I thought it might be nice to document one of our walks in the New Forest.
We got off to an early start, leaving the house at 06:00. We arrived at the Tall Trees car park (SU267047) at 06:20, just before sun rise. This car park is usually choc-a-block with visitors but, at this time in the morning, we had the place to ourselves. Usefully, it has a toilet facilities. I got the kettle on for breakfast.
It was surprisingly cold with frost on the grass in places. Even after a chocolate brioche and hot chocolate breakfast, morale was low. So, I made a small
fire to warm up the kids.
Sunrise. It didn't take long for everyone to warm up, so we headed off on a quick diversion to Blackwater Arboretum (it can be good for birding) although we didn't see or hear anything of note today.
After the arboretum, we went back to the car to pick up our packs and headed south east to Fletchers Water. We forded the stream (the first of many stream crossing today) and headed east through the deciduous woodland, following the water course upstream. This area is known as Fletchers Thorns Enclosure.
The dawn chorus was amazing. We could hear many common species including Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Wren, Blue Tit and Great Tit, Gold Crest, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Robin and Blackbird. We stopped to try and spot a particularly vocal Song Thrush.
A little further along and we came across a large, wind-thrown Ash. After a quick scout around we found some King Alfreds Cakes. I've been keeping my eye out for these for a few weeks or so and, until now, had failed to find any. That said, there hasn't been much Ash either along the routes we have chosen just lately...mainly oak and Beech.
After a couple of hundred metres, the stream leaves the woodland and flows through a more open area of heavily grazed grassland fringed with trees and patches of Bracken.
The grass was covered in dew, revealing many sheetwebs. In amongst the Bracken one could find the odd flowering Primrose.
We forded Fletchers Water and headed north east onto Poundhill Heath. It was still misty as we made our way along a fence line on the northern boundary of the heath. In the far distance we could see a herd of Red Deer.
This next picture was taken the following day. We did get close to the deer but failed to get a decent photo. It seems this herd regularly frequents Poundhill Heath and moves off into the woodland to the north of the heath during the morning.
We crossed the heath, heading east for Highland Water. We splashed through one of the many ephemeral pools which cover the heath.
On reaching Highland Water, we followed the watercourse down stream. This is actually the former course of the stream as recent works has served to move the bulk of the flow to a parallel course further north. We believe this work, which attempted to produce a more natural water course by introducing meanders, was undertaken to alleviate flooding downstream.
Here we heard a Raven as it flew over us. We didn't get a good view but it was still nice to hear. We also flushed a couple of pairs of Mandarin Duck.
The New Forest is known for its ancient oaks. We came across this old giant along this section of the walk. Not the biggest in the Forest....but still big.
There seems to be an awful lot of deadwood in the Forest recently and lots of wind-thrown trees. This view up Highland Water gives you some idea of what I mean. Clearly, a lot of the smaller branches have been washed down stream during the winter floods and have become caught up the larger toppled trees. I love messy woodland and lots of dead wood can only be good for (certain) invertebrate communities.
Throughout this area, and along much of the walk, one could find plenty of Lesser Celandine and Wood Anemone.
We continued to follow Highland Water (south east) until we reached Bolderford Bridge, which marks the confluence of Highland Water and Ober Water. We now turned south west to follow Ober Water upstream.
Ober Water is usually choc-a-block with grockles staying at the Forest Enterprise Campsite. One can see the many rope swings which have been set up across the stream. Fortunately, at this time of year the campsite is closed. That said, there were still a fair few folk about on this part of the walk. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good that people get out and enjoy the countryside....especially those who perhaps can't when at home. But we do tend to avoid the honey pot sites where we can and seek out the more secret parts of the Forest.
As you can see, this is a lovely stretch of water, best visited outside the holiday season and best avoided during the summer holidays. We heard our first Willow Warblers of the year along this section of Ober Water.
To the north of Ober water, and the woodland along its course, one can see glimpses of Fletchers Green; an open area of heather, Gorse and Bracken.
We followed Ober Water past the bridge which crosses into the Forest Enterprise Campsite and onto the footbridge which crosses the stream. At this point we left Ober Water and headed north onto Alridge Hill and into Alridge Enclosure. The kids were flagging at this point, so we started to look for a good spot for lunch.
We continued northwards towards Ober Heath and down Alridge Hill. Off to the left we spotted a small herd of Fallow Deer.
We settled down for lunch on the edge of Ober Heath. I used the Trangia to heat up some hot dogs. Nice...well the kids like them
It was starting to get quite hot, so we removed a layer of clothing and stowed it in our bags.
After lunch we struck out across Ober Heath, heading northwards towards a high hide. There were lots of deer trails through the heather suggesting the location of the high hide was well chosen.
On reaching the hide, we discovered a fire pond close by. These can be real havens for wildlife, especially in the summer months as they are dug deep and don't tend to dry out. Previously, I have fished a grass snake out of one of these ponds.
From the pond we headed north west and were almost forced to turn back as we encountered a deep and wide drainage ditch, which was full of pond weed. It was shown on the map but you never know what it's going to be like until you get there. Luckily, some kindly soul had fashioned a makeshift bridge out of logs and we were able to get across.
Shortly after the bridge we came across some flowering Blackthorn; the first we have seen this year.
We continued north west and crossed area of grassland and arrived back on Fletchers Water.
We followed Fletchers Water downstream and back to the car park, taking the opportunity to cool our hot feet in the cold water during our last stream crossing. Along the way we spotted a single Roe Deer buck and a pair of Mandarin Ducks.
In total, the walk was approximately 10km. I hope you enjoyed the journey; we certainly did.
We got off to an early start, leaving the house at 06:00. We arrived at the Tall Trees car park (SU267047) at 06:20, just before sun rise. This car park is usually choc-a-block with visitors but, at this time in the morning, we had the place to ourselves. Usefully, it has a toilet facilities. I got the kettle on for breakfast.
It was surprisingly cold with frost on the grass in places. Even after a chocolate brioche and hot chocolate breakfast, morale was low. So, I made a small
fire to warm up the kids.
Sunrise. It didn't take long for everyone to warm up, so we headed off on a quick diversion to Blackwater Arboretum (it can be good for birding) although we didn't see or hear anything of note today.
After the arboretum, we went back to the car to pick up our packs and headed south east to Fletchers Water. We forded the stream (the first of many stream crossing today) and headed east through the deciduous woodland, following the water course upstream. This area is known as Fletchers Thorns Enclosure.
The dawn chorus was amazing. We could hear many common species including Greater Spotted Woodpecker, Chiffchaff, Wren, Blue Tit and Great Tit, Gold Crest, Wood Pigeon, Chaffinch, Robin and Blackbird. We stopped to try and spot a particularly vocal Song Thrush.
A little further along and we came across a large, wind-thrown Ash. After a quick scout around we found some King Alfreds Cakes. I've been keeping my eye out for these for a few weeks or so and, until now, had failed to find any. That said, there hasn't been much Ash either along the routes we have chosen just lately...mainly oak and Beech.
After a couple of hundred metres, the stream leaves the woodland and flows through a more open area of heavily grazed grassland fringed with trees and patches of Bracken.
The grass was covered in dew, revealing many sheetwebs. In amongst the Bracken one could find the odd flowering Primrose.
We forded Fletchers Water and headed north east onto Poundhill Heath. It was still misty as we made our way along a fence line on the northern boundary of the heath. In the far distance we could see a herd of Red Deer.
This next picture was taken the following day. We did get close to the deer but failed to get a decent photo. It seems this herd regularly frequents Poundhill Heath and moves off into the woodland to the north of the heath during the morning.
We crossed the heath, heading east for Highland Water. We splashed through one of the many ephemeral pools which cover the heath.
On reaching Highland Water, we followed the watercourse down stream. This is actually the former course of the stream as recent works has served to move the bulk of the flow to a parallel course further north. We believe this work, which attempted to produce a more natural water course by introducing meanders, was undertaken to alleviate flooding downstream.
Here we heard a Raven as it flew over us. We didn't get a good view but it was still nice to hear. We also flushed a couple of pairs of Mandarin Duck.
The New Forest is known for its ancient oaks. We came across this old giant along this section of the walk. Not the biggest in the Forest....but still big.
There seems to be an awful lot of deadwood in the Forest recently and lots of wind-thrown trees. This view up Highland Water gives you some idea of what I mean. Clearly, a lot of the smaller branches have been washed down stream during the winter floods and have become caught up the larger toppled trees. I love messy woodland and lots of dead wood can only be good for (certain) invertebrate communities.
Throughout this area, and along much of the walk, one could find plenty of Lesser Celandine and Wood Anemone.
We continued to follow Highland Water (south east) until we reached Bolderford Bridge, which marks the confluence of Highland Water and Ober Water. We now turned south west to follow Ober Water upstream.
Ober Water is usually choc-a-block with grockles staying at the Forest Enterprise Campsite. One can see the many rope swings which have been set up across the stream. Fortunately, at this time of year the campsite is closed. That said, there were still a fair few folk about on this part of the walk. Don't get me wrong, I think it's good that people get out and enjoy the countryside....especially those who perhaps can't when at home. But we do tend to avoid the honey pot sites where we can and seek out the more secret parts of the Forest.
As you can see, this is a lovely stretch of water, best visited outside the holiday season and best avoided during the summer holidays. We heard our first Willow Warblers of the year along this section of Ober Water.
To the north of Ober water, and the woodland along its course, one can see glimpses of Fletchers Green; an open area of heather, Gorse and Bracken.
We followed Ober Water past the bridge which crosses into the Forest Enterprise Campsite and onto the footbridge which crosses the stream. At this point we left Ober Water and headed north onto Alridge Hill and into Alridge Enclosure. The kids were flagging at this point, so we started to look for a good spot for lunch.
We continued northwards towards Ober Heath and down Alridge Hill. Off to the left we spotted a small herd of Fallow Deer.
We settled down for lunch on the edge of Ober Heath. I used the Trangia to heat up some hot dogs. Nice...well the kids like them
It was starting to get quite hot, so we removed a layer of clothing and stowed it in our bags.
After lunch we struck out across Ober Heath, heading northwards towards a high hide. There were lots of deer trails through the heather suggesting the location of the high hide was well chosen.
On reaching the hide, we discovered a fire pond close by. These can be real havens for wildlife, especially in the summer months as they are dug deep and don't tend to dry out. Previously, I have fished a grass snake out of one of these ponds.
From the pond we headed north west and were almost forced to turn back as we encountered a deep and wide drainage ditch, which was full of pond weed. It was shown on the map but you never know what it's going to be like until you get there. Luckily, some kindly soul had fashioned a makeshift bridge out of logs and we were able to get across.
Shortly after the bridge we came across some flowering Blackthorn; the first we have seen this year.
We continued north west and crossed area of grassland and arrived back on Fletchers Water.
We followed Fletchers Water downstream and back to the car park, taking the opportunity to cool our hot feet in the cold water during our last stream crossing. Along the way we spotted a single Roe Deer buck and a pair of Mandarin Ducks.
In total, the walk was approximately 10km. I hope you enjoyed the journey; we certainly did.
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