WALKING | Snow & Ice 7.6km Walk Around Tittesworth Water in Staffordshire

The beautiful weather today tempted us outdoors, so we headed for Leek to enjoy the winter sunshine and snow, with a walk at Tittesworth Reservoir.

One of many pay and display car parks at Tittesworth Reservoir

Beautiful sculpture outside Tittesworth visitor centre

Where Did We Go?

Tittesworth Water, Meerbrook, Near Leek, Staffordshire, ST13 8SW
Tittesworth Water Website

There are 2 sign posted routes to choose from and we’d previously done the short 2 mile route during summer, so this time we decided to step up and tackle the alternative, 5 mile walk, known simply as the ‘Long Walk’. The excellent visitor centre provides free route maps, and has a well stocked shop selling everything from light refreshments and sledges through to walking sticks and Ordnance Survey maps.

There is ample on-site parking (£2.70 for 2 hours) and it wasn’t busy at all, though in summer even the overflow carparks are often full. You’ll find toilets and a cafe inside the main visitor centre, and the grounds of the reservoir are extremely well kept. There are lots of opportunities for little ones to feed the ducks and geese wandering around, and there is a fabulous play park too.

Walking over the dam wall at Tittesworth Reservoir, Leek

The Long Walk is roughly 5 miles in length and is a circular route that takes you all the way round the reservoir, taking you across the dam wall then through farmland, before looping back round to the visitor centre. We found the route easy to follow, and the terrain was varied, from paved roads to narrow muddy tracks.

We found this little guy in a tree

The route has quite a lot of changes in gradient, with numerous steep uphill and downhill sections, however these are short and I found them manageable, though with a bad cold and chest infection, I was out of puff by the time I got to the top of some sections!

Due to the ice, the steep sections today were extremely treacherous. We slipped several times on black ice during the walk, and had to walk very slowly through many sections. My walking boots have great grip, but were not up to coping with so much ice. Our advice in snow/icy weather is to take the short route instead, unless you are very sure footed or have boots up to coping with sheet ice.

There are some stunning photo opportunities on the longer walk, as well as 2 hides for bird spotting. As we looped round and approached our end point, the sun was setting, affording us some beautiful sunset shots; the ideal end to our walk.

Sunset at Tittesworth Water

Find out more about Tittesworth Water Reservoir here.

See more pictures from our walk over on Flickr.

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