Forest bathing at Selborne Common

Selborne Common is about 100 hectares of National Trust land on the hill above the village of Selborne. The steep slope facing the village is an ancient beech hanger, and the plateau on top is beech mixed with oak, ash and hawthorn, with open glades and meadows. This is the landscape the 18th-century naturalist Gilbert White wrote about, and it is now a Site of Special Scientific Interest. Cattle graze it to keep the old wood pasture open.

Park in the free car park behind the Selborne Arms and climb the Zig-Zag path up the hanger; it is steep but short, and once on top the paths spread out and the walkers thin. There is a gentler way in from Newton Valence. Paths are natural and get slippery and muddy after rain, so wear boots. Dogs must be on leads from March to September for ground-nesting birds.