Weir Wood Reservoir
A drinking-water reservoir with a nature reserve in one corner, better suited to winter birdwatching than a summer swim
Access unclearno public right of way confirmed — check locally before setting out
This one holds drinking water for the area across a bit over 150 hectares, so despite how it looks on a warm afternoon, it isn’t somewhere to swim. What it’s good for is birds: the open water and the shallower, reedier fringes draw breeding waterbirds through the summer as well as decent numbers of wintering wildfowl, which is why it’s protected as a site of special scientific interest. A nature reserve covers the western end, with a footpath and a hide looking out over the water, and further paths run along other stretches of the bank.
East Grinstead lost two branch lines to the Beeching cuts, and both are now footpaths: Forest Way running out toward Groombridge, Worth Way running out toward Three Bridges. Neither passes directly by the reservoir, but it’s a nice bit of symmetry for a corner of Sussex that turned so many old railways into walking routes.
Standen House and Garden sits less than a kilometre from the water, close enough to fold into the same walk, and the reservoir sits within the High Weald.
