The Beeches

The Beeches is a proper woodland walk just outside Hungerford, where the trees tower up and create this cathedral-like feeling under the canopy. You're walking through dense beech forest - hence the name - and it's the kind of place where you actually notice the quiet. The ground is soft with leaf litter, which makes for easy going underfoot even after rain.

It's not a destination with facilities or a visitor centre. This is raw woodland, which is either brilliant or disappointing depending on what you want from your time off. Families with younger kids might find an hour here quite enough - there's no playground or visitor infrastructure, just trees and paths. Walkers and nature types will get far more from it. You can wander for a couple of hours if you pick the longer routes, spotting beech mast on the forest floor and, if you're lucky, spotting wildlife.

Free to access, no admission charge. Go early morning or midweek if you want to avoid other people. Autumn is particularly good - the colour under these old beeches is genuinely stunning, and the smell of damp woodland is properly atmospheric.

If you're staying at Lorne Hill Farm, just three miles away, The Beeches makes a solid half-day outing. It won't entertain you all week, but it's a real escape from the Hungerford crowds and worth the short drive. Bring wellies if there's been rain.