Forest bathing in Worcestershire

The Wyre Forest is Worcestershire's great wood, and one of England's: more than 2,600 hectares of ancient sessile oak straddling the Shropshire border west of Bewdley. The Clent Hills on the Birmingham edge have National Trust beech and oak around their summits, and the Lickey Hills Country Park next door mixes Scots pine with oak and birch. In the Severn and Avon vales, the Wildlife Trust's Tiddesley Wood near Pershore is old oak woodland, and Chaddesley Woods near Kidderminster is a national nature reserve of oak and lime.

A guided session takes two to three hours, in a small group, and is spent mostly standing or sitting rather than walking. The invitations are plain: notice what you can hear, touch bark, watch light move. Wyre's size means a guide can find somewhere quiet even on a bank holiday, and the Clents and Lickeys are a short train ride from Birmingham. Dates and prices are on each guide's profile.

The Wyre Forest discovery centre at Callow Hill is the easy start, with a large car park, cafe and surfaced trails. Worcester Woods Country Park beside County Hall has a cafe and a level, surfaced trail through Nunnery Wood.