Forest bathing at Erddig

Erddig is a 1,200-acre National Trust estate on the southern edge of Wrexham. Beyond the hall and garden, much of the estate is woodland: the woods are mainly beech, with an avenue of beech and hornbeam along the Cathedral Aisle, while Big Wood is an older ornamental woodland of mixed broadleaves including oak and sycamore. Fallen beech are left where they lie for wildlife, which gives the woods a settled, untidy feel.

The Big Wood trail is a short orange-waymarked loop of about a mile from the car park, passing a hidden meadow, the remains of a Norman motte and bailey castle, a stretch of Wat's Dyke and the Cup and Saucer waterfall on the Black Brook. It is easy to stretch a visit out by stopping often. Paths are a mix of made and unmade surfaces, with some steps at the motte and slippery slopes after rain. A separate riverside walk follows the Clywedog.