family walks

Ham Wall walk: Perfect for families with reluctant little walkers

Ah family walks. Don’t you just love ’em? As much as I do love them, the girls have both hit a tricky age for walks. The Not So Tiny One LOVES walking so getting her in a carrier is always a bit of a battle… but she doesn’t last long. The Little Big One on the other hand is a little more reluctant and tires quickly, unless there’s something on the route that holds her attention, but she’ll almost always need carrying eventually. This means that the walks we love the best – sweeping walks in the hills – tend to begin and end with the following scenario: 10 minutes and approximately 30 steps in, enthusiasm wanes, protests start and no amount of cajoling will help them appreciate the wonderful views or the grazing sheep so you pause for an energising snack and hope that it’ll buy you another 10 minutes (it doesn’t always work).

It’s a different story with a pram though. Ah yes, the pram enables us to go the distance. And there are some lovely, accessible walks around. Ham Wall and the Avalon Marshes are a prime example.

We’ve been to Ham Wall a few times. It’s an RSPB site and is home to a wetland teeming with wildlife – from water voles and otters to herons and kingfishers. It offers stunning views across the marshes to Glastonbury Tor and is wonderfully tranquil.

The view to the Tor

You can opt to stick to the main path which runs through the heart of the reserve, called the Ham Wall loop, which is wide and flat and just under 3km long. This footpath is part of an old railway track that links to Shapwick Heath National Nature Reserve, which is across the road from Ham Wall, and Glastonbury (so you could, in theory, go all the way from Ham Wall to Glastonbury – around 4 miles in total). As well as the main path, there are a couple of short pram and wheelchair accessible boardwalks (the one we walked was 200m) that take you a little further into the marshes and give you a better glimpse of the wildlife without venturing too far. The Little Big One was very excited to spot a heron.

On the boardwalk…
Twitchers-in-training

If you’re not reliant on a pram, there are also two grassy trails that take you through the marshes. These are both between 1-2km long and, I imagine, can get pretty wet and boggy so only attempt with good footwear!

Off road options are available

As well as being pram friendly, Ham Wall is great for bikes too (it’s actually a cycle route). We’ve found that the Little Big One can go so much further on her bike, meaning we get to stride out a bit too! She loved having the freedom to go off ahead of us (it’s a straight path so you can see for miles) and she enjoyed bumping along the boardwalk too.

Freewheeling!

There’s a nice little picnic spot adjacent to the car park and the Visitor Welcome building (there are toilets too, always handy) but if you prefer to walk first and lunch along the way there are a couple of semi-covered viewing platforms and bird hides dotted around that offer a bit of shelter from the chill or the rain. Just remember to be respectful of the resident twitchers who may not take kindly to loud chatter that might spook the birds.

A perfect hideout for lunch

Also near the Visitor Welcome building there are a number of wooden carved sculptures for children to find and a willow eel tunnel to play in.

Exploring the eel trail

This time of year is a great time to visit Ham Wall as it’s prime starling murmuration season, where hundreds of thousands of starlings congregate and roost in the reed beds overnight. Starling murmurations are one of nature’s wonders and the Avalon Marshes are one of the best places in the UK to witness the spectacle. It’s an incredible sight and well worth making the trip for. Dusk is the best time to visit if you’re looking to catch the murmurations at their best (head there for 3:30/4pm), although it gets very busy throughout December and January so expect crowds!

The starling murmurations are a must-see

As well as offering great family walks and bike rides, the team at Ham Wall run a variety of events throughout the year during school holidays. Check their website for details.

Waterside fun at Chew Valley Lake

Back at the end of March, when we had that spate of glorious weather, I took the girls to Chew valley lake. What a fabulous spot! I have to admit, we’d been before – I think it was last summer – and I’d found it a tad disappointing. Being the height of summer, the hedgerows around the lake were covered in leaves, meaning most of the prime picnic spots had very restricted views of the lake. Coming back in the spring though, was a different story. With the plants just beginning to come back into bloom, the lake was clearly visible from most spots and was stunning with the sun glistening on the water. Not only did we enjoy a picnic with a view but we discovered a host of other great things too!

We’d been to Chew Magna for a performance by the Dragonbird theatre (I’ll be reviewing this separately) and had packed a picnic. I was expecting us to lunch and go, crossing my fingers for a successful nap in the car on the way home (the baby not me), but we were having such a lovely time that we decided to make an afternoon of it. We stayed for a good three hours in the end. We parked up in the main visitors car park, where you’ll find the Salt Malt fish and chip restaurant. The lake and its facilities are part of a Bristol water site so there’s a charge for parking, but it’s a very reasonable £2, whether you’e there for an hour or the whole day (up until 6pm; I believe it’s free after that point). The car park is adjacent to the lake, and the grassy banks surrounding it provide the perfect spot for a picnic (as I said, the views are lovely in the spring, but in summer it can get a bit overgrown). The restaurant was pretty busy when we were there but there were less people picnicking so it gave the girls plenty of space to run around. There are toilet facilities right next to the restaurant and there’s also a pretty cool play area.

There are some lovely, short walks beside the lake too, which allow you to view the lake in all its glory. You can walk straight from the main car park along a gravel walkway that lines the lake offering great views (the only downside is that it’s riddled with flies – that could just be the time of year though). This walkway links the main car park with a secondary car park (it’s about a 10 minute walk between the two). From this secondary car park you can take one of two extended walks. The first is the Grebe trail, which is 1.2km long (10-15 minutes) and starts and finishes at a wooded picnic area. The trail follows a surfaced path which is ideal with a pram. The second trail is the Bittern trail; this one is slightly longer at 1.5km but is unsurfaced so you’d probably need a sling rather than a pram to tackle this one.

All in all, this is a great day out and the best bit is, it only cost us the price of parking! If you’re not up for picnicking, the fish and chips at Salt and Malt are darn good (it’s been shortlisted in the Fish and Chips awards as ‘Fish and Chip Restaurant of the Year’) and if you spend more than £7 in the restaurant then you can get £1 back on your parking (nice little tip there!)