Hot and unbothered at the water

In the heat, one just automatically heads to water.  This is why a nineteenth century reservoir and combined sewage treatment works (true) is now a popular day out for north Staffordshire families in the summer.
Like any large lake - artificial or not - there is a boating centre, but most people just come here simply to hang out. And, apart from having a cup of tea at the visitor centre at Tittesworth Reservoir, or stretching one's legs with casual walk around the shore, there really is nothing much else for non-boaters to do.
So, the water itself is the attraction.
Actually, it’s a pretty restful place.  One can see the attraction.

Spiky nature

Gailey Reservoir - the reeds have a spiky appearance.

Grey day on the water

The causeway over Blithfield Reservoir is as bleak a place as you'll find on a squally, rainy-damp day like today. Somehow water is the quickest thing to reflect the weather's mood - bright and blue and glinting on a sunny day, but grey, unwelcoming and sombre on a sunless one.

Yet the drive over the causeway is always a thrill (well, a small one!). Like flying... slightly.

Sited near Abbots Bromley, the lake is also a nature reserve.

Grey days at Lichfield

Only England can do such grey, sombre days as these. There is virtually no colour in the sky, buildings or water, and if it weren't for the evergreens, it would be one monochrome wash.

This photo shows Lichfield Cathedral in the distance, over Stowe Pool, which is the Victorian reservoir just outside the city centre.

Reservoir convert

I have always avoided Tittesworth Reservoir as an attraction. Why would I want to visit a big lake of water constructed in the 1960s?

Actually though, there is a fascinating walk around the perimeter of the water, and it's wooded and contoured so is more interesting than you'd think.  Plus it does have a previous Victorian history which is evident in some of the older parts.
In the 1990s they built a Visitor Centre and expanded all the conservation work there.

I'm a convert now.