Alexandra Wood

Walking into Alexandra Wood feels like stepping into proper woodland - tall pines, deciduous trees, and enough shade to make even a hot summer afternoon feel manageable. It's a modest forest just east of Beccles, the kind of place locals know but outsiders often miss entirely.

What you're getting here is straightforward: a few miles of woodland paths winding through mixed forest. There's no visitor centre, no café, no gift shop nonsense. You park up and walk. The paths are decent enough underfoot, though muddy stretches appear after rain. Most people potter about for an hour or so, which feels right - it's not sprawling enough for a full day's expedition, but long enough to properly breathe forest air and spot the occasional woodland bird.

Families with younger kids will manage fine on the gentler sections, though pushchairs might struggle on narrower stretches. Serious walkers may find it a touch tame compared to Norfolk's Sandringham Estate or further afield, but it's solid territory if you're based at Henstead Fields or Parkdean's Kessingland Beach holiday park nearby. The wood serves as a useful break from coastal caravan life - twenty minutes from the beach, actually surrounded by trees instead of static caravans.

Timing-wise, spring and autumn are best. Summer can feel a bit airless despite the canopy, and winter brings the mud. It's free to access, which always helps. Don't expect dramatic views or dramatic anything really - just honest woodland doing what woodland does.