Size matters (but it isn’t everything!)
We are very proud of our Treetop Walkway. It’s very popular, it’s won many awards, and it’s the longest in the country, but we had heard rumours of something even bigger lurking in the forests of Bavaria near the Czech border.
So, when I realised that our return journey from Slovenia last summer would take us quite near, it would have been negligent not to visit.
For something so huge, it was surprisingly difficult to find, with neither satnav nor signposting proving very helpful, but when we arrived, there were hundreds of other visitors enjoying the walkway and the other delights of the Bayerischer Wald. Don’t imagine, by the way, a gloomy and threateningly Grimm expanse of conifers; the Bavarian Forest is an attractively varied and undulating region, scattered with farms and small villages.
And the walkway, the Baum Wipfel Pfad? Well, it certainly is spectacular. The dominant feature is an acorn-shaped tower, 44m high, round which a ramp spirals at an easy angle. Access to it is from the walkway itself, which snakes through forest for about a kilometre, rising to a height of 25m. This is admittedly three times as long and nearly twice as high as ours. In a Top Trumps contest, we’d have to admit defeat! The height, especially of the ‘acorn’, gives a spectacular view and a great sense of elevation, and I really enjoyed the optional challenges which give you a chance to test your nerve and balance. They made me wonder if we could add more of a frisson to our own adventurous sections, the crow’s nest and rope bridge.
"The dominant feature is an acorn-shaped tower, 44m high, round which a ramp spirals at an easy angle."
So does the German giant win the contest hands-down?
By no means. For a start, our walkway is much more elegant and aesthetically pleasing, as it makes its sinuous way through a much more varied collection of trees. It also invites a much greater degree of engagement with those trees. Our interpretation panels and interactive displays encourage visitors to look more closely and discover much more about the arboreal world. In Germany, the sheer size and physical challenge of the walkway tended to dominate. You were more aware of the walkway itself, and of the far-reaching view, than of the trees.
In addition, the Westonbirt walkway serves a practical function, bridging the valley and making access to Silk Wood easier, especially for those with limited mobility. Lastly, it’s dog-friendly. In Bavaria we had to take it in turns to walk the walk while the other one stayed with the dog. So for us, Westonbirt definitely comes out on top!
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