Forest bathing at West Walk, Forest of Bere

West Walk, near Wickham, is 350 hectares of Forestry England woodland and the largest remaining fragment of the Forest of Bere, a medieval hunting forest that once stretched across this part of Hampshire. Most of it is managed plantation, with tall pines around the car park, but there are small stands of 19th-century oak planted for navy shipbuilding. Those old oaks carry rare lichens and are home to bats and woodland birds. Roe and muntjac deer live here too.

The car park off Hundred Acres Road is the usual start. The Forest of Bere trail is a 3-mile loop and a good introduction; there is also a shorter Miles without Stiles route on gravel tracks with gentle gradients, no steps and no barriers. The play areas near the car park are busy at weekends, but a few minutes along the tracks it is much quieter, especially down by the river crossing. Nearby Woodend and Upperford Copse are other fragments of the old forest.