A walk on the wild side of Sandhurst

Highland cattle on Wildmoor Heath Sandhurst has changed over the
past 200 years, particularly since
the arrival of the military college
and the railway, but despite all the development the surrounding countryside offers a wealth of different habitats attracting all kinds of wildlife. Join a scenic walk on Thursday 19th June, organised by the Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, and discover some of the area’s natural attractions.

Sandhurst – derived from ‘Sand’,
the type of soil and ‘hurst’, meaning wood – was once a small farming community, part of Windsor Forest. As such it was subject to forest laws and local people had a right to cut turf, heather, bracken and wood. During the reign of Henry VIII, sheep breeding was introduced in the area known as Sheep Rayles (now called Snaprails) and slowly the population began to increase. Very little changed until the 1800s when large sections of land were sold for building the Royal Military College in 1812. The railway arrived in 1849, in 1856 Wellington College was built and Broadmoor Asylum in 1863 and the local population expanded. Today Sandhurst is a thriving community of about 22,000

The circular walk on Thursday 19th June stars at Sandhurst Memorial Park and will pass through Snaprails Park before going into Wildmoor Heath Nature Reserve, an important habitat which includes areas of wet and dry heathland. The route then takes you up to The Devils’ Highway, an old Roman Road, before skirting round Broadmoor Hospital, then re-entering Wildmoor Heath and returning to Sandhurst memorial Park. Covering about 5½ miles the walk will take 2½ - 3 hours. There will be some gentle hills and parts of the route could be mudd,y so please wear suitable footwear.

If you would like to come along, meet for a 10am start at Sandhurst Memorial car park off Yorktown Road, Sandhurst Grid ref: SU 842 613. Children under 16 must be accompanied by an adult. For more details contact Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership on 01252 331353.

This event supports the Sandhurst Love Parks Weeks. Full details can be found on www.sandhurst.gov.uk

END

For further information contact:
Christine Reeves, Visitor Promotions Officer on 01252 331353.
Blackwater Valley Countryside Partnership, Ash Lock Cottage, Government Road, Aldershot GU11 2PS.