Forest bathing at Bentley Wood

Bentley Wood lies about six miles east of Salisbury, north of the village of West Dean. Around 665 hectares are designated a Site of Special Scientific Interest, and with neighbouring Blackmoor Copse it forms one of the largest areas of woodland in Wiltshire. Lady Ann Colman set up the Bentley Wood Charitable Trust to buy it from the Forestry Commission for the public in the early 1980s. In 1944 American troops were billeted here before D-Day.

The main car park is about 300 metres up the Switchback track from the West Dean to Middle Winterslow road, by a stand of tall poplars; a smaller car park sits at the west end of the Switchback. From there, wide rides lead north and south, and the Eastern Clearing, an old meadow managed for butterflies, is just east of the main car park. Around 36 butterfly species appear most years, including purple emperor in late June and July.