Erlestoke is a place I've often driven through but never really stopped to take a look. It is a nice little village on the road between West Lavington and Westbury and as you approach it from the Westbury side, the road descends through some dark tree tunnels and you really feel like you are deep in the countryside. Curiously, the Government has placed a prison on the outskirts of the village, which is built around the old Erlestoke manor house. The manor house was bought by

I visited the Devenish on a hot, humid summer day and appreciated the ample shade provided by the trees and the grassy, steep hills to lounge on while taking in the view of the Woodford Valley below. We walked past a family with young children and a dog who cheerfully commented that this is no better place to be on a hot summer day and I wholeheartedly agree.​​ Sites like The Devenish embody the very reason why I embarked on this Hidden Wiltshire journey. It may not be well k

Peppercombe Wood in Urchfont. These place names sound like they belong in Middle Earth, populated by hobbits. But Urchfont is a very real place that is quintessentially English. It even has a village pond. The wood itself is small but the approach to it is pleasing, as you walk down a sunken lane that is overgrown and dark, and has small cliffs peeking through the vegetation. The lane is quite damp and muddy, even when I visited in summer, with springs feeding channels of wat

One of the first things I noticed about Penn Wood is that it isn't a wood. At least, not yet. In 2010 some 10,000 trees were planted and it will take some years for them to reach maturity. From the air, the site looks like grassland but from ground level the trees are tall enough to make this feel like a wood in the making. The second thing I noticed is that the site is a great vantage point to see some outstanding views. You can see Cherhill White Horse and the Lansdowne mon

Like all established woodland, when you walk around Vincients Wood you really feel like it is old. It's not a a large wood - at just under 6 hectares it doesn't take long to walk around but in parts it is dense and you feel enveloped in nature. But when you look at it from the air you get a sense of claustrophobia because the nearby housing estates come right up to the edge of it and whole west side of the wood is buttressed by the A350. When walking on that side the cars are

If you look at Green Lane Wood from the air it looks like a place under pressure from urbanisation. The North East corner is dissected by the busy A350, separating a chunk of this wood from its parent. There is a wide channel which cuts right through the heart of it with trees felled and wildlife constantly cut back to house the electricity pylons that run through it. Then there are the sprawling housing estates of Paxcroft and Castle Mead where developers want to push the ho