A Ramble Round

11th May 2009

This was a spur of the moment ramble. I knew I wanted to walk but hadn't fixed on where. It was a case of finding a car park and saying "Right, this'll do", putting on my boots and going.

The sun was warm, the wind was fresh.

I stopped at a favourite spot, Whitefield Moor just outside Brockenhurst. There are a lot of visitor areas around here: there's the Ober Water Walk from Puttles Bridge, the Ornamental Drive and Blackwater Arboretum further along, a Nature Reserve at Poundhill Heath and a caravan park.

I followed the Ober Water Trail because it's pretty and I was in the mood for something sweet. There was no one else about, being right on tea-time, and I was having a lovely time while other people were sweltering in the traffic jam around Lyndhurst.

At the second bridge, my way turned north into Aldridgehill and past the cottage across Fletchers Green to Fletchers Thorns and round on to Poundhill Heath. All of this is very open with good cover for ground-nesting birds.

Leaving Poundhill Heath to join the cycle track in the north-east corner there is a large field on the left which is generally full of deer. Today, the gate was open and the mass of deer had been joined by a few mares and foals.





The track continues through a gate into Hursthill Inclosure (which is featured in this month's Country Walking magazine) which is lovely at the moment with the new fresh green bracken crowded with bluebells. Many intriguing paths lead off from the main cycle way, and eventually I was seduced by a green path with bluebell border, down to a gate.

The path turns south, running along beside the fence of an Inclosure to the left, and I have walked this before. I followed this path northward on the previous occasion, kept going north, and being rather new to it all at the time, got lost and ended up in Foxlease Park (oops!)

This time going south, I knew where I was going and soon bore left alongside Highland Water, yes, the very same that runs down from Holmhill Inclosure further north.

Returning to the eastern loop of the cycle track I followed this over Bolderford Bridge, where I met a young woman on a white pony whom I had glimpsed cantering through the woodland. After an exchange of the usual pleasantries, she rode her pony into the river to cool its feet and I crossed the bridge and set off down along the ride across Ober Heath. The young woman on her white pony soon passed me and cantered off across the Heath into the trees further down.

At the driveway to the caravan park I turned right along the lane towards Ober Water, which meets Highland Water near Bolderford Bridge, and found a vague path (unmarked) that runs alongside the water so that I didn't have to follow the long drive all the way back. 'Ware tree roots on this path!

Although there is a good path that runs up from the bridge towards where I had parked the car, I chose another little off-road path winding through the heather and later crossed the drive to walk along the lawn of Whitefield Moor back to the car park.

It was a lovely evening and a lovely walk, picked by metaphorically sticking a pin in a map. I think I might try that again.