Forest bathing at Ecclesall Woods

Ecclesall Woods is about 350 acres of mature, semi-natural deciduous woodland between Abbeydale Road South and Ecclesall. For centuries it was worked for timber and charcoal, and you can still find around a hundred charcoal hearths and two hundred Q pits among the trees. A 1786 gravestone marks George Yardley, a woodcollier who died in a fire at his hut in the wood. It is a Local Nature Reserve, managed by the city council.

More than ten miles of public footpath run through the woods, so it is easy to leave the busier paths near the roads that cut through. The J G Graves Woodland Discovery Centre and a working sawmill are in the woods, and the Sheffield Round Walk passes through. Paths are mostly earth and can be muddy in winter. Look out for the ponds created by volunteers in recent years, which are good places to sit and watch.