The New Forest and the Bouncing Bomb; Weekly Walk #22

I’ve always lived near military establishments, from camps near Farnborough, to the airbase in Middle Wallop, and then today, as I took a hike through the New Forest, I discovered I’m near the test site of the famous Dam-Buster bouncing bomb. This week I enjoy sun, picturesque views, and cooling woodland as I skirt the edge of the Ashley Walk bombing range on a hunt for WWII history.

I grabbed the last space at the Telegraph Hill car-park, on the junction of the B3078 and B3080, a few miles outside of Downton, Salisbury. It was a typical New Forest scene; a small yet busy roadside spot for hikers to gather before taking various trails and adventures. I picked up my Crimson Short Walks guide, and took a left out of the car-park onto the road and left along a wide gravel track.

Along with the sweltering sun, the open heathland reminded me a lot of the desert in New Mexico, through with the addition of New Forest ponies. I loved it when the sound of the traffic faded away and left me with miles of quiet, blissful wilderness, though it wouldn’t have always been like this.

In the mid-1940s, the Ashley Walk bombing range housed several bunkers and walls for testing bombs and methods of delivery. Dr Barnes Wallis’ bouncing bombs were tested on the No 3 wall, including the initial Highball bomb and the later “Upkeep” bomb used in the famous Dam Raids. The range is now empty, save a few craters and a small brick hut which might have been a viewing post. I later researched and found a great video from the Imperial War Museum; a succession of tests from 1943 of the Highball bomb.

I turned left and followed a way marked cycle track through the managed, man-made woodland of Amberwood and Islands Thorns Inclosures. I stopped by a stream to have my lunch, and enjoyed the peace and quiet, before continuing the winding path out of woodland to Fritham village green. Here, I passed a late-19th century post-box created to save the postman, who delivered and collected mail to and from the nearby Schultze Gunpowder Factory at the bottom of the hill, a ½ mile round trip.

I continued down the hill and came upon Eyeworth Pond, which was serene, and might have made a better picnic stop. I crossed a bridge and followed a track past Oaktree Cottage into a dense wood. I stopped to take pictures of some Fox-gloves, before following the winding path back to heathland. I got turned around and thought I was walking the wrong track, but after doubling back I realised I was headed the right way, and at a junction of paths turned left downhill, then back up towards my car.

You can read more about the Number 3 wall and Highball bomb testing on the New Forest Remembers website, a site dedicated to the New Forest’s importance in WWII.

The New Forest Explorers Guide also has some great information on the Ashley Walk bombing range.

This walk was from Crimson Short Walks, the New Forest National Park guide (number 19, Around the Islands). It’s a great guide with clearly detailed OS maps for each walk. Check it out on Amazon.

Grand National Champions and a Pair of Sore Shins; Weekly Walk #21

Desperate for a well-worn, scenic walk after my recent overgrown, confusing trail from Pepperbox Hill, and in need of a longer walk than last week before work, I turned to my Hampshire and New Forest guide for a walk from nearby Rockbourne, Fordingbridge. I discovered a famous training stable at Whitsbury Manor and didn’t get lost, which was a plus, although I still had to wade a nettle-ridden path in my shorts (and hide the pain of throbbing legs all night).

Once in the village, I parked on the road as the hall and its car-park were in use, and met a fellow walker who'd just enjoyed a similar route. I set-off confidently along the track past a farm and followed a local as he bounded his way past sheep under the blissful sun of the open field. I could've easily cracked a cider and had a picnic, but instead continued my way through gates to a cool, tree-lined path.

 

I walked past a stud before crossing the road to Whitsbury Manor Stables, which are famous for training Grand National champion horses Red Rum and Rhyme‘n’Reason. I’m not a big fan of horse racing, but there was a definite air of professionalism and respect as I skirted the grounds. I continued a path overlooking fields and descended to the bottom of the valley.

I turned right onto a wide track and walked quite a distance past two farms, before turning right again through a gate and heading uphill. I was planning on taking lunch a little further up, but the sun took its toll and forced me to take a breather. Once refuelled, I continued uphill before entering woodland and taking a sharp left down a muddy, forest path.

I emerged from woodland near another farm, turned left down a country lane and right into a field. At the end of the field I found what was meant to be a narrow path, but was little more than a jungle. A pair of walkers and their dog met me halfway; their arms raised high as they waded through thick bushes where the path should’ve been.  “How sensible,” I commented, as I looked between their trousers and my now red-raw, bare shins.

Finally, the path (and the pain) ended at a stile on the left into an open field with horses, which led me back to Rockbourne and my car. All in all, this had been exactly what I wanted from a walk; a good six miles, scenic and straightforward to follow, though it's seems I'm currently doomed to take on overgrown paths, but I suppose they only add to the adventure.

This walk was taken from the Hampshire and New Forest Walks pathfinder guide.

Click the link to read more about Whitsbury Manor Stables on the website for Marcus Tregoning Racing.

In Keats' Footsteps; Weekly Walk #20

This week I retrace the steps taken by poet John Keats between Winchester Cathedral and the nearby hospital of St. Cross, a walk which inspired his poem, To Autumn, reliving the sights and sounds he might once have felt in the hope of finding inspiration for my own seasonal poems.

I parked in the centre of town and made my way through the bustling market to the Cathedral front. Its majestic energy resonated through happy people buzzing about their day, most attending some sort of event, which I later learnt to be the Symphony of Flowers, flower festival. I made my way through the inner-close, which features lots of old buildings, including the iconic Cheyney Court, the former Bishop’s courthouse, and left under one of two remaining city gates, Kingsgate.

Jane Austen completed her novel, Persuasion along College Street, which I followed towards Wolvesey Castle, where you can go inside and explore its ruins, but I left it for today as lots of children were darting about for a cricket match on the neighbouring field. I turned right down College Walk and right again towards the footpath to the water meadow. It was quieter in the open fields along the waterways, a photographer’s paradise, and I even saw a Swan with her Cygnets; I had to keep stopping myself to ensure I completed the walk.

I crossed a road and continued the way-marked Clarendon Way footpath, and took in St. Catherine’s hill to the right, which rose above the grass, with its ring of trees atop it like a crown. I soon arrived at the hospital of St. Cross, which the leaflet taught me was less of a hospital as we think of it today and more a sanctuary for people seeking food and shelter. I hadn’t realised it was still a working institution, still offering its wayfarer’s dole, a cup of beer and some bread to visitors who request it at the gate. When I found the ticket office locked, one of the brothers kindly offered to find the porter, and trundled off with his groceries to help me out. I felt transported back in time to a humble and charitable land.

Once inside, I admired the historic architecture on my way to the serene garden, where I could easily have spent hours beside the pond, listening to the fountain splash. I also explored the Brethren’s Hall, where the brothers would’ve eaten, and had a look at the old kitchen and cellar, navigating the tiny doorways and stone-steps as if in an old castle.

 

I took the same route back, but detoured on a footpath at Wolvesey castle, which took me alongside the river and back to the bottom of town near the King Alfred Statue, marking the end of my historic, and inspirational day. I’m yet to write more poems, but certainly feel in the mood, and have written one already incorporating Keats’ techniques and style.

If you’d like to retrace Keats’ footsteps, download the leaflet.

All my research came from the Winchester Council leaflet on Keats’ walk and the tourist leaflet from the hospital of St. Cross. More information on St. Cross can be found, here.

My seasonal poem can be found on my creative writing blog, mycosmicshed.blogspot.com.