Bryn-over Coppice

The woodland around Bryn-over Coppice, just outside Welshpool in Powys, is proper walking territory. You're looking at mixed forest - the kind of place where you can actually hear yourself think, which is rare enough these days. The trails wind through deciduous and conifer woodland, with decent views opening up if you push towards the higher ground. It's the sort of spot walkers come for, especially those keen on a moderate ramble without needing to schlep halfway up a mountain.

This isn't a manicured visitor attraction with a car park and a gift shop. There's no entrance fee that I can find, no fixed opening hours - you just turn up and walk. That's genuinely refreshing. Allow anything from an hour for a gentle loop to three hours if you want to properly explore the coppice and surrounding woodland. Spring and early summer are cracking times, when the woodland floor gets proper crowded with growth.

Families with older kids will get on fine here - younger ones might find the lack of facilities a bit limiting. History buffs should know the area around Welshpool has its share of industrial heritage, though Bryn-over Coppice itself is just quiet woodland. If you're staying at Valley View Holiday Park or any of the other parks dotted around the area - Derwen Mill is closest at 3.7 miles - this makes a solid half-day outing. It's the kind of place that earns its keep on a longer holiday, not necessarily a destination in itself.