Forest bathing at Croes Robert Wood

Croes Robert Wood is a 15 hectare Gwent Wildlife Trust reserve on a hillside near Trellech, south of Monmouth. It is ancient woodland, recorded since at least 1600, though the larger trees were felled in 1982, so it looks younger than it is. Today hazel and ash are coppiced in rotation, which keeps the wood light and varied. Mosses and lichens grow along the streams, and fungi appear in autumn.

There is room for five or six cars in a rough lay-by at the entrance, and you go in through a wooden gate. A circular track runs to the charcoal kilns, with unmarked paths leading off into the rest of the wood. In spring look for bluebells, lesser celandine, wood anemones and golden-saxifrage. The slopes are steep, and because it is a working wood some paths are rutted and muddy, so wear boots. It is open at all times and free.