At the seaside?

You might be forgiven for thinking this photo was taken at the coast. Today was a glorious, hot summer day and people were out looking for shady, cool spots. But we live a long way from the sea here in St Neots; it takes several hours to get there by road.

A day at the seaside?

So where do people go to walk by a large expanse of water?

The little harbour in the photo is in the village of Perry on the south shore of Grafham Water, a large reservoir supplying water to the region.

It's about fifteen minutes from our house by car and Donna and I drove over to sit on the grass and read and chat. The harbour has a club house and cafe nearby so we ate a light lunch there.

Grafham is used for sailing, fishing, walking and cycling. There are several car parks and areas of grass and trees for picnics and ball games.

Grafham Water was built in 1965 and is the third largest reservoir in the UK in terms of surface area. Not only does it supply drinking water, a system of pumps and pipes enables it to reduce risk of flooding of the River Great Ouse.

(If you liked this you might also like Journeys of heart and mind and Quote me on this.)