Forest bathing in Lancashire

Lancashire's woodland sits mostly on its hills and in its river valleys. In the Forest of Bowland, Gisburn Forest is the county's largest, a Forestry England plantation of spruce and pine around Stocks Reservoir with older mixed woodland on the lower slopes. Beacon Fell Country Park, north of Preston, is a hilltop of conifers and birch with views over the Fylde. Out on the West Lancashire plain, Mere Sands Wood at Rufford is a Wildlife Trust reserve of Scots pine, birch and oak around a chain of lakes.

A forest bathing session is slow and unhurried. A guide leads a small group a short way into the trees, then offers simple invitations to notice what is around you, with long pauses for sitting or standing still. Expect two to three hours and very little distance covered. Bowland's valley woods give shelter when the fells are wild. Dates and prices are on each guide's profile.

Beacon Fell is a good first visit, with car parks, a visitor centre and cafe, and a level path around the summit. Mere Sands Wood is flatter still, with a visitor centre and paths that suit anyone who finds hills hard.