The Woodland Trust and Hucking Woods gives Our Kent Family the most perfect day

Sometimes, the very best things happen unexpectedly.

Friendships, impromptu holidays, spontaneous nights out. Or, in our case at the start of this month, a very simple walk in the woods.

It's January. We're probably all feeling the pinch and, even if you're not, you perhaps think you should be.

It feels like most of us have had some form of Her Majesty's lingering cough and cold.

Yet the little people could really do with a decent amount of time in the great outdoors before they either start swinging from the lampshades or you resort to stringing one of them from one after too many days indoors.

Cue a pin-in-a-map style hunt for somewhere to walk, run, go wild and wander which would give everyone a change of scene and a much-needed break from the last of the lingering festivities.

We chose Hucking Estate.

Nestled between Detling and Hollingbourne, it is described by its caretakers The Woodland Trust as "a mix of ancient woodland, planted secondary woodland and open grassland together with woodland archaeology remains, wonderful walks, interesting wildlife and breath-taking views".

Or, if you're Oscar, a 'proper woods'.

Which I think is five-year-old code for no playground, no cafe, shop and definitely no toilets. None of which are an issue - apart from maybe the last one purely when you're dealing with wriggly children and lots of layers.

Parking is free so you don't even need to embark on the mad dash for change to feed a metre when you arrive.

(Just as an aside - Hucking Estate also happens to be one of the trust's top 10 bluebell woods so if spring could do us all a favour and get a rapid shift on we can put that claim to the test too).

Helped by blue skies, glorious brilliant sunshine which seemed to seep into every photograph and the most crisp of days the children, together with their friends had the best time. We all did.

For a place that is less than 25 minutes from our front door, it's shameful that we haven't been before.

Space to roam, wield a stick, poke a frozen puddle, stomp in the mud... the possibilities proved endless.

We went on numerous bear hunts, spotted planes over the Downs and watched the children ride imaginary broomsticks and wield imaginary lightsabers with the sticks and twigs they found.

We hunted Gruffallo and spiders, spotted robins, clambered across logs and climbed trees, got EXTREMELY muddy and generally blew away every cobweb left hanging from an exhausting December, busy Christmas and New Year.

If you're looking for a January outing that's good for the soul I can't recommend ours enough.

(And for further information about the estate, and how to find it, click here.)

Happy New Year from all of us.

Lauren x