Wooburn Park – The Beyonder

IT’S 6am, the sun is shining and Teddy the labrador has joined me for our morning litter-pick of the local nature reserve.

It’s not a demanding task. The odd flyaway sweet wrapper, perhaps, or rogue poo bag fluttering in the undergrowth.

But it’s still worth the early morning patrol to try to keep the paths pristine, because litter has a way of spreading exponentially. And this is such a serene, special place, no one wants to see it turn into one of those litter-strewn “green spaces” that blight so many cities and towns.

It helped that we were able to scour the area properly back on those dark, dreary winter days when the foliage had died back and few people were around.

Getting the chance to clear away those larger, longer-established or half-buried bottles and cans makes it a lot easier to spot an unfamiliar glint of plastic or glass amid the greenery.

If you hate litter and fly-tipping, it’s tempting to get a little A Man Called Ove about protecting this local beauty spot, and it’s hard not to get angry with those who seem only too happy to despoil our little corner of paradise.

But although there ARE a handful of selfish souls who seem oblivious to the need to protect such pretty surroundings, it’s important to step back a little and remember just how well used the nature reserve and adjoining park are.

Literally dozens of dog walkers use these paths, along with joggers and families out for a stroll. Youngsters build dens in the woods, teenagers practise bike tricks and young couples walk hand in hand among the trees.

The park itself hosts countless football practice sessions, weekend cricket matches and floodlit tennis in the evenings. Dogs of all sizes and breeds are exercised here, and most owners are assiduous about picking up their poo.

All of which means that it’s not surprising if that odd crisp packet flies away and gets lodged in the nettles. What’s more remarkable, perhaps, is that SO many people can use the space without it being turned into a litter-strewn wastleland.

That’s no accident, of course, but the result of a combined community effort by nearly everyone who shares the space.

It helps that it’s SUCH a beautiful location, with the Wye chalkstream running alongside both the park and the nature reserve, providing the perfect habitat for swans and egrets and a glorious backdrop for an evening stroll.

Wood pigeons provide a constant coo-cooing soundscape, jays bury acorns in the woods, blackbirds rootle among the leaf litter.

But keeping the place clean depends on the football coaches and school sports day organisers too, making sure the youngsters take their litter home – not to mention the rangers from Wooburn Green and Bourne End Parish Council who do such an amazing job of maintaining the park and nature reserve, and keeping the litter and poo bins emptied all year round.

Yes, there are a handful of souls who let the side down: the couple of dog owners who let their pooches foul the footpaths or frighten the swans; the occasional drinker in the woods who leaves their vodka miniatures, beer cans and broken bottles behind; the workman who ate his chip supper right by the gate to the nature reserve and left all the wrappings swirling in the gutter, just feet from the bin.

It’s hard to understand the mentality of picknickers who would enjoy the peaceful surroundings of a beautiful bench in the woods, only to leave all the plastic trappings of their Tesco mini sausages and watermelon wedges scattered across the area.

It’s even harder to credit the motorist spotted from a distance clearing out all the debris from her car to leave it scattered across the road at the entrance to the Warren.
But if it’s hard to control the seething anger such acts of selfishness provoke, it’s not the real story of the community who love this place.

Barely had the music blaring from her car windows echoed into the distance before a small group of local children had pitched up with gloves and bags to pick up her mess and deposit it in the nearby bins.

It’s a shame she wasn’t there to witness their spontaneous good deed, though I’m not sure that she would have appreciated or even understood it. But Ove would have been proud of them.

THE DOGS of Wooburn Green really do have it made.

Not only can they sniff their way round one of the friendliest parks in the Chilterns, but footpaths lead off in virtually every direction across the valley offering the prospect of more adventurous outings.

All credit to the local parish council for making Wooburn Park so welcoming to different sectors of the community.

For somewhere that’s so busy with four-legged friends of all shapes and sizes, it’s kept remarkably clean and litter free.

From young footballers to weekend cricket matches and floodlit tennis, it’s not just dog walkers who are catered for here, but somehow the different needs are met with the minimum of conflict.

**DIFFERENT NEEDS:** the park caters for various sports

In any major city, the sheer number of users would quickly see such a substantial park rapidly becoming a mess. But it helps that as well as regular patrols to empty the litter bins, the locals are happy to chip in too.

There aren’t any statistics to prove just how many people own a dog round here, but it sometimes seems as if there’s a four-legged friend on every street corner, and certainly all breeds are represented at Wooburn.

They’re a considerate bunch too: it’s rare to see someone not bothering to clean up after their pooch and organisers of those football clashes are also good at making sure their young charges don’t leave their rubbish behind.

Bins are well used, with local litterpickers helping to sweep up any odds and ends that may get blown into the undergrowth.

**OPEN ASPECT:** the footpath to Flackwell

Other well cared for open spaces range from Hervines Park at Amersham to Gold Hill Common in Chalfont St Peter and Gerrards Cross common.

But Wooburn is not only bigger than most but also well fenced in and in a glorious location, with views over the valley opposite and the Wye chalkstream running cheerfully down one side.

**VALLEY VIEWS:** looking towards Flackwell Heath

Behind the park, footpaths lead up the hill to Farm Wood or the Chequers Inn, where you can pick up the Berkshire loop of the Chiltern Way.

Across the road lies the old railway trackbed into Bourne End, or a more challenging climb to Flackwell Heath and beyond.

And at one end of the park lies the Warren Nature Reserve, a delightful enclave of woods and wildflowers by the river, which provides the perfect habitat for many wildfowl and other birds, from herons and kingfishers to swans, ducks and geese.

**WOODED ENCLAVE:** entering the nature reserve

Once home to a medieval manor house with chestnut trees lining the main path, today the 5.7 acre reserve boasts an array of English woodland trees and a picturesque wildlife pond, as well as a number of paths winding through the ashes, oaks, limes and elms.

**NATURE RESERVE:** swans on the Wye in The Warren

Back in the days of the Domesday Book, the manor boasted a couple of dozen households. Before the Norman conquest it was owned by Earl Harold; afterwards it was confiscated by William the Conqueror and split between two of his supporters.

At that time, the picturesque River Wye generated enough power to drive 20 mills and in later centuries the Wye Valley became a major centre for papermaking.

Soho Mill opposite the Old Bell closed in 1984 and Glory Mill was the last mill to close in 1999, part of the building now preserved at the Chiltern Open Air Museum.

Back in the park, there are cheerful shouts from the children’s play area while a dozen different breeds chase balls and each other until energy levels start to flag.

**PICTURESQUE:** the church in Wooburn Town

Perched on the edge of Wooburn Town, where the picturesque church of St Paul’s has been a holy place for over a thousand years, the park is as welcoming as it is bustling, a green space in the heart of the village catering for visitors of all ages, whatever the weather.

Tag: Wooburn Park

Locals cherish their small corner of paradise

Dogs sniff out a park for all seasons