Dauntsey Recreation Ground

The flat meadowland here, just outside Chippenham, doesn't announce itself with fanfare. There's a modest car park, some rough grass, and if you're lucky, a handful of other visitors who aren't there to use the football pitches. But that's rather the point of Dauntsey Recreation Ground - it's a working local space that happens to be genuinely lovely for a walk if you time it right.

You get proper open countryside without the National Trust crowds. The paths wind through meadow and woodland, and there's real scope for letting kids run about without worrying they'll wander onto a busy road. On a quiet weekday morning it feels almost private, though weekends bring the village football teams and their families.

This is best suited to families after a gentle couple of hours in green space, or walkers wanting something undemanding between trips to bigger attractions. It won't take your breath away - there's no dramatic vistas or rare wildlife to tick off - but it's the sort of place where you actually breathe easier after twenty minutes.

If you're camped at Burton Hill, which is barely five miles away, or staying at the glamping spots near Malmesbury, this makes a sensible morning outing. Bring a ball, let the dog off lead, sit on whatever seating there is and read a chapter. Free and unfussy, which is refreshing when everywhere else charges you five quid for the privilege of standing in a field.