Our verdict
Bath's forgotten valley. Solsbury Hill gets the song and the crowds; Ashcombe Wood gets the sheep, the mud and the silence. Parking is nonexistent, which is exactly why it stays that way.
A steep tongue of broadleaf woodland in the folds of the Swainswick valley, minutes north of Bath but properly rural — old hedgebanks, a tumbling stream line and views across the valley to Solsbury Hill.
Woodland Trust wood, open at all times. No car park — arrive on foot from the lanes or from Larkhall.