Billy Wood (or officially Townclose Hills Nature Reserve) may not be huge, but it’s perfect for little legs to have a potter and a picnic around glorious woodland and wildflower meadows.
Website: https://www.ywt.org.uk/nature-reserves/townclose-hills-nature-reserve
Distance and route: Various, but the two marked routes are each 1.5km.
Facilities: None at the nature reserve. Parking is at the leisure centre. Benches are dotted around the paths.
Accessibility: Although there are some buggy friendly paths, it is generally not suitable for pushchairs, with steep and narrow stretches.
Walking around Billy Wood
This beautiful woodland is great for children to explore. There are lots of little paths, so you you could let your young adventurers just find a path and follow on! It’s a small enough area that you shouldn’t get lost… just be aware of some steep paths which may need to be avoided in wet weather.
But if marked paths are your thing, there are two options to choose from. We loosely followed the Woodland route, but kept getting distracted by ‘fairy paths’. I’ve always been partial to a good looking tree, and there are some particularly beautiful specimens to find here!
Alternatively, the wildflower walk might be more your thing, where you can find stunning meadows and some gorgeous views. Don’t worry, you’ll still get a taste of woodland on this path too!
All in all, a great spot to try. We thoroughly enjoyed our first visit here and I cant wait to get back when James is walking to let him explore to his heart’s content!
Other walks in the local area;
