The RSPB’s UK headquaters is at The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire on the edge of a magnificient wildlife reserve. The reserve has over 5 miles of trails which includes the site of an historic Iron Age hillfort.

The walks are truely stunning and tranquil. We walked the two longest trails – Buzzard and Woodpecker – and I can absolutely recommend both. You do need to be able to walk across uneven ground and navigate a couple of reasonably steep inclines and decents, but nothing too arduous. And you will be treated to just a magnificient period of calm, quiet and peace.

However, if you are expecting to see lots and lots of fauna, and in particular birds, this after all being a bird sanctuary, then you could, and probably will be, slightly disappointed. There were no Buzzards riding the thermals, nor did we see or hear any Woodpeckers. Indeed there wasn’t much of any avian presence expect a couple of wood pidgeons (look closely at the centre of image DSC7607 – Image No. 7) and a magpie. At least when we were there.