THE GREAT OUTDOORS

10 hot spots for you

In this season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, the CL team share their favourite places to see the burnished golds and russet reds of autumn

EPPING FOREST Essex

Epping has long been a favourite in our family, ever since my sister bought a house that looked out upon its magnificent ancient trees. Suffering from hay fever has made me appreciate the autumn when I can finally enjoy the forest on my doorstep. The Centenary Trail leads me to the paths of the old managed woodland, where coppice stools some centuries old stand among crunchy golden leaves. It’s a truly special place, home to about 55,000 ancient oak, beech, birch and hornbeams – more than anywhere else in England. There are 8,000 acres to explore, so I’d better get a move on (visiteppingforest.org).

FAIRY POOLS Inverness-shire

When I first saw somewhere marked Fairy Pools on a map of Skye, I had to investigate. Located in Glen Brittle, on the eastern edge of the Black Cuillin ridge, this series of waterfalls and still cerulean pools certainly has an otherworldly ambience – and is especially magical when the surrounding marshland is ablaze with bracken. We visited in autumn, when the summer crowds had left and mist swirled around the mountain tops. We didn’t see any selkies – those folkloric shapeshifters of the Northern Isles – just the odd meadow pipit and a lone red deer surveying us from the slopes (isleofskye.com).

POLESDEN LACEY Surrey

There’s something glorious about the contrast of wild, heady autumn colour and a neat, manicured country estate – fiery trees seem to glow more brightly against rolling green parkland. At this time of year, I’m drawn to Polesden Lacey, a Regency house in Surrey that hosted aristocratic weekend parties and royal honeymoons in the early 20th century. It always feels far removed from modern life, even though you can see the London skyline from the higher points on the estate (nationaltrust.org.uk).

WASTWATER Cumbria

It was autumn when Wastwater first stopped me in my tracks. I was on a family holiday, baby son (now 19) strapped to my back, and all those lines of Romantic Lakeland poetry I’d studied at university finally made sense. October sunshine supercharges the drama of England’s deepest lake and the scree-covered slopes that plunge into it, exaggerating its palette of rusty bracken, inky water and green fields. Many visits later, I still haven’t ticked Scafell Pike – looming in the background – off my Wainwright list. With such a view at ground level, I don’t feel the need (visitcumbria.com).

CRAGSIDE Northumberland

I’m lucky enough to visit many beautiful places when scouting for houses to feature in Country Living. One of the most startling I’ve come across is Cragside, a cutting-edge Victo