Nature Reserves

I'm lucky, I have a small, peaceful nature reserve within walking distance of home. It's a great place to walk round, you don't often meet a lot of people there. In fact, there are times when you are in complete silence, apart from birdsong and the unexplained rustling in the undergrowth. It's a place where you can relax almost totally.

And there are occasional magical moments - when you come across a heron fishing, or hear the sound of a cuckoo, or find yourself amidst a haze of blue damselflies. At the risk of sounding pretentious, it's great to have a place where you can just take pleasure in the world around you.

I love taking a book, or a camera, and spending some quality time down there, but even a brisk walk around the reserve, which can be done inside half an hour, leaves me feeling a whole lot more relaxed than I was when I went in.