Forest bathing at Bisham Woods

Bisham Woods is a Woodland Trust wood of about 150 hectares on the slopes between Cookham Dean and the Thames near Marlow. More than ninety per cent of it is ancient woodland, at least five hundred years old and perhaps much older. It is mainly broadleaved, with field maple, ash, beech, wych elm, hazel and wild cherry and a few small stands of conifers. The woods are said to have inspired the Wild Wood in Kenneth Grahame's The Wind in the Willows.

There is no car park, just a few roadside pull-ins along Quarry Wood Road, Grubwood Lane and Marlow Road, so arrive early at busy times. Eleven public rights of way cross the wood, and some are steep or muddy in wet weather, so wear boots; many entrances have squeeze gaps rather than gates. In spring the woodland floor is covered with bluebells, orchids and primroses. There are no facilities on site; the nearest public toilets are in Marlow and Cookham.