New Forest Walks - Walks from Lyndhurst

This walk follows Pinkney Lane, continues through woodlands and then takes in Queens Meadow and Highland Water.

From Lyndhurst village centre, this walk follows Pinkney Lane towards the outlying hamlet of Bank. A delightful, relatively traffic-free country lane, Pinkney Lane offers views of Foxlease, passes beside the grounds of the now demolished Cuffnells mansion, and Wilverley House; and provides a taste of the wider countryside quite different to the Crown lands of the New Forest.

As an alternative start point, limited parking is available at the entrance to Brick Kiln Inclosure. First planted in 1810, Brick Kiln Inclosure features a wide variety of broad-leaved trees, including original oak, beech and sweet chestnut, as well as invasive birch, hornbeam and a relatively small block of conifers. The name recalls an old brick kiln sited here from at least the late-18th century until well into the 19th century – the kiln was marked by Richard, King and Driver on their late-18th century map, and was also shown by Greenwood on an 1826 map. It had, however, disappeared by the time of the 1870s Ordnance Survey map.

Hursthill Inclosure is visited, and so are Brinken Wood and Gritnam Wood. Hursthill was first planted in 1808, and contains many original oaks together with a variety of other trees of later date. Brinken Wood and Gritnam Wood are fine examples of ancient, unenclosed woodland heavily grazed and browsed by commoners’ stock, and deer. They are an important habitat for a wide range of birds and insects, and are notable, too, for magnificent autumnal displays of fungi of often quite bewildering variety.

Queens Meadow, mid-way along the walk route, is an extensive patch of relatively close-cropped grassland, fenced to prevent disturbance to the fallow deer and red deer that can often be seen here, sometimes in very large numbers, feeding or simply loafing in the sunshine.

Nearby, continuing the royal association, in name, at least, is the riverside woodland of Queen Bower, and the adjacent site of a hunting lodge known to date back to at least the 14th century.

Highland Water adjoins Queens Meadow. A beautifully clear, in places fast-flowing, gravel-bottomed New Forest stream, Highland Water is home to breeding season kingfishers and grey wagtails, whilst occasional little egrets and mandarin ducks can also be seen. Then from the end of May through to August, Beautiful Demoiselle damselflies dance above the water’s surface, jealously guarding their own small patch of sunlight.