Diamond Jubilee Wood — Attraction in Bentra

On arriving at the well signed car park, my first thoughts were “Where’s the Wood? This looks like the golf club car park.” After a couple of minutes looking around, I realised to get to the Wood, you have to take a path around the perimeter of the golf course to get to the wood. This path runs parallel to the main road being separated from the road by a hedge and fence. It is a 0.6 km walk from the car park to the Wood. It is a strange set up and it would have been helpful to first-time visitors like myself if the local Council erected some prominent signage in the car park to explain how to get to the wood.

FACILITIES: There is a large bitmac carpark. Adjacent to the car park there is a building which has toilets. The toilets are not clearly signed and it appears that the building has something to do with the golf course – it seemed to be some sort of club house. I availed of the toilet facilities and no one complained. If this facility is operated by the local Council and the toilets are meant for public use, there should be signage to that effect. The current setup is a bit confusing for first-time visitors.

ACCESSIBILITY: Very good. All the paths are of compacted stone, wide enough for two people to walk side-by side. In some places on the paths, there can be a lot of puddles and mud. There is one shallow gradient on the path round the golf course, otherwise it’s dead flat

SIGNAGE: There are a couple of information panels about the Wood’s usage as an airship base in the First World War. As stated above, there needs to be better signage in the vicinity of the car park. There is no need for waymarked trails as you walk from the car park to the wood, there is a circular path around the Wood and then you retrace your steps back to the car park.

WILDLIFE: I did not see or hear many birds. I would have expected a bit more avian activity at such a site.

OTHER POINTS TO NOTE: 1 - It was a really pleasant surprise that there was no evidence of dog fouling despite the fact that there were a number of people walking their dogs. 2 - This Wood is only 8 years old, and it really is only a collection of saplings and small trees at present. It will probably mature into a really nice forest in another 10 years or so. 3 - Total walk distance is 2.6 km

SUMMARY: A reasonably nice walk. The Diamond Jubilee Wood needs better signage for...

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