gathered on a raft. They created a cacophony of noises which elevated when two more gull friends flew down to join them. What a hullabaloo! Quite a lively scene. I looked to my left and the trees were nearer and more verdant in colour. As I walked away from the hide, breathing in the fresh air, I noticed new plants poking through the old dead leaves.

I headed back to the visitor centre noticing that although the recent downpours had me cocooned within my home wishing for brighter weather, it had such benefits to everything around me, here. The reservoir was full to the brim, and the new leaves on the trees and the wildflowers were abundant.  Nature had nurtured me. As my musings earlier seemed like grey clouds and rain, now I had a fresh perspective. I looked out the visitor centre window to the birds feeding, feeling more positive and thinking that even though it was grey out there, the nature reserve was teaming with life. What a pleasure it had been to walk through it!