Our verdict
Muddy after wet weather and not suitable for pushchairs or wheelchairs, but a genuinely peaceful wood with more going on ecologically than its size suggests. Easy to combine with Echo Lodge Meadows and Webb's Wood along the same lane for a longer outing.
A secluded pocket of woodland in the heart of what was once the Royal Forest of Braydon, on Wood Lane near Echo Lodge Meadows and Webb's Wood. Dead wood left standing is a deliberate feature here — birch stumps host mosses and bracket fungi that feed woodpeckers — and silver-washed fritillaries fly the central ride in summer.
Wiltshire Wildlife Trust reserve — free to explore on foot; many are dog-free to protect wildlife.