Penn Plantation

Penn Plantation is a proper chunk of working woodland just outside South Brent, and it's the sort of place you stumble into expecting very little and come away having had a genuinely good morning. It's a working forest - so you're not walking through some manicured theme park version of nature, you're in actual trees being actively managed for timber. The paths are decent enough, winding through mixed woodland with the kind of quiet you don't often find these days.

Walkers will absolutely get the most from this one. It's easy enough for families with decent mobility, though you'll want proper shoes - it can get muddy. Allow yourself a couple of hours if you're not rushing. There's something quite compelling about the scale of it; you genuinely feel removed from South Brent despite being minutes away. The forest canopy does the heavy lifting in terms of atmosphere - no need for manicured flower beds or a visitor centre to make it worthwhile.

If you're based at Ashbourne Woods nearby, Penn Plantation makes an excellent half-day outing that doesn't require the same level of planning as a more formal attraction. It's free to access and you can turn up whenever suits. Best on a dry day - the paths can be heavy going after rain. It won't blow your mind with Instagram moments, but that's rather the point. Sometimes a wood is just a wood, and a really good one at that.