Draycote Water

Draycote Water is an artificial reservoir which supplies water to southern and eastern Warwickshire, in particular Rugby and Coventry. Owned and managed by Severn Trent Water, it's located near the hamlet of Draycote. The reservoir has no natural inlets, its water being obtained by pumping from the nearby river Leam. It has an area of approximately 590 acres and a capacity of 5 billion gallons. Draycote Water was built between a967 and 1969 and opened in 1970.

This was our first visit and we had a wonderful time. 

We parked the car and then walked up to the reception centre. Lots of sailing boats were moored nearby, as one can have sailing lessons here.

We took the path that's next to the water

Next to that path is a running track and there was a race going on that day

this guy has almost reached the finishing line.

It was a sunny Sunday, so lots of people around

beautiful countryside on our right

and the water on our left 

We could see a village across the water and an old windmill

zooming in.

We reached the end of the path, turned left and were in the country park which covers 21 acres.

We saw a boardwalk so decided to explore

but it only ended in marshland, so we rejoined the main path

and that's then we saw the alpacas

they have the cutest faces.

After a while, we saw another path and decided to take it

We could see the water through the trees

but soon we were out in the open again.

So we continued on our way

We reached the outlet tower

By now the crowds had thinned out, as it's a fairly long walk and we had the path to ourselves

the running track next to the path was empty too

We got to the pump that lets water into the reservoir

This part of the reservoir is full of water birds: these were coots - I have never seen so many together

We continued in splendid isolation

then turned left into a wooded area

there were a few people here, as we were nearing the end

out in the open again

masses of water birds

looking back 

and we arrived to where we had started from, the sailing boats and then the car park. The whole walk took two and a half hours which we thoroughly enjoyed.