The glorious forest Britain built from scratch

Cycling backlanes and bridleways, down quiet tracks, through pretty villages, my astonishment grew with every pedal. I’d come for a woodland ride, yes. I just hadn’t expected it to be so… green.

Well before rewilding was a thing, the National Forest launched in 1991 to revive 200 square miles of the Midlands. The project’s aim was to link the remnant ancient tracts of Charnwood in Leicestershire and Needwood in Staffordshire by replanting the mine-scarred landscape in between. It was ahead of its time. And certainly ahead of its signage. Boards were erected – “Welcome to the National Forest!” – but where, many sneered, were the trees?

Back then, this was one of the least-wooded parts of the country, with only six per cent forest cover. Well, no one’s sneering now. This summer the National Forest hit 25 per cent, having planted 9.5 million trees.

It’s an ongoing regeneration success story that’s not only benefiting biodiversity but also humans: new jobs, a boosted economy, improved mental health, more opportunities to connect with nature. Just the place to visit for some uplifting autumn colour.

Sue Jerham remembers when Hicks Lodge, the National Forest’s flagship site, was first unveiled: “It was bleak. The best you could say? It’s better than a mine…” But trees grow. And it doesn’t take long for feeble saplings to become fulsome thickets. Hicks is now the National Forest Cycling Centre, where miles of multi-use trails weave between thriving woodland; a new bike park will open there this year.

Combining the Forest’s bike-friendliness with burgeoning business opportunities, Sue founded National Forest E-bike Holidays in 2019. Her bespoke walking and cycling trips are big on detail, and support for other Forest businesses. Want a souvenir too big for your pannier? Buy it, and Sue will pick it up. Order a breakfast hamper? It’ll come with your choice of local sourdough and honesty-stall jams made with Forest ingredients.

Sue had designed a trip for me that would avoid main roads, visit hidden treasures, stay in lovely places and reveal a mix of trees. I started from Lichfield station and was soon gliding past hedgerows bearing late blackberries, dodging squirrels. My first stop was the National Memorial Arboretum, a project of similar age and boldness to the National Forest. Its vision, when it opened in 1998 on a former gravel works alongside the River Tame, was to create a place of remembrance to those lost while serving their community or country.

“The first memorial, the Polar Bear [honouring the 49th Infantry West Riding Division], was put up in a muddy field surrounded by twigs,” explained the arboretum’s Maria Howes as the Last Post drifted on the breeze. But, like the wider Forest, those twigs have grown – there are now 25,000 trees, a mixed variety ensuring year-round interest. There are also more than 400 memorials. Mightiest is the British Armed Forces Memorial, but as volunteer Chris drove me around in an electric buggy, he pointed out commemorations to all sorts: miners and war widows, Leyton Orient FC (who enlisted together in 1914), the Showmen’s Guild, marked by a carousel horse.

Eventually I had to leave (the site is vast, allow a day), and continued in autumn sunshine to Hoar Cross Hall. Built on Needwood Forest in 1871, this Elizabethan-style pile is now a fine hotel. It already had an enormous spa but, this summer, opened an enormous spa terrace.

So, despite the cooling season, I found myself lazing in a cabana, pushing a waiter-service button for hot chocolate, and wallowing in hot pools as sunset fell on the surrounding trees. Less Staffordshire, more Ibiza. And all powered by the National Forest. In 2023, Hoar Cross replaced its kerosene boilers with a biomass system that runs off the Forest’s wood-chipped waste timber; it has reduced heating emissions by 95 per cent.

After an excellent dinner and cosy night, the next morning I took a walk. First to Hoar Cross’s Church of Holy Angels, a pink-sandstone vision of Victorian Gothic, richly carved, unexpectedly grand – less church, more middle-of-nowhere cathedral. Then on to The Deer Park, which has grand designs of its own.

Owner Lesley Prince met me at the farm shop. Her husband’s family have been breeding livestock here for 50 years but, like many smaller-scale farmers, are finding it increasingly tough to make a living. Which is where the National Forest has come in.

Funded by the Forest, the Princes have planted 15,500 trees and installed miles of fencing. It enabled them to restore deer to the farm (they happily coexist with the cows and alpacas) and create a 5km walk. This is good for visitors, who can enjoy the landscape, and it’s good for business, when visitors spend in the cafe and shop. “It should be about people coming onto farms, seeing what they’re really like, and appreciating the countryside through a farm,” Lesley added.

She has bigger plans: glamping in the coverts; converting the historic deer pens into a space for workshops and events; making the pond safe for wild swimming. As Clarkson’s Farm has so starkly illustrated, this is the sort of pivoting required to make agriculture pay. And it’s the sort of thing the National Forest works to facilitate. “Getting involved with the Forest brought us into a team,” Lesley said. “They’ve given me so much help, they’ve kept me going.”

I hiked around the farm, past its wise 600-year-old oak and out along a stretch of the long-distance National Forest Way; this took me through thriving Crossplain Wood – replanted in 1997 – and into the maturer Scots pines and oaks of Jackson’s Bank. I returned to The Deer Park for an inventive afternoon tea, probably the best I’ve ever eaten.

I was bound for Hastings Retreat, a handful of barn conversions in the heart of the National Forest, where industry left its deepest scars. “In the Nineties it was part of an opencast mine,” owner Dawn Jaques told me. “A friend wrote a song about the place called ‘Shades of Black and Grey’.”

It doesn’t seem possible now. From Hastings I looked over a blanket of green; Hicks Lodge, Moira Junction Nature Reserve and the Conkers discovery centre were within easy cycling distance. A wind turbine whirled in the field behind, producing more energy than the site needs. Herons surveyed the fishing lake. Owls hooted.

What’s been achieved in the National Forest is well worth celebrating. Fortunately Dawn also makes gin. She founded the tiny Naughty Hare distillery in her shed, and offers tastings to guests. I especially liked her Viscount Brian, a gin inspired by an After Eight mint: refreshing, unexpected, an excellent idea well realised. The perfect drink to raise to all these trees.

How to do it

National Forest E-bike Holidays (01530 417482; ebikeholiday.co.uk) offers three-night self-guided cycling or walking trips from £539pp, including B&B accommodation; a three-night trip, including two nights dinner, B&B and spa entry at Hoar Cross Hall, costs from £789pp. There’s a five per cent discount for those arriving by train.

The National Memorial Arboretum (01283 245100; thenma.org.uk) is free to visit.

Hoar Cross Hall (01283 477900; baronseden.com/hoar-cross-hall) offers doubles from £149pppn, dinner, B&B.

The Deer Park afternoon tea costs £22pp (01283 384477; deerpark.farm).

Hastings Retreat (01530 682 668; hastingsretreat.co.uk) offers self-catering properties from £80pn.

See nationalforest.org for more information