Holiday apartment in Bracknell Forest: Forest, heathland and history
Accommodation in Bracknell Forest
In Bracknell Forest, woodland and forest areas account for 39% of the land cover. This landscape character is particularly evident in Swinley Forest, which extends across 2,600 acres of gentle hills from Bracknell to Crowthorne. The picture is complemented by more than 150 parks and areas of landscape, ranging from small woodlands and meadows to larger nature reserves and parks.
File:Bracknell Forest near Blane's Lane - geograph.org.uk - 6869944.jpg
Photo: James Emmans via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0
Nature
Wildmoor Heath brings together different landscape forms within a small area. The site includes wet and dry lowland heath, a valley mire, and mature pine and broadleaf woodland. More than 20 species have been recorded there. A 1.5-mile circular trail runs through the area and is marked by badger waymarkers.
Englemere Pond also combines landscape and designated conservation categories: the pond is designated both as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and as a Local Nature Reserve (LNR). Two marked circular trails start and finish at the car park. The surrounding area of Bracknell Forest also includes Stag Island, an island, as well as Cranbourne Tower and Finchampstead Mound, each classified as a castle.
Further islands are scattered around Bracknell Forest: China Island, Loddon Island and Queen's Eyot are recorded as islands in this surrounding area. Shepherd Meadows and Sandhurst Memorial Park have asphalt, hoggin and mown paths that provide access within the two areas.
Activities
In Swinley Forest, Go Ape's Forest Segway experience takes participants along specially marked Segway routes following an introduction and safety briefing. The Horseshoe Lake Activity Centre offers watercraft hire and tailored group bookings.
The Look Out Discovery Centre offers a different kind of discovery. Its science exhibition includes more than 90 activities for children of all ages. Alongside the paths and landscape areas, the region therefore also offers an explicitly interactive exhibition venue.
Culture and history
Caesar's Camp is an Iron Age hillfort south of Bracknell. It covers approximately 17.2 acres (7 hectares) and is surrounded by a ditch about one mile long. Caesar's Camp is also regarded as a well-preserved example of a carefully planned and constructed contour hillfort that was later reused. Later earthworks also include a Napoleonic redoubt.
South Hill Park Arts Centre contains a digital cinema in a well-preserved room. It shows independent films, Hollywood blockbusters, family films and foreign-language films, as well as live broadcasts of theatrical performances. Lily Hill Park preserves an original avenue of yew trees, a traditional orchard and a Wellingtonia at Forester's Hill.
The wider regional surroundings of Bracknell Forest include the Runnymede Bridge Late Bronze Age Site as an archaeological site and Medmenham Abbey as a historic site. Both broaden the regional perspective with different traces of the past, without belonging to the same category.
Places in the surrounding area
For further location options, the direct links lead to Crowthorne, Bracknell, Sandhurst, Winkfield, Binfield and Winkfield Row. Other destinations at the same higher-level category are North Somerset and Swindon.
For the higher-level travel overview: South West England.
