Cardinham Woods: A Photo Diary

Cardinham Woods located on the outskirts of Bodmin is home to 625 acres of scenic woodland and on a misty Friday afternoon, some friends and I decided to head deep into the woods to see what we could find.

It was my first time at Cardinham so I was completely clueless as to what we would find. I'd done a little research on Instagram (as you do) but hadn't really found anything that looked that exciting. I clearly had to go exploring for myself.

At the carpark, there are a number of boards with suggested routes that you can take, all with different difficulties and lengths. We decided to take the pink route (6 miles) but soon found ourselves getting distracted and heading off route.

Cardinham is FULL of beautiful, photogenic areas - an absolute dream for me as I'm happiest when I'm holding my camera. With streams, lakes, bridges, viewing points, and pine trees, there's so many different areas to explore. Also steeped in history, Cardiham reaches back to the 12th century, where the Lady Vale Chapel once stood.

November is such an incredible time of year to visit the woods. The orange tones take over and there's a real autumnal feel.

I was desperate to find some 'scary' parts of woodland. The mist was starting to roll in, so I thought that this would be my perfect opportunity to get some shots. I'm normally used to photographing beaches in the sunshine, so I was really keen to try a new type of photography.

After about 40 minutes of climbing up a hill, we came to an area of darkness. We could have only been in the absolute heart of the forest, but I can assure you it was pretty scary. During the hour we were there photographing, we didn't come across any people at all. Just imagine the woods below, and then picture a small, blonde girl running around screaming - yep, that was me.

The woods aren't only for walkers - there are a total of three, off road cycling and horse trails that have been especially made to take you deep into the forest to discover stunning viewpoints and an intriguing history.

At the carpark, you'll find a number of picnic benches, a gorgeous coffee shop, bike hire and all of the relevant information needed before heading into the woods.