Bough Beech Reservoir

This is a flooded valley lying to the North of the village of Bough Beech. It is approximately "pear-shaped" and about one and a quarter miles North to South with the curved Dam at the Southern end being about half a mile long. It was completed in 1968 to meet the water storage needs of the then East Surrey Water Company. Some 50 acres at the Northern end were leased to the Kent Wildlife Trust in order to create a Nature Reserve. The Southern end being largely devoted to Sailing and Fishing.

The Reservoir does not fill naturally with only some 20% coming from five small streams flowing into the area. Most of the water is pumped in from the River Eden near Chiddingstone. The Water Company's licence to pump is normally restricted to the Winter Months.

The Northern tip is bisected by a public road running over a Causeway which then curves down the Eastern side of the Reservoir for the area leased to the Trust.The area to the North of the Causeway is known as the North Lake. This is good for Wading Birds in the Autumn when the water level is at its lowest.

Some 100 yards to the west of the Causeway the Trust has established a Visitor Centre which is open on restricted hours in Summer. This is stituated in an old Oasthouse and adjacent Barn.

Apart from the Dam (at the Southern end) and the Causeway, the banks are natural consisting mainly of fields and wooded areas.

Between the Reservoir and the Oast drive is an Orchard containing old varities of Apple Tree.  The Kent Trust has now established a feeding station for birds in the Winter months.  The main food ingredients provided being Peanuts and Black Sunflower Seeds. The Feeding Station may be viewed by the General Public from half way along the Oast Drive. Species most likely to be present are Blue, Great and Coal Tits, Nuthatches, Great Spotted Woodpeckers, Greenfinches, Goldfinches and Brambling.

PUBLIC ACCESS

There is no public access to the Nature Reserve but as the greater part consists of water, or mud when the water level is low, it is only the wooded areas which are not accessible. Viewing is normally done from the public road stretching for some half a mile from the Oasthouse Drive to the southern edge of the Nature Reserve.

Recently two additional areas have been added to the Nature Reserve:-

1. Winkhurst Wood, prior to 2004 this was mixed conifirous and deciduous wood land which had not been managed for decades and which was primarily used for target shooting. This form of shooting did not directly cause the death of any wildlife but which caused disturbance to the Herony located there and to other wildlife. Since the change of ownership the Heronry has slightly expanded with three new nests located away from the previous area. A considerable number of nestboxes have been installed and these are monitored by a small team who pay 15 visits to each nestbox during the breeding season. They have reported that Mandarin Duck, Stock Doves, Blue, Great and Marsh Tits have already used them.

2. A new Scrape has been dug in a field to the West of the Oasthouse. This is viewable from the Oast Drive and the adjacent Car Park. Although this was only completed in the Spring of 2005, there are already signs of it being used by Little Egrets and Snipe.

This Scrape has recently been renamed the "Roy Coles Flood" in recognition of the decades of service that Roy has given to Bough Beech.

It is also populated by a significant number of Dragonflies which will, no doubt, encourage birds for feeding purposes.

Adjacent to the New Scrape an artificial Sand Martin Bank has been constructed based on a design used elsewhere by the Kent Trust.