A new index released by accommodation marketplace HomeToGo has named the Isle of Wight’s Brighstone Forest as the best in England and 6th best in the wider UK to visit this Autumn.
Using criteria such as ‘hectares covered, Sutumnal hours of sunshine, average rainfall, and under-the-radar status’, HomeToGo has named the 50 best forests to visit in the UK as the weather turns crisp.
The top 5 rankings are occupied by forests in Scotland and Wales so Brighstone is actually the highest ranked English forest on the list.
Brighstone is the only Island forest on the list and is the largest forest on the Isle of Wight, covering just a few hectares more than Parkhurst Forest.
The listing for Brighstone Forest states:
“With beech and ash as the dominant tree species, Brighstone Forest – the largest on the Isle of Wight, located in the Island’s Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty – is a location in which tranquility-seeking travellers can admire the vivid colours of changing leaves.
“Loop into the forest on walking routes such as the Tennyson Trail, a section of which traces through the trees, or explore by bike or on horseback.”
The full list and the methodology behind it can be found on the HomeToGo website.
By awarding it this nationally published accolade, surely they have directly destroyed the ‘under the radar’ status they refer to as one of the criteria?
Perhaps one of the reasons it remains so nice is for the very reason it is under the radar?
Perhaps such awards will only serve to affect these lovely places adversely, by popularising them?
Always looking for the downside and wanting to moan. Maybe get some sunshine in your life and see that nature is a wonderful thing to be enjoyed and shared. Get down to the forest and live a little.
Best hurry up and vist before the council build houses on it for everybody else , the families struggling to find affordable/ clean/ not mouldy / damp free houses will have no chance