Astonbury Wood

The woodland floor at Astonbury is proper spongy underfoot - all moss and leaf mulch that's been building up for years. It's a genuine working forest east of Stevenage, the kind of place where you'll actually spot something different depending on the season rather than just walk through somewhere that looks the same in June as it does in December.

You're looking at beech and oak mainly, with paths that wind through without being overly manicured. The light filters through the canopy in that particular way that makes even an ordinary Tuesday feel a bit special. It's the sort of walk that rewards you for paying attention - if you're into birds or fungi or just want to switch off from the A1(M) noise, you'll get something from it.

Walkers will find it genuinely rewarding, though there's nothing here to hold young children's attention for hours. This is two or three hours tops, depending on which routes you take and whether you're dawdling. The appeal is real and low-key rather than showy.

If you're based at Church Farm Ardeley or Almshoe Glamping just up the road, it works brilliantly as a proper walk that doesn't require a car drive elsewhere. Jack's Hill Caravans is close too. The whole area around Stevenage has decent woodland, but Astonbury itself is worth the detour if you're the type who actually enjoys being in trees rather than just hiking past them.