Forest bathing in Rutland

Rutland is small, but it has more old woodland than you might expect. Prior's Coppice near Braunston is a Wildlife Trust reserve of ancient oak and ash coppice, a surviving piece of the Leighfield Forest that once covered the west of the county. Around Rutland Water, Barnsdale Wood on the north shore is mixed woodland above the reservoir. In the north-east, Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue is a long double row of clipped yews leading into estate woodland on the Lincolnshire border.

A session usually runs two to three hours and covers very little ground. A guide leads a small group gently into the trees and offers a few plain invitations to look, listen and settle, with long quiet stretches between them. The county's woods are compact and rarely crowded, and Rutland Water's lakeside paths make a session easy to extend into a day out. Dates and prices are on each guide's profile.

Barnsdale Wood is the practical start, with the Rutland Water car park at Barnsdale (pay on exit, and closed on weekdays through the winter), level paths and the reservoir trail on the doorstep. Clipsham Yew Tree Avenue has a free car park and a compacted, mostly level path.