New Forest
The New Forest is unusual. Its actually not new at all! William the Conqueror proclaimed the area as a royal hunting ground shortly after the Norman Conquest of 1066. It also isn't just forest. In Norman times, the word forest would refer to any area that was used for hunting. This could include woodland, but not exclusively. As it happens, the New Forest is made up of a patchwork of woodland, heath, moor, estuaries and coastline. This array of habitats and landscapes is one of the reasons that the New Forest is such a fantastic place to visit.
After pouring over the OS Explorer map of the New Forest I decided on an area to go walking on my days excursion. The decided destination was a patch of heath and moorland just west of the village of Beaulieu, called Hatchet Moor. On the map, the moor looked in a great location. It would allow some time to practice navigation on the open terrain, but was also close enough to one of the New Forest's main bodies of woodland.
One of the features of the New Forest that you can't miss when visiting is the ponies. Its a wonderful site to see ponies roaming across the open moorland or seeing them deep in the woods. It looks ancient and makes the environment feel timeless. In truth, although these animals are free to roam across the New Forest, they are in some way owned by people that have the 'rights of common' and can graze their animals on the heath and woodland. I was hoping to see plenty of wild ponies on my trip and I couldn't be happier when I parked at a deserted Hatchet Moor car park and saw two characterful ponies peering at me through the passenger side window.
I walked North from the car park and was heading to one of the more wooded areas of the New Forest. I really enjoyed walking across the moor. Its a landscape that feels wilder and more open than where I'm more used to walking. Although, this landscape is carefully managed. As I walk through the heath there are empty scorched areas from controlled burning. This is a process done in many moorland and upland sites across the U.K. Its designed to maintain the heathland and stop the vegetation taking over. Once the new growth begins, it provides cover for the rare and unique wildlife specially adapted to the ecology of the New Forest. While this process looks destructive, it is for conservation purposes and designed to promote life.
Leaving the expansive heathland behind, I head into the maze of footpaths and cycleways that snake their way through the woodlands of the New Forest. Much of the area that I walk through is forestry commission land. The woodlands are a mixture of pine and broadleaf woodland. I assume that the pines are grown on the poorer soils to be grown quickly and chopped to use for industry. The wide paths and cycleways will be used for the Forestry commission trucks and cars to make their way through the landscape. These trackways do create a fantastic place to go cycling. There is a great network of cycleways through the New Forest and the good surface of the tracks and the relatively flat terrain make it the ideal place to spend the day on two wheels. My prefered method of travel though, is still on foot and I walk to an area of broadleaf woods I had spotted on the map to eat my lunch.
I sat eating my lunch in a peaceful clearing in the woods. It was beautifully quiet. Its not until you get to a quiet spot that you realize how much human noise there usually is. In this small clearing you couldn't hear people talking, industry, planes or even a road. Its rare, especially in the South-East of England, to get a spot where you can't hear the hum of a road. All I heard, while I was eating, was the sound of a multitude of birds calling from the tops of the surrounding oaks.
I sat for a little while enjoying the peace and quiet before heading towards my car, back at Hatchet Moor car park. I never really like doing a walk that goes back on itself, and always look for a circular route if I can. Heading back to the car I walked through more pine woodland and across the otherside of Hatchet Moor.
The New Forest is an extremely interesting place and I recommend a visit, if you've never been. It feels unique. It also feels quite wild. I imagine that's why it was added to the list of national parks. Driving home on this lighter evening, I promise myself that I'll visit a few more times over this coming summer.
After pouring over the OS Explorer map of the New Forest I decided on an area to go walking on my days excursion. The decided destination was a patch of heath and moorland just west of the village of Beaulieu, called Hatchet Moor. On the map, the moor looked in a great location. It would allow some time to practice navigation on the open terrain, but was also close enough to one of the New Forest's main bodies of woodland.
One of the features of the New Forest that you can't miss when visiting is the ponies. Its a wonderful site to see ponies roaming across the open moorland or seeing them deep in the woods. It looks ancient and makes the environment feel timeless. In truth, although these animals are free to roam across the New Forest, they are in some way owned by people that have the 'rights of common' and can graze their animals on the heath and woodland. I was hoping to see plenty of wild ponies on my trip and I couldn't be happier when I parked at a deserted Hatchet Moor car park and saw two characterful ponies peering at me through the passenger side window.
I walked North from the car park and was heading to one of the more wooded areas of the New Forest. I really enjoyed walking across the moor. Its a landscape that feels wilder and more open than where I'm more used to walking. Although, this landscape is carefully managed. As I walk through the heath there are empty scorched areas from controlled burning. This is a process done in many moorland and upland sites across the U.K. Its designed to maintain the heathland and stop the vegetation taking over. Once the new growth begins, it provides cover for the rare and unique wildlife specially adapted to the ecology of the New Forest. While this process looks destructive, it is for conservation purposes and designed to promote life.
Leaving the expansive heathland behind, I head into the maze of footpaths and cycleways that snake their way through the woodlands of the New Forest. Much of the area that I walk through is forestry commission land. The woodlands are a mixture of pine and broadleaf woodland. I assume that the pines are grown on the poorer soils to be grown quickly and chopped to use for industry. The wide paths and cycleways will be used for the Forestry commission trucks and cars to make their way through the landscape. These trackways do create a fantastic place to go cycling. There is a great network of cycleways through the New Forest and the good surface of the tracks and the relatively flat terrain make it the ideal place to spend the day on two wheels. My prefered method of travel though, is still on foot and I walk to an area of broadleaf woods I had spotted on the map to eat my lunch.I sat eating my lunch in a peaceful clearing in the woods. It was beautifully quiet. Its not until you get to a quiet spot that you realize how much human noise there usually is. In this small clearing you couldn't hear people talking, industry, planes or even a road. Its rare, especially in the South-East of England, to get a spot where you can't hear the hum of a road. All I heard, while I was eating, was the sound of a multitude of birds calling from the tops of the surrounding oaks.
I sat for a little while enjoying the peace and quiet before heading towards my car, back at Hatchet Moor car park. I never really like doing a walk that goes back on itself, and always look for a circular route if I can. Heading back to the car I walked through more pine woodland and across the otherside of Hatchet Moor.
The New Forest is an extremely interesting place and I recommend a visit, if you've never been. It feels unique. It also feels quite wild. I imagine that's why it was added to the list of national parks. Driving home on this lighter evening, I promise myself that I'll visit a few more times over this coming summer.
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