Coneybury Wood

The woodland around Coneybury doesn't announce itself loudly. It's a quiet, working forest rather than a theme-park version of nature - the sort of place you stumble upon while routing between Heathfield and wherever else you're headed in Sussex.

What you get is proper woodland walking through mixed deciduous and coniferous trees. The ground cover's decent, paths are reasonably clear, and there's genuine peace once you're five minutes in. It's the kind of wood where you notice things - moss on the north side of trees, the occasional muntjac if you're lucky, light filtering through at different angles depending on the season.

This works best for walkers who don't need a destination, or families with kids old enough to enjoy actual woods rather than "experience centres". If your children demand facilities or themed attractions, look elsewhere. But if they'll genuinely mess about with sticks and look for wildlife, they'll be happy here for an hour or so.

There's no visitor centre that I'm aware of, no posted hours. Just go. It's free, naturally. Allow anything from 45 minutes to two hours depending on how much you wander and how many detours you take.

If you're staying at The Secret Campsite - a five-mile stretch away - this is exactly the sort of low-key woodland ramble that fits between breakfast and packing up. It's not a major draw on its own, but it's a proper addition to a Sussex holiday.