A blustery morning for us as we stepped out for our walk which had been postponed for a fortnight due to bad weather.  It wasn’t too long before the sun shone on us which made it a lot more pleasant.    Chatting between ourselves, and with cheery greetings to oncoming fellow walkers and dogs, we made our way around the enclosure on gravel paths with fewer muddy patches than we expected.    That being so, we found ourselves back closer to the car park earlier than anticipated so branched off to a path that led down to a river which was quite fast-flowing due to the massive amounts of rain we’ve experienced in the last few weeks.    Retracing our steps and then  moving onto a grass track, we made our way back to our cars about 75 minutes from when we started, having put the world to rights in our conversations throughout the walk.   

With lungs full of fresh air we were all ready to face the rest of the day and enjoy the weekend ahead.    Come and join us next time, date and place not yet decided, for a morning of conviviality- guaranteed!

Charmian and Ken

 A bright, sunny but blustery morning saw 9 members meeting near Brockenhurst on Friday last for the first main walk of 2024.

Striking off from the Beachern car park area across the grass and a road, avoiding some rather large puddles, we made our way down a gravel road by some imposing houses with gardens sporting many daffodils and other spring flowers.    Skipping away from an approaching dust cart we continued to the end of the lane which brought us to Burley road and close to St Saviours church.    Continuing past the Brockenhurst ford we made our way to Meerut road and across Butts Lawn and Black Knowl by way of a long straight footpath of several hundred yards to  Bolderford Bridge and time to play Pooh sticks in the fast flowing river.  One or two of us were lucky to catch sight of a kingfisher darting along the water.    Going back slightly we struck right to Ober Corner where we picked up the road which led us back to the car park.  There were quite a few muddy patches to negotiate but puddles gave good opportunities to wash it off our wellies.

Two hours of steady walking and a lot of happy conversation provided an enjoyable morning spent with friends.    Thanks to Ingrid and Brian for organising it for us.

Driving back towards Brock it was sad to see that The Cloud Hotel (where we had enjoyed some U3A Christmas dinners) was now being converted into housing.    Life goes on.

Expect a short walk towards the end of March.  Details to follow.        Ken.

 A lovely crisp morning with a brisk walk promised ahead of us - it certainly sounded good. Well nine of us (plus a dog) certainly thought so as we met near The Happy Cheese in Ashurst.    Allowing a couple of minutes for latecomers we trooped off along some familiar paths into the Forest.    Once amongst the trees it was noticeably peaceful and quiet and quite warm with just the sound of happy chatter between ourselves as we caught up with each other’s news.    Some of the trees looked stunning displaying their golden leaves and one of us was successful in catching a leaf or two as they swirled around us.  There were quite a few birds flitting around but too quick for us to determine which.  Oh how we miss Stuart who seemed to know them all - even by their sound when they were invisible. 

We plodded on with a friendly nod or a good morning to other passing walkers including the Lyndhurst Healthy Walkers group who tell us that they have a walk together each Friday morning.    After an hour we could tell we were almost back to our destination by the sounds of the trains travelling up and down.    It still took us another 20 minutes or so to reach the car park, via the Ashurst camp site, as a small diversion was necessary to avoid a rather wet and muddy area blocking our path.   

Another successful hour of exercise and conviviality enjoyed by us all ( and the dog seemed pleased too) so thanks to Brian and Ingrid once again.    We’ll arrange another for Jan/Feb next year.

See you soon.  Ken. 

Will it, won’t it?  The forecast was good for today but there were a few threatening dark clouds above (where else would they be?) as 10 of us congregated at Matley car park this morning.  We were pleased to have 2 new companions- one who’s only been on one previous walk and a brand new guy contemplating joining our U3A - so I hope we’ve made a favourable impression. 

10am, almost on the dot, we started off into a woodland area chatting, catching up with individual’s news and getting to know the newbies.    Easy walking ground though there were one or two fallen tree trunks across our way which were easily negotiated

Within 15 minutes we emerged on to open heathland making for distant trees and, just before them, took a sharp left along another track where we admired the heather which was at the point of bursting into blossom.

Then a few spots of rain was felt which developed into a light drizzle but, unperturbed, we continued back to the shelter of Matley Wood.    We didn’t re-enter at the point I had planned and so went slightly adrift but with the aid of a GPS signal and instinct we walked through the camp-site and soon reached our starting point and back into the sunshine. 

Nonetheless, we enjoyed our hour or so of exercise of both legs and jaws, and look forward to the next occasion. 

I hope to see many of you at the lunch on Tuesday and at the next general meeting on the 13th August.    Ken. 

 

Walk From Millyford Bridge – 16/6/23

 

Seven of us met on a hot sunny morning at Millyford Bridge car park at the start of our walk.  As we sorted out rucksacks with water, sun hats etc; a mare & foal wandered by.

We started out along a long gravel track & into the inclosure where we followed tree shaded tracks into woodland going uphill.  There was plenty of conversation & a fair bit of exclaiming over the heat, but we made the most of the shade where we could, even disturbing a few deer who ran past us.  We made our way to Acres Down Tea Rooms – a usual port of call for this walk – but unfortunately it was closed due to the owner’s health issues – the picture below shows disappointed walkers, we could only look over the gate & drink our water while imagining the lovely cake we usually indulge in.

Veering back away from Annie’s Tea Room we cut across open heathland & edged round along the tree border.  One member spotted a buzzard as it launched from a tree nearby & we stopped (in the shade) to watch as it gained height eventually disappearing from sight.

We eventually returned to the starting point after a couple of hours & agreed that it had been a very enjoyable, if rather hot, get together.  Our thanks to Brian & Ingrid for their guidance around the area.

 

 

 A wonderful 10 members came together this morning to enjoy a walk around the Shatterford area of The Forest: more than double my expectation.    Great!

Carefully crossing the railway bridge by the Drift Inn we were soon striding out over the heathland in bright sunshine, chatting and laughing along the way.    A skylark was soon spotted above us trilling away, probably a warning if we were too close to its nest.    Then over a wooden bridge which had a pool of water to one side big enough to contain water lilies.    There were also one or two dragonflies flying lazily backwards and forwards over it. Some of us heard a strange low sound in the area but, despite some hard looking, we couldn’t discover its origin.

We plodded on along footpaths and grass tracks, through woodland and over more bridges also some dried out (thank goodness) boggy areas before we circled back to reach the car park about an hour and a half from our set-off time.

Thanks to all of you who came along and made it a most enjoyable morning.  I understand that Ingrid is proposing a longer walk on the 16th June incorporating a stop at Annie’s tea rooms near Minstead (Mmmmmm.  Yum yum).    Let’s hope that that thought is an incentive for even greater numbers to join in. 

Ken. 

 Friday, May 26th at 10.00am is the date and time for the next short walk.  We’ll meet at Beaulieu road station in the car park opposite The Drift Inn close by the horse pens.  The walk is a little more taxing than usual at about 2 miles plus but not difficult terrain.    One or two muddy patches so appropriate footwear required.

See you there.    Ken. 

 Short walk 3/3/23

Six of us met in the car park at Rhinefield Ornamental Drive on Friday morning.  We set off along a gravel track that took us away from the usual Tall Trees walk.  Although chilly we were largely protected by the trees soon warming up nicely.

The path then took us along & across various intersections eventually connecting with the Tall Trees walk which we followed.  

Having completed the walk & with all in agreement we added in a stroll around the Arboretum, admiring the various trees & sculptures as we went.

The next short walk will be in May - details later.  We'd love to see some new faces, why not join us?

Charmian

 9 members gathered at the fountain fronting the Art Gallery at 10.30 am to be met by our affable guide Geoff Watts, someone who had been a speaker at one of our monthly meetings. 

Starting by crossing the road into West Marlands park Geoff explained that all the central parks were originally known as Lammas parks which were privately owned and cultivated but had to be open to the public for 6 months of the year.    He then went on to explain about the 2 modern art installations there, one of which is still on loan after 25 years.   I think that nobody wanted it back so Southampton is stuck with it!

Progressing east to the statue of Isaac Watts (no relation, Geoff assured us) it’s origin and its particular siting was explained to us.   Watts was the composer of various hymns including “oh God our help in ages past” which is played daily each 4 hours from 8am to 8pm from the Civic Centre bell tower.

From there it was to the Cenotaph, designed by Lutyens, which commemorates those who died in The Great War and shows 2000 names - one of which appears twice as it was incorrectly spelled originally.    Those who died in WW2 have their names in a book held in the main library archives which can be viewed if requested.

Proceeding across Above Bar we made our way to the Titanic Engineer’s Memorial erected in memorium to those engineers who went down with the ship whilst endeavouring to keep all lights blazing so that the Carpathian would see it should it arrive in time.    The architect of the Titanic - Thomas Andrews - also perished with them after he had warned the captain that the vessel was doomed.   

We were then reminded of the very popular aviary which stood nearby but disappeared overnight on the instructions of a city counsellor causing a public outcry but to no avail.   There appears to be no record of the fate of the birds housed therein. 

We then moved over to another installation called The Queen’s fountain to celebrate 56 years of QE2’s reign without a war.    The actual fountain no longer operates due to vandalism. 

Continuing to the pergola our attention was drawn to a - now defunct - sundial erected to mark the beginning of the reign of Edward VII.

Perambulating through the parks via the avenue of lime trees we crossed New Road into what is called Palmerston park with our guide drawing attention to various areas of historical interest along the way which we would have missed otherwise.    We then gathered before Palmerston’s statue set in the most densely planted area of the park - courtesy of a Victorian benefactor who owned a garden centre and donated £4000 worth of shrubs and other flora.

Palmerston was a burgess of the town who became a Liberal MP and progressed to positions of Foreign and Home Secretaries and Prime Minister twice, dying in office in 1865.

Onwards we went along the avenue and crossed over Pound Tree Round and intoQueens Park passing a children’s playground which was being refurbished or upgraded until, finally, we reached the plinth and column monument which was raised through public subscription commemorating the arrival of gas lighting to the town.

Many thanks to Geoff for his deep knowledge and interesting words throughout and to Christine for making the walk possible.    We all learned a great deal.   It is hoped to organise a further historical walk sometime soon.   

I’ve bored you long enough with my ramblings so time to close.   Ken. 

 Our next short walk will be on  Friday 23rd  September from Bolderwood car park starting at 10am as usual.

There are several routes there the two main ones both being from Lyndhurst towards Bournemouth.    For the first you turn right on to Swan Green and continue to the New Forest  Inn where turn left, signposted “Bolderwood 3 miles, and continue past Millyford Bridge and on to Bolderwood.   
The second route is to continue on the A35 beyond Swan Green as far as the Tall Trees walk cross roads where you make a right turn (again signposted to Bolderwood) and follow that road for approximately 2 miles until you reach Bolderwood car park.
We will be following the longest of the suggested waymarked walks of approx 2 miles keeping to the bicycle trails and should take us about an hour.   See you there.   Ken & Charmian.