Short Walks in Bedfordshire

Descriptions - Videos - Proper parking instructions

Bromham Lake

Description and Walk

What can I say about this one? Well, to begin with it’s not in the top division of places to visit and walk in Bedfordshire, but it is worth at least one trip out.

Like so many other nature reserves, the site was brought into being after ground extraction operations, and now represents 25 acres of land given over to nature.

The slight spoiler is that the lake is barely accessible to walkers. Not just in the sense that you are not allowed on it, but because you can hardly get near it. The water is slightly below ground level and visitors are held distant at virtually all times by a fairly dense line of trees and shrubs. So, you know it’s there, you can see it, but you cannot commune with it. For humans it’s mostly only there to be glimpsed.

During our visit we walked all the way around the lake with no barriers to doing so. After we had reached the end, we saw a map that implied that one side of it should have been closed off: non-permissive. Was the map out of date? Had the rules changed? Or were we outlaws? Not sure.

Either way, the side that was allegedly closed-off offered some superb trip hazards. Lots of tiny stumps, leftover from small trees that had been cleared to make the path: each was around 1-inch diameter and 1-inch high, and blended perfectly with the sandy floor. Normally under these conditions I would have hit the deck at least twice, but somehow I stayed upright all the way around.

That said, the site has a real sense of peace and tranquillity about it, and the locals clearly like to walk there. We witnessed some of the plentiful wildlife during our walk, including one bug which I’m pretty sure was from a distant galaxy. Well, we didn’t recognise it anyway.

Short Video of Bromham Lake

Note: The video is best viewed by clicking on the 'full screen' symbol that appears at the bottom-right of the video box once the video is playing. To exit full-screen hit your escape key or click on the symbol at the bottom-right again.

Parking

Parking is Free.

Parking address: Bromham Lake Nature Reserve,  Lower Farm Road, Bromham, MK43 8JD.

As you can see from the pictures, below, there are a couple of laybys right by the entrance to the reserve. There are usually a few cars there, but probably never enough to make parking a problem.