After a busy week of work what better way to spend our Saturday afternoon than a trip to Doune Ponds in the Perthshire village of Doune near Stirling. We had only just found out about it and surprisingly it’s only twenty minutes from our home so it was the perfect way to get out but not have to travel too far.
Doune Ponds is a local nature reserve that was formally an old gravel and sand quarry. We arrived at the small but practical car park and luckily the only disabled parking space was free to use. We parked our Ford Tourneo Connect and headed off. Full of intrigue as to what we may find.
The first thing we noticed when we arrived was just how solid and well-made the paths were. They were even well signposted, indicating which way the accessible path was. Each of the ponds had a lifebuoy nearby, which is good to see in terms of water safety.
The first pond we stopped at was close to the entrance and had a fairly steep slope down to the wooden deck area. After walking a bit more we came to the largest pond which had a large sheltered bird watching lookout that overlooked the beautiful tree-lined pond.
It was nice to watch the ducks and their young ducklings enjoy their large peaceful home. We were even lucky to see a large heron sitting on a rock before taking off across the pond. It’s a great place to bird watch.
Following the paths, we reached an open grassy area with picnic benches. However, I was disappointed to see that none were wheelchair accessible picnic benches despite being more widely available nowadays.
There are areas that have been left wild to encourage bio-diversity which was great to see as well as carved wooden benches for resting and enjoying the surroundings.
Overall this little gem of a nature reserve is such a peaceful and enjoyable place to visit. Forests and parks are always a bit of an unknown for wheelchair users but this local woodland was great and I think even in winter it would be fine to get around if not too wet.
We can safely say that we will be back, possibly with a picnic (weather permitting) and our nephews. Like ourselves, our eight year old nephew loves exploring and spotting wildlife.
Thank you to our friend www.simplyemma.co.uk for another review.
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