Pitchbury Wood

The woodland around Pitchbury, just outside Colchester, is proper Essex countryside - the kind of place locals know but visitors often miss. You're walking through ancient mixed woodland with decent-sized trees and a network of paths that wind without fuss. It's the sort of spot where you can actually hear yourself think, which counts for something near a town of this size.

What you get here depends entirely on what you want from a wood. If you're after a lengthy circular walk, the paths are there to follow. If you want to let the kids burn off some energy among the trees, it works for that too. The ground's reasonable underfoot most of the time, though it gets boggy after rain. There's no visitor centre or facilities to speak of - bring your own water and don't expect a café.

It's genuinely worth the stop if you're camping at Colchester Country Park or Rushbanks Farm down the road. An hour here clears the head between caravan time and whatever else you're doing in the area. The trees are old enough to make it feel properly wild, even though you're minutes from town. Go early in the day if you can - it's quieter, and the light through the canopy is better for photographs.

Not somewhere you'd drive an hour to visit on its own merits. But as part of a few days exploring the Colchester area? Absolutely.