Growing up here, Berko always felt like a slightly sleepy town.

The days after Christmas were spent wandering the streets with friends, trying to find somewhere to play football that didn’t require jumpers for goalposts. There used to be plenty of places with real goals that were free to use if you were willing to jump a fence or two.

Did you know that Happy Days Preschool used to be a youth centre, with a small AstroTurf pitch and goals set back into the fence, like the ones in the Nike Scorpion Football adverts? We had some great games there, until the bigger kids who smoked cigarettes chased us off.

The town felt safe but unsupervised.

It feels different now.

The sleepiness has gone, replaced by the energy of fuller pavements and busier family life. It still has its quiet moments, but there are more people out and more reasons to leave the house.

As welcome as a more active and lively town is, I still find myself looking for places that feel just a bit removed from it all.

Below you’ll find 5 easy ways to do just that. No fence-jumping required.