Crump Wood

This is proper woodland walking country - Crump Wood sits just outside Uttoxeter and gives you everything a forest should: tall trees, decent paths, and the sort of quiet that makes you remember why you came to Derbyshire in the first place. It's not a showpiece attraction with visitor centres and interpretive boards. What you get instead is an actual wood you can walk through, which is refreshingly honest.

The paths are well-trodden and manageable for families with older kids, though younger ones might find a couple of miles enough before the novelty wears thin. Walkers will appreciate the peace, and it's the kind of place where you notice things - birdsong, the smell after rain, how the light filters through the canopy. Budget an hour to ninety minutes depending on how much you want to amble.

It works brilliantly as a morning jaunt if you're based at one of the nearby parks - Walled Garden Pods is barely a mile and a half away, or Ashbourne Holidays if you want something with more facilities. Neither the wood nor the surrounding area is trying to be anything other than what it is, which is part of the appeal. There's no admission fee, no parking charges that I'm aware of. Just pull up nearby, get out, and walk. It's exactly the sort of spot that breaks up a week of park time without requiring any planning whatsoever.