Sophie Churchill - Chief Executive

"I was with friends in the forest the other weekend. They hadn’t visited before and I spared them a background lecture on the history, the geology and so on. We just went out and enjoyed one of the farmland woods and also Rosliston forestry centre. Rosliston is easily reached from Burton, Swadlincote, Coalville and all points east towards Leicester. In fact, I’m recommending it to friends from far and wide. It’s got new play areas and maturing woods, a great restaurant and awesome birds of prey. On Sunday afternoon it was full of people just relaxing, enjoying a place of quietness and adventure. (I’m also secretly a bit of a dog lover without a dog and it’s a place for getting a fix of well-behaved and beautiful greyhounds, so it seems!)

It is just that time of year when we want to discover new places but we’re not yet heading off miles away. If you have favourite places in The National Forest do you go back to them again in the spring and summer and see how the trees are maturing, changing the landscape from this time last year? If you tend to go to the same places in the Forest all the time, perhaps this year you might explore a little further? I’m hoping next time to take my friends to see each of the Noon Columns in one day: there are six of these imposing oak sculptures across the Forest and they are most impressive seen as a group.

Later in the year the new Youth Hostel will open near Conkers. Conkers has just had a new indoor facility for children, The Enchanted Forest. They are the kind of things we might visit when we’re on holiday and this year I’m determined to pretend I am on holiday at the weekends and take as many day trips as I can. I’m telling myself it’s ice cream and sun tan lotion all the way from now on!

So, make The National Forest your own, whether you’re local or further afield – and enjoy it. What’s more stress-busting - jumping on a plane for a mini break... or relaxing in the hidden delights on our doorstep? The National Forest is a living thing, made more alive with people as well as trees, (and nice dogs, of course)."