Shepherd Meadows

• Free car park (height restriction 2.2m)
• Disabled parking spaces
• Bins
• Benches and picnic tables
• Riverside walk in the Blackwater Valley
• Ajoining Sandhurst Memorial Park with children’s play area, sporting facilities and café (public toilets when Sandhurst Town Council staff are working)
• 1.2km circular walk on surfaced paths, extending to 2.7km including unsurfaced sections

Where you’ll find it…

The free car park is just off the A321, Marshall Road, Sandhurst, nearest postcode GU47 0FL. Grid reference SU 84871 60709. What3Words: breezes.shin.bandstand.

N.B. We’ve given the nearest postcode, but recommend using the links to look up the exact location. The centre of a postcode may be up to half a mile from your destination.

What you’ll find there…

This award-winning park on the outskirts of Sandhurst, Shepherd Meadows, is named after wildlife artist and campaigner David Shepherd. There are flower-filled meadows to explore along the River Blackwater, and a choice of routes. A shorter loop on surfaced paths, or a longer stroll venturing onto unsurfaced paths.

It’s possible to follow a surfaced, level path to neighbouring Sandhurst Memorial Park and take advantage of its children’s play area or sporting facilities, or sample an ice cream at Sandhurst Park Café. If you follow the path on the near side of the river (if approaching from the car park), there is a small bridge to cross that has a small ramp up and down. If following the path on the far side of the river, there is a bigger bridge with quite a steep ramp up and down.

If you’re feeling more energetic, there are great links to the surrounding countryside via the signposted Blackwater Valley Path. Head upstream and you’ll eventually come to Hawley Meadows, another lovely stretch of the river, with a good path taking you on a circular walk. Downstream, you can walk to Swan Lake Park following this route. (Update June 2024: Note that a footbridge over the Blackwater, on the route connecting Shepherd Meadows with Hawley Meadows, has been closed. Details of plans to replace the bridge, and details of diversions, can be found here).

Shepherd Meadows is a nature reserve, part of the Blackwater Valley Site of Special Scientific Interest, and in the spring and summer the meadows are carpeted in wildflowers, including Buttercups, Devil’s-bit Scabious and Birds-foot Trefoil. The meadows are home to over 600 species of insect, including the Orange Tip butterfly, one of the first butterflies to emerge from its chrysalis. A true harbinger of spring!

Note: Dog walkers should be aware that cattle may be grazing.

Gallery…

This ‘Greenspace on your doorstep’ is managed by…

Bracknell Forest Council