I found the perfect Christmas tree in a field just 45-minutes from Birmingham

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in my house - Heart Xmas is constantly blasting from my kitchen radio and the festive decorations have slowly made their way out of the cupboard. And now, just a few weeks away from the big day, my tree is up.

I’ve had my fair share of artificial trees in the past, but for me, nothing tops the real deal. I have so many fond childhood memories of choosing the perfect tree with my dad, followed by the inevitable “is it straight?” debate upon getting it home.

As an adult, that’s been something I’ve been keen to capture - nothing beats the smell of fresh pine filling your nostrils as you come downstairs each morning. For a couple of years, we bought them from our local supermarket, but when our last one barely made it to Christmas Day, I decided it was time to look elsewhere.

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Four years ago, a simple Facebook search led me to Pinewood Christmas Tree Plantation in Hartlebury, near Kidderminster, and I’ve never looked back. It usually takes around 40 minutes to get there from our home in Wolverhampton, but thanks to Storm Bert (and a BMW stranded in floodwater), we had to take a detour around Kinver, which added another 15 minutes or so to our journey.

Finally, we got there safe and sound and easily found a space to park. You have two options at Pinewood, you can choose from a selection of freshly chopped trees in the yard, or head to the fields to pick your own. For us, it's always the latter, so we pulled on our wellies and off we went.

Elton John's Step Into Christmas got stuck in my head as we were greeted with the sight of hundreds of beautiful, green trees of all shapes and sizes. We spent a while walking through, playing hide and seek with our toddler, while trying to find the perfect addition to our living room for the next few weeks. We explored most of the fields, but I recommend heading to the very end one, which was pretty much untouched when we visited. We were spoiled for choice as they all looked stunning, but eventually settled for a six-foot Norway Spruce, which cost a reasonable £35.

All of the trees are handily tagged so if you take a snap of the price list at the start, you'll be able to keep track of the different heights and prices as you go round. Once you've made your choice, you simply flag down a staff member, who'll come along with a chainsaw to fell your tree, and cart it back for you on a nippy little buggy.

However the festive experience doesn’t stop there as there’s a wonderful little Christmas shop to peruse at your leisure. There hasn’t been a year I’ve been able to resist adding a cute little decoration to our collection, and this year was no exception as I picked up a Santa and Rudolph ornament that's now got pride of place on top of the fireplace.

We usually get our tree around four weeks before Christmas Day and the ones from Pinewood have always stood the rest of time. I honestly wouldn’t consider going anywhere else as it’s such a lovely, straightforward experience, from start to finish, with friendly helpful staff.

I understand a real tree isn’t for everyone, for various reasons, but if it is, and you’re local, I can’t recommend this place enough. Merry Christmas everyone!

• You'll find Pinewood on Rectory Lane, Hartlebury, DY11 7XA - just a 45 minutes drive from Birmingham. It's open daily until Saturday, December 21, from 8.30am to 7pm Monday to Saturday, and 9am to 6pm on Sundays.