Gosford Estate, a 30-minute drive along the coast from Edinburgh, is unlike the manicured grounds of other country houses; it opens its gates to explorers rather than visitors. In this rambling woodland there is no attempt to gild the lily and at no point are you herded around collectible sights and attractions. Here, you are roaming in a classic children’s adventure story, gasping as you pull the branches aside.

Leave the car park behind, day pass in hand (a wallet-friendly £1 from the Bothy), and wander past the old walled gardens; there is a flurry of chickens to the left and a flock of sheep to the right. Roe deer roam here too. Peel off the main path, over a tiny bridge and what barely constitutes a muddy track and eventually you’ll find yourself at a boating pond, where an abandoned curling house invites you to press your nose up against the dusty glass and imagine winter sports of the past when the pond would have frozen over. There’s a boatshed. An island favoured by roosting geese.

Back on the main path you stumble upon a mausoleum, colonnaded and grand, and, just beyond, an excellent Pooh sticks bridge with a fast-flowing stream beneath. Glorious Gosford House is tantalisingly close to this spot but is hidden from sight by the dense forest. Take another fork in the path and you come across two chocolate-box cottages; there is smoke rising from the chimneys so you know you shouldn’t peep in the windows, though perhaps if you did you’d find Mr and Mrs Beaver sitting down to a sticky marmalade roll.

This is nature unnurtured in the best possible way – no pomp and grandeur, but beauty and adventure everywhere. And because all good adventures end with the gang going home for supper, follow the trail into Gosford Bothy Farm Shop and Cafe and treat yourself to a wild boar burger or a bacon sandwich and a hot pot of tea.

Images by Anita Joseph and courtesy of Alan Thompson on Flickr