Pallett's Wood and Four Acres Wood

Two separate woodlands just east of Stevenage that work brilliantly if you're staying at one of the nearby parks and want to stretch your legs without driving far. Pallett's Wood and Four Acres Wood are proper old-growth forests with decent footpaths threading through them - the kind of place where you actually feel like you've left town behind, even though you're barely ten minutes from suburbia.

The woods themselves are straightforward: mixed broadleaf, plenty of shade, some lovely clearings where light filters through. It's not dramatic or particularly wild. What it is, though, is reliable. You won't get lost. The paths are maintained. If you've got young kids from Church Farm Ardeley or Jacks Hill Caravans, they'll enjoy poking about in the undergrowth and spotting birds without it being a full expedition. Older walkers might find an hour round the circuit about right before wanting to move on to something with more of a feature - a pub, a viewpoint, something to aim for.

Timing-wise, spring is when these woods earn their keep, with bluebells and emerging growth. Autumn's decent too. Summer can feel a bit muggy under all that canopy, and winter's muddy. There's no visitor centre or facilities that we could find, so go prepared. If you're based at Almshoe Glamping and want a gentle woodland walk that won't eat up your whole morning, this does the job. Just don't expect anything particularly rare or memorable - it's dependable rather than stunning.