Winter Days Diary - A New Forest Walk

6th January 2009

It was a beautiful sunny day and cold. Yesterday, I went into town shopping for more warm winter walking gear and thanks to the sales found some excellent bargains. Today was a day for trying some of them out. Therefore I dressed appropriately, chose a walk and off I went.

My destination was Anderwood, approximately mid-way between the Bolderwood Deer Sanctuary to the north and Rhinefield Ornamental Drive to the south. My aim was to walk first to the Deer Sanctuary and then down along Bolderwood Ornamental Drive into Rhinefield OD and around the Tall Trees walk with a quick visit to Blackwater Arboretum. This would have taken the best part of a day.

I was late leaving home ...

Anderwood itself is a pleasant place for picnicking and ambling around pine trees. There is a picnic and barbecue area, and a public convenience. Being the middle of winter and temperature around 0 degrees C, however, the only people were hardy walkers and cyclists.

The walk began promisingly enough, up through the trees beyond a gate to the north. Before reaching the cycle track further on there was an interesting path (aren't they all?) going down through the trees to the cycle track visible below. A Forest stream, Blackensford Brook, crosses the path and is easily forded which is always more fun than being provided with a bridge, although I am partial to bridges over water as well.

I turned right along the cycle track intent on getting to the Deer Sanctuary.

I hesitate to describe any part of the New Forest as dull, but if there is such a place this is it. The track is dead straight through a pine inclosure with little relief except perhaps the promise of more interesting things along paths to right and left. On closer inspection it would seem that the side paths promise wading of near knee-deep proportions. I don't mind a bit of mud, it can be a lot of fun these were clearly more bridlepath than footpath. To my disgrace, I turned around back the way I had come and returned to Anderwood Car Park. I'd walked three miles judging by my watch and it seemed like barely one.

Nothing daunted, I decided to stop for a cup of tea at the car and try again. Fortified by this and a biscuit, I ventured across the road to another gate heading south. Apart from another wide mud-river that led to a wire fence, presumably to keep people from crossing the A35 at this point, this was quite a pleasant walk around Dames Slough Inclosure. (By the way, I fell over jumping a ditch off the afore-mentioned mud river - that is, I fell up the side of the ditch. The mud missed my gaiters completely and covered the knees of my trousers ...) There was another stream, Black Water, to ford which I managed without falling over, getting wet or in any other way mucking it up.

I didn't attain either of my goals - the Deer Sanctuary or the Tall Trees Walk -but I did get two hours walking out of the afternoon and a successful test of my new winter wear.