Since Yomping Buddy was visiting for the weekend and the weather was set fair, I suggested we did a bit of a walk from the car park on the edge of Wilverley Plain and head out in a roughly circular walk around Hincheslea Moor. Well that was the plan anyway. As it turned out that particular walk didn’t have the duration that the wonderful weather demanded so we decided to augment the walk in an ad-hoc, let’s see where this goes stylee.

There’s a simple rule for such walking, when you come to a fork in the path, choose the path which goes away from the direction you were intending to go. So we did. And ended up at the back end of Rhinefield House, a somewhat imposing hotel on the far side of the moor. Not that you can see it from the front, but there was a Dr Who moment when we realised that what we were looking at wasn’t a dark wood but a large smoked glass extension to the hotel. Hidden in plain site due to its mirroring of the Inclosure next to it. Spooky, but effective none-the -less.

So having figured out where we were we made our way to Rhinefield Road and crossed it with the idea of returning to Hincheslea Moor via Whitefield Moor by walking through the Aldridge Hill Inclosure . It was a plan which to an extent worked. It would have probably worked better if we hadn’t still been using the navigation technique outlined previously. Still, by the time we emerged from the trees blinking next to the cottage at the Aldridge Hill campsite, we were totally sure of where we were. Walking along the narrow road from the front entrance to the campsite brought us to the edge of Whitefield Moor. Plain sailing from now on.

You know how New Forest ponies just stand around eating gorse and such in a particularly studious way that you think they may have lost the ability to move? Don’t be fooled. Halfway across Whitefield Moor, grassy, no trees, we noticed a herd of about fifteen ponies hammering along on the other side of the road. It looked so impressive that we stopped to watch. The sight became more and more impressive as they wheeled right and started to belt straight towards us at a rate of knots. Knowing we had absolutely no chance of beating galloping ponies to the cover of the gorse we stopped dead and prayed they would notice. Fortunately they did about thirty feet from us whilst two ponies we assumed were stallions engaged in a bit of fisticuffs. One gained the upper hand (hoof?) and saw the other off and the herd turned to the the right and set off again.

The rest of the walk turned out to be pretty uneventful by contrast although any suggestion of hoof-beats had us both glancing nervously behind! It just goes to show that the New Forest ponies really are wild and should be treated with respect, not as some sort of petting zoo exhibits. In the end I reckon that we had walked around 6 miles, not a bad distance all told. In case you’re interested, below is a very crude map of the route we took.

You know how it is, when a man’s gotta yomp, a man’s gotta yomp and a few days off recently allowed me and no.2 yomping buddy to hit the open road bound for…. well where exactly? We had an idea that we would like a view and since we hadn’t been there before and had been told a view could be had, we set off for Acres Down to the west of Lyndhurst.

We had one of those easy walks books which seem to have been written by a not so retired SAS sergeant major, but it seemed straight forward enough. I have mentioned before to beware of books that use trees as landmarks, particularly if they are over a couple of years old. Well here’s another proviso. If the book doesn’t define what it considers to be a path, with maps drawn by what appears to be a five year old, don’t start on the walk. See the trouble with the country is that lots of other creatures are walking around when humans aren’t and are inclined to make their own paths and not let the SAS sergeant major know so he can ask his five year old to add it to the map. As a consequence of which, you may well find that you miss a path (or two) or count too many paths (or three), and end up somewhere you were neither expecting nor have much knowledge of.

In fact if you continue around a hill too far, it’s just about possible you might end up going in the wrong direction. Now I’m not saying that is what happened, but I am grateful that there was a straight road that we could orientate ourselves to from the five year olds map. And march along in the wrong direction. Of course if we had gone the right way we wouldn’t have met the very friendly elderly couple in their camper van parked up having a cup of tea. And wouldn’t have been offered a lift back to the car by them. Mind you we may well have managed to get back to the car ourselves in that time, but it’s nice to meet new people isn’t it? The view will have to wait for another day.

Oh behave! Of course I mean the sort that tell you where to go! Question is, do you trust them or not? This became more than just a philosophical point when a couple of yomping buddies took up temporary residence in a cottage along the coast and pretty much press-ganged me into a yomp. Someone had previously bought a ‘Walks from pubs’ book which seemed a fair enough place to start, so we did.

Well actually we started with lunch at the Rising Sun on Tiptoe Road north of Bashley. In my experience a pint and a Plough persons lunch all round sets you up for a good yomp, and although acceptable it was never going to match the Plough persons lunch of gargatuan proportions we enjoyed several years ago in the Fleur de Lys, Pilley. It is the yardstick by which all other Plough persons lunches will be gauged, and my suspicion is that none will quite measure up.

So suitably fortified we started off on what was promised to be a gentle 2 or so mile walk through the forest and a nearby Inclosure. Now just a word to the wise, when you are walking from a guide book, read at least two sentences ahead from where you think you are. It will stop you having to backtrack along a road you should have turned off several hundred yards back. I’m just saying….

GUIDES FROM AMAZONPub Walks Along the Solent WayPub Walks for the Family in Hampshire and the New ForestPocket Pub Walks The New Forest Waterside Walks in Hampshire (Waterside walks) The New Forest National Park: Leisure Walks for All Ages (Jarrold Short Walks Guides) The Solent Cruising Companion

So anyway, many small ponies and a flying display  of Swifts (I think) later, we were told to look out for a ‘small stand’ of trees. Hmm. See trouble is if you use trees as a navigational aid in the forest, there is some room for misinterpretation. This is where tip number two comes in. Look at the front of the guide book before you start and see when it was last printed. This will give you some idea of whether a small stand of trees is likely to have become half a plantation. It will also tell you whether travelling along the river bank is likely to be possible without the aid of a machete, which in our case it was most definitely not. We did however learn that the mud didn’t come over the top of your boots if you kept moving fast enough, that Adders can grow rather longer than we had thought, and there is a beautiful tiny pink speckled orchid growing commonly in the area. This is after all the reason for country walks, that and being able to feel self-righteous about the healthy way you have spent the afternoon.

I guess we’ll just have to do it again next time they visit. It’s tough, but I like to support the local publicans when I can.